Reviews

Daisy Miller became a sabotage job by the very inclusion and insistence of Cybil Shepard as Daisy. As maybe the choice of Cloris Leachman as her mother proves to be eccentric if not slightly erroneous, there is nothing more damning to what could have been a wonderful literary adaptation. Peter Bogdonavich often does not know how to do his job, that is direct. I offer the example of Cher's repeated refusal and head butting against his, to turn her tour-de-force as Rocky Denis' mother in "Mask", to a simpering, gutless wonder. Man was he wrong then as he was wrong with this picture in particular. The religious adherence to accuracy hampers the actors and the film's own creativity and prevents any beefing up where it would have greatly paid to do so. I ,in instance, refer to the brilliantly talented actor Barry Brown as Winterbourne. He's the romantic male lead but is practically made a eunuch in this film, no doubt because Pete was serenading the starlet with his camera all for himself, that no amount of screen ability could have facilitated Barry to have cut into what was obviously a three's a crowd. His scenes with REAL ACTRESSES, Eileen Brennan and Mildred Natwick, display different sides to his character's character and he does this beautifully; the sharp fine line of snobbery, dutiful nephew, and feckless Continental anti-hero. He is all the while completely believable and damned likable, practically the only heart in the whole cadre of performances. Eileen Brennan is wonderful as cold but not without caring as she fusses over Daisy's refusals at propriety and of course, Mildred Natwick is a feast to watch, as one flicker of her face is meant to speak volumes. I watch it for Barry who deserved a thousand times better than this and Ms. Brennan and Ms. Natwick and ignore Cybil as best I can. I recommend for anyone to do the same.

Best movie ever, best western ever. It's so superb, it's art. I first saw it over ten years ago and had an actual moving experience. No movie has ever come close at all to give me actual chills and thrills. It affects the psychology, it's visceral and you're taken for a ride. Paul Rodgers loved it so much he named his band at the time, Bad Company and the hit single comes directly from the film itself. Filmed in and around Emporia, Ks. it features a young Jeff Bridges perfectly suited for the role as patsy/predator Jake and the equally suited for his role of Drew Dixon is the elegant Barry Brown. Friends off screen, this was their second pairing in a film, and it just goes to show in their complete dissimilar partnership as they end up the two sole survivors of an initial runaway gang of young boys, most of them fit for the Civil War draft, echoing the Vietnam crisis. John Savage is the perfect brutish snake and all the actors seemed just as born into their parts as the two leads. If for no other reason, watch it for Barry Brown(Drew Dixon) and be prepared to be entranced. But,be careful, he was also too beautiful for words. Don't fall in love like me.