Mitchell Movie Reviews

The Bank is an Australian film about the greed and [dishonesty] of banks. Anthony Lapaglia (who is actually Australian but speaks in this film with an American accent) plays Simon O'Reilly, the head honcho of a major bank who behaves like a cross between Wall Street's Gordon Gekko and Robert Deniro in one of his gangster roles. Indeed, O'Reilly is the only character in the film who routinely swears and is rude to everyone (with the exception of his American wife, whose one line contains a vulgar phrase). Perhaps this is the (occasionally justified, to be fair) Australian stereotype of Americans. I'm afraid, however, that much of what this film knows about Americans and about financial markets was learned only from other movies, especially Wall Street. Simon hires mathematical genius Jim Doyle (played rather blandly by David Wenham) who may have figured out a system to predict the stock market. This system has something to do with fractals and chaos theory; probably not valid, but this is the least of the films weaknesses. There is a parallel plot, awkwardly handled, about a couple whose business was foreclosed by the same bank. After an official hands the couple's young son a summons, the boy drowns in an accident. Although this tragedy is only very indirectly connected to the bank, the film attempts to use this as a device to drive home the heavy-handed point that greed at high levels creates misery for ordinary people. Oddly enough, I found The Bank both confusing and predictable. The connection between the two plot lines is not clear till very late in the film and then they are brought together in a series of scenes that are alternately confusing and simply unbelievable. There is one silly melodramatic scene involving guns. The final twist was supposed to be a surprise, but it was really the only place the script had to go. Without giving anything away, I can say that one of the main characters' actions at the end make much of his earlier behavior completely irrational. The Bank has a few good scenes; there are some interesting discussions involving finance and mathematics. To ask for accuracy on these matters would be asking too much (after all, as far as we know no one has yet found a foolproof way to beat the stock market), but there are too many other things in the film that are not plausible. The ending, for example, is extremely naïve and is more suited for a comedy where realism is not important. At one point in the film someone says "I just hate banks." I'm afraid this was the primary motivation for making this film. This would be fine if they were able to back it up with a credible story, but in my opinion they didn't pull it off here.

THE BANK is another Australian movie that demonstrates how sophisticated 'foreign' films can be. Robert Connolly directs this tale of corruption with breakneck speed, leaving little time for catching a breath much less understanding the heavily accented dialogue (no English subtitles available on this DVD and many conversations are lost because of the thick Aussie accents by some of the actors). Anthony LaPaglia is the devil incarnate and David Wenham as the new PhD in mathematics who can drive LaPaglia's scheming to disastrous ends. Both are excellent as are the other cast members. The music score by Alan Jones is superb (listen carefully to the boys choral writing) and the graphics are top notch. Not a great movie but a thoroughly entertaining, edge of your seat, wizardlike video game - one in which you as viewer can surmise all the moves.

This is by far the greatest film I have ever seen. It ranks up there with Usual Suspects and House of Games. With The Bank you are essentially watching two movies unfold to an incredible end. Forget Gordan Gekko, Anothoy P. puts him to shame. The computer programmer must have worked for Keiser Sosa. That is how good he is. I just wish the movie would have got a distribution deal. That shows you how shallow Hollywood really is. You won't be disappointed.

Nineteenth Century Italy is beset by attacks from Neanderthal men living in a cave- when the villagers manage to overpower one of them, beating him to death Count Frankenstein uses the body for experiments. A quick shave and a brain-transplant later and the Neanderthal man is transformed into a monster called Goliath complete with goofy Hong-Kong Phooey hair. Grave robbing is specialised in by Frankenstein's '..., a randy hunchback, a misfit butler, a man in a black hat and Genz the evil dwarf (Michael Dunn). The thorn in Frankenstein's side, Genz is always getting into trouble, and eventually is thrown out of castle Frankenstein. Vowing 'I'll get my revenge on Doctor Frankenstein' Genz befriends local Neanderthal Ook ('Boris Lugosi'/Salvatore Baccaro). And with Ook the brawn to his brains the dwarf embarks on a second career as a ..., for when he's not spying on people undressing, he has his Neanderthal right hand man abduct village girls and take them back to a cave. The villagers already planning to storm Castle Frankenstein when dead girls go missing ('I'd go with you myself if I wasn't so crippled' moans one have-a-go villager) become even more enraged when live ones start to disappear as well, and the torch waving mob are only kept at bay by Edmund Purdom's Prefect of police who does his best to sustain law and order. Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks is an uncharacteristic slice of Italian horror, in that it seems more influenced by the old Universal horror films and the peek-a-boo ... of American ...-cuties than anything coming out of Italy at the time. No combination like that could be completely without interest but Frankenstein's Castle never quite lives up to its potential (or its English language title) and is crippled by slow pacing and too much dead air in-between brain-transplants and wench worrying. Veterans Edmund Purdom and Rossano Brazzi both look to be fighting back the boredom as the Prefect and Count Frankenstein. Brazzi makes for an uncharismatic, unenthusiastic Frankenstein and when Purdom's character remarks 'I just don't understand this kind of madness' you can't help wondering the actor's reaction to the script was any different. Even less swinging times were had by Xiro Papas and Michael Dunn- both of whom passed away after acting in Frankenstein's Castle. Dunn who wasn't actually a dwarf per se (he suffered from a childhood disease that causes bones to become severely arthritic) appears to have spent the final years of his life travelling the world and appearing in the most offbeat movies you could imagine. He popped up in the UK (The Mutations), France (Too Small My Friend), Spain (House of the Damned) before this stop-off in Italy. Of all these films Frankenstein's Castle offers Dunn his largest role, but bigger was certainly not better with Genz portrayed as the textbook evil dwarf, forever ogling the women, being manhandled by the rest of the cast and called a 'miserable little worm'. To add insult to injury while Purdom and Brazzi dub their own voices Oklahoma born Dunn is dubbed by someone putting on a 'squeaky' voice that robs him of any posthumous dignity.
The token/Pseudonymous nature of the credits has always made the identities of the people behind Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks hard to determine. The Something Weird/Image DVD claims that director 'Robert. H. Oliver' is really the late exploitation movie mogul/producer Dick Randall. Hmmm..... Unquestionably Randall's money, business sense and second-hand car-salesman mentality made the world of exploitation films a more colourful place as his productions like The Wild, Wild World of Jayne Mansfield, King of Kong Island (both 1968), The Bogeyman and the French Murders (1972), Pieces (1981) and dozens more illustrate- but Randall's involvement with the creative side of filmmaking is more arguable. A year or so ago I asked director Mel Welles about Randall's involvement with his film Lady Frankenstein, and while Randall was crucial in setting that film up he had minimal on-set involvement... so I'm slightly sceptical he ever directed a film. Randall probably had some involvement with Frankenstein's Castle, but more likely candidates to be the man behind the camera are co-writer William Rose who also directed the Randall-produced Girl in Room 2A or DP Mario Mancini who made the wonderfully tacky Frankenstein 80.
With nothing by way of an audio commentary (most of the cast/crew mentioned are either dead or M.I.A) or the informative sleeve notes you'll find on their releases of Bloody Pit of Horror and Horrors of Spider Island, the Something Weird DVD isn't about to shed light on this mystery production but it does do the film justice. Presented full-screen with crystal clear quality the film looks like it could have been shot yesterday, something that can't be said of the film's tape incarnations over the years.
Of the extras only one relates to the feature (the original US trailer) the others are shorts that share Frankenstein's Castle's themes (gratuitous nudity, man made monsters). 'The Monster and the Maiden' is a B/W ... short from Sonny Amusements with the mildly entertaining spin that a ... stage-bound act is interrupted by the Frankenstein monster who rises from his coffin and eventually has to be dragged off-stage by the girl. While in 'Frankenstein and the Naughty Nurse', Dr.Frankenstein leaves his monster tied to a table with a leggy nurse for company. And because 'there's a man laying there, even if he is a monster' the nurse decides to pass the time by ... to easy listening music 'after all plenty of girls ... for middle-aged industrial magnates who are uglier than he is'. All in all, it's hard to completely dislike a film full of familiar faces, top heavy females, hunchbacks, pseudo-dwarfs and all manner of self-proclaimed cripples, but of all the Italian horror DVD's on the market, Frankenstein's Castle of Freaks isn't the one you're likely to return to on a regular basis.

Just seen this DVD..., i happened upon this title searching information about Xiro Papas and Frankenstein 80... If Frankenstein 80 is REALLY REALLY BAD, I think Castle Freaks is much better... i mean: lighting is sometimes good, editing is made by someone with minimum talent, and directig and performings are equally apropiate for this kind of movie. These things doesnt mean this was a good movie..., but it deserves one viewing at least. When you see it, you got the feeeling that the guys WANTED to do a creditable job..., and here the value is. Moreover, movies like Dracula VS Frankenstein(Adamson) are REALLY BAD( altough i love this title) and got a hit status and this one is able to make you feel sick or sad..., and it is almost unknown...Watching Castle Freaks will leave you with a bitter taste... i dont know exactly why, but i felt it...
Now watch how are portrayed the "freaks" specially the dwarf and the monster(Ewing)... dont you feel something unhappy???

Enjoyable.

Devotees of the horror genre must see this film!

An American thug blows into Manchester, England for a "job" and causes a crisis with the police and his former cronies who thought he was "out of business". Considering this is a Hammer production and directed by Val Guest, this is pretty tepid stuff. The film is so crisp and clean (even in the action sequences) it looks as if Guest was afraid to get his hands dirty. I can't call this "noir" at all. It's too sterile looking and the key noir elements aren't here. No shadowy suspense, no "dames" (as the package contends)--just ordinary looking wives and a middle-aged barmaid who looks like someone's mother, and no psychological conflict for any of the characters. Just hum-drum goings on with the cops-after-a-crook stuff. The acting is capable and the film looks great on DVD. Too bad it isn't better. With all the noir crime dramas that need to be on DVD and all the other Hammer films that SHOULD be on DVD by now---I found myself watching this and wondering "Why?" And by the way, despite the misleading title and the moody jazz score, there is no implication in this film that "hell is a city". It looks like quaint merry old Manchester, England having a busy day.

Hell is a City is a pretty good crime flick. Even though it is formulaic (cop vs. robber, heist, manhunt) the performances, setting and direction make it an interesting film for folks who like this kind of stuff.

"Hell Is A City" is a little-known Hammer film that garnered some of the company's best reviews at the time of its release in 1960. It was nominated for two British Academy Awards, for Best Screenplay (Val Guest) and Best Actor (Stanley Baker). The DVD from Anchor Bay is a beautiful black-and-white transfer, with crisp, sharp images. The cast is superb, and the pacing is excellent. Donald Pleasance (Halloween, Escape from New York) has a small role as a bank president who finds a little surprise in his attic.
The film comes with an alternate, "happier" ending that didn't sit well with writer/director Guest. However, I believe it's the first Hammer film released on VHS or DVD that comes with a second ending. If you're a Hammer fan, or a fan of film noir, you'll want "Hell Is A City" in your library...

Being a fan of the blaxploitation genre, I was excited to hear about the DVD release of BaadAssss Cinema. However, upon viewing it, I became very disappointed. First, let me start off by saying that the 56-minute running time does not justify the price being charged for this DVD. Second, this title is anything but a bold look at 70's blaxploitation films. The documentary is organized by years, which doesn't work well. It would have been more interesting and flowed better if it were organized by different styles of blaxploitation films, such as gangster films or horror films, or films featuring strong female leads. The documentary focuses almost exclusively on films starring people who were interviewed, such as Pam Grier, Fred Williamson, Gloria Hendry, Quentin Tarantino, and Melvin Van Peebles. A lot of time is devoted to Sweet Sweetback's BaadAsssss Song, Shaft, and Pam Grier's Foxy Brown and Coffy. There's no denying that these films played a pivotal role in the blaxploitation movement, but why isn't Dolemite included? Is it because Rudy Ray Moore wasn't interviewed? The documentary is astonishingly shortsighted. No mention is made of movies like Abby, the black rip-off of The Exorcist, or Darktown Strutters, or even the Shaft sequels for that matter. Were they left out because the filmmaker thought they were an embarrassment to the genre, or because they are too obscure for the target audience? Lastly, most people interviewed feel that the blaxploitation movement died out around 1976, so the remaining years of the 70's are left out. The only two post 1976 films featured are Original Gangstas and Jackie Brown, both made in the 90's. There is so much missing from this documentary, and the only people who will benefit from it are blaxploitation completists and people new to the genre. If you're looking for information on black cinema of the 1970's, I suggest the book "What It Is...What It Was!The Black Film Explosion of the '70s in Words and Pictures." Unlike BaadAssss Cinema, it features articles with insight and interviews that matter (ironically with many of the same people interviewed in BaadAsssss Cinema). Overall, BaadAssss Cinema fails to make the blaxploitation movement seem important.

"BaadAsssss Cinema" is not your usual dry, academic documentary. While the arrangement of material seems pretty random and scattershot, the clips are priceless as historical artifacts of the times and the prevailing social attitudes. The debate as to the potential racist tracts implicit and explicit in the movies is wisely avoided, and the importance of black visibility of any kind supersedes any moral judgment here. The place of blaxploitation films of this period in the overall history of Hollywood is examined very closely, with surprising results. If we are to believe it, these films saved Hollywood studios in the '70s --- only to have the studios themselves turn their back on black artists a decade later. However, political and financial debates about art only get in the way. What we really have here is a delicious compendium of scenes and interviews from one of America's most beloved cult genres. Pam Grier, the greatest Black Mamma of them all, is fascinating as she discusses the beginnings of her prodigious career. Melvin Van Peebles, one of the few black artists to retain complete control of his films, discusses his seminal "Sweet Sweetback's BaadAsssss Song," arguably the first film in the genre. Isaac Hayes, composer and actor and "South Park" scion, talks about the groovy music essential for these movies. Richard Roundtree, Gloria Hendry and Fred Williamson all discuss the trials and triumphs of black performers creating, for the first time, a complete black identity on film. Quentin Tarantino,looking strangely pale, displays his goofy charm as he waxes rhapsodic about his first experience as a child attending his first black exploit film. These movies have been called the original guilty pleasure, and they are all enormously fun. This documentary shows a great cross-section of the movies and the artists, retaining all of the energy, action, comedy and sex we associate with these movies. Although it may be less fun yelling back at your television set alone than being part of a crowd on a Saturday night, Superfly, Shaft and all them guys (and their gals) still pack a wallop. (Submitted by staff member Stephen J. Finn)

We were so excited to see this video, since our 2-year-old daughter is a HUGE Bear in the Big Blue House fan. We were expecting the usual Bear shows, pertaining to careers and the work people do in the community. It was such a disappointment. The video was more movie-like, and didn't carry out some of the normal favorites of a Bear show. My daughter, for the first time, actually completely lost interest not even halfway through the first part. The second show is a continuation of the first part, and Bear didn't even sing the "Goodbye" song after the first show. Ojo moped and was basically "depressed" throughout the entire show.

In the video, a tree falls on the library, and the commuity works together to repair the library and collect new books for it. The original plan is to remove the tree from the library (like what would realistically be done), but when Ojo meets 2 moles who live in the tree, she feels sorry for them that they will lose their home. In the end, the tree stays, lying in the middle of the floor in the library.

It was nice, and age-appropriate, to tell how the community worked together, but I don't think the solution was a realistic one. How many libraries are going to sport a large decaying tree with animals (not to mention BUGS!) running around it in the middle of the floor? Overall, I think it could have put more emphasis on showing the people rebuilding the building together, not on Ojo's displaced tree residents. Oh, and be prepared--Ray is now merely computer generated in a cartoon-like fasion, rather than the traditional puppet.

My daughter loves Bear, and this special is one of her favorites. It was written in response to Sept. 11, and it is very reassuring. It's true that the format is a bit different- this was a double length special, so there isn't a goodbye song in the middle. I guess if your child isn't really following the stories, this might be more of a risk, but my two year old has been watching and loving it it for months. She likes seeing all of the extra characters that are not in every episode. As for realism, our local library has several trees inside! Besides, how can you expect realism from a show with talking animals, one of whom is a green striped lemur?

It's weird how the writer/director of such exciting blockbusters such as ID4 and The Patriot could create such a strange film. I'll try my hardest to recount the plot.

Two ultra-cheap filmmakers (art reflects life) have a great idea for a movie and rope in an unwilling but attractive starlet and make up a Muppet-like monster based on the photographs of a long-dead grandfather's butler. A rival studio producer wants to blow up the grandfather's house as the climax to his big budget movie so the butler's ghost comes back to possess the Muppet doll to lead them to hidden billions in the cellar.

It's not a bad film, by no means, it's quite cringeworthy in places but inconsistently entertaining. There are no big name stars or SFX but that is made up for with bizarre plotting and storyline.

This film is more in the style of Roland Emmerich in his Making Contact/Moon 44 days. But if he had the budget he gets these days who knows what this film might have ended up as. I give it 3/5 for weirdness, plot and defying convention.

The DVD is in Mono and is cropped to fullscreen instead of the theatrical 2.35:1.

An early work of Roland Emmerich but besides Stargate it's his best work for me so far.

A movie you won't love cause of thrilling special effects (there aren't any) or a million dollar budget (there isn't)- but for a nice, dazzling story, funny actors & quotes (Fred rules !) and the cutest ghost you've ever seen (ok he might look a bit like E.T. but whatever). And the starting song says it - "Imagination - that's all i want from you !"

Joining Warren (the symphatic [dumb] type - eating cornflakes with beer for breakfast) and Fred (the nerdy inventor - always full of weird ideas)in the quest for some money to pay their bills is a cheeky adventure with a lots of gags and ghostly appearances(butler louis is still my number one movie ghost).

Seeing that picture makes we want to hit Emmerich upside the head for creating a superficial plot and charakters like in "Godzilla" where this movie shows that he KNOWS how to do it. Maybe all this money clouded your mind, Roland ?

This is movie for the whole family - entertaining, funny and cute. You maybe ask yourself now if you should give this flic a chance. "Yes and no." "What do you mean with .. yes and no ?" "Heavy losses on both sides." "Great ..." You'll love it or hate it. Find out for yourself.

A couple of nice-looking girls but the feature doesn't live up to the title, nor what the cover of the product implies. Yes, they're "big and busty" but some of those poor girls must have gone to bargain-price surgeons for their enhancements. This is more like an "R" rated feature and it's not very erotic.

the footage in this movie is excellent. The women are very beautiful. I would like to see more black women.

no commen

The movie's more like 2 and a half but I gave it the benefit of being rounded up. The movie is about a drifter who has an affair with his brother's neglected wife. The plot's been done before but the performances here are great and are what make the movie. Until this movie I had seen two Adrienne Shelly movies, Trust and The Unbelievable Truth. I could tell Adrienne had something but suffered under Hal Hartley's stagey direction. In Grind, she was finally allowed to become the character and show what an actress she could be. Billy Crudup and the the guy who plays Terry as well. They become the characters and I also like fact that the people in this movie are believable, realistic.
Shelly is still in her late thirties and I hope that Hollywood gives her "the role".

Billy Crudup plays a screw-up who comes back to town and wreaks havoc in the lives of his brother and his sister-in-law. Adrienne Shelly plays the wife, and there is real chemistry between Crudup and Shelly, and the resolution of the conflict between the brothers is very believable. The movie is very quiet and it has a way of speaking volumes without having much said on the screen. This is a low-budget film that relies on characters to drive the story instead of quirky personality traits. You won't be disappointed if you like character-driven drama. The only quibble is why the handsome Billy Crudup insists on playing roles where he is perpetually unkempt.

GRIND is a small, oddly affecting indie film which escapes its soap opera plotting and ends up an overlooked gem. The story concerns two brothers, the older a stable, married father-to-be, the other a n'er do well just released from prison. Though lovingly taken into the older brother's home, the 'bad' brother just can't seem to escape trouble with desperate characters, not to mention his passionate affair with the brother's confused wife. The movie takes some harrowing turns and is very tasteful with the sexual interludes, allowing some fine character development and a surprising and satisfying conclusion. Indie film vet Adrienne Shelley adds another fine performance to her growing resume of odd films, but the real star is the New York stage actor Billy Crudup (later to be seen in INVENTING THE ABBOTTS and SLEEPERS). With his expressions alternately menacing and innocent and a keen sense of his own power over the camera, this young actor is ready to take off into the stratosphere, not as a patented pretty boy, but as a deeply affecting dramatic talent. GRIND is a fine welcome for him, and for us--keep watching. END

Unlike the other reviewers, I am not an expert on Bava's oeuvre, although I know that horror film fans respect him highly. However, I have always enjoyed the Italian "spear and sandal" epics that were popular in the late 50s and early 60s, even when the setting moved north to Scandinavia and the heroes and villains were Vikings. Of course, this is what we have here.

I really enjoyed this movie. The simple plot is very familiar--one reviewer mentioned "Shane"--Clint Eastwood's "Man-With-No-Name" persona also comes to mind. Instead of bullets, we have blades. Cameron Mitchell--not always a great actor--is very effective here as the world-weary "avenger", searching for the man who destroyed his family. The otherwise Italian cast is adequate, although--given this type of movie--the villain could have been a bit more "hissable". The action scenes are well staged, and our hero's knife-throwing prowess certainly gets the viewer's attention.

What impressed me the most ? This film has a great "look"--it is beautifully photographed, which I understand is a Bava trademark.
The DVD exhibits a gorgeous picture, and it is widescreen, both of which add much to the viewer's enjoyment. I have seen other Italian action pictures of the same vintage on DVD that did not exhibit such quality.

This movie is not in the same league as "The Vikings" or even "The Long Ships" ( The latter is due for release on DVD in June 2003--great news ! ) Nevertheless, with a much more modest budget and story, "Knives" is entertaining and--kudos to Mr. Bava and the people at Image--beautiful to watch.

So put on the popcorn, break out the beer, and enjoy it !

It's great that Bava's films are finally being released in the US. I grew weary of buying one poor dub after another. I had lost interest in the maestro's work until his films resurfaced on laser disc in the nineties. Now, with the popularity of the DVD format even more facets of Bava's career are being revealed. Beyond his classic horror films there are smaller gems like Rabid Dogs, 5 Dolls For An August Moon and this film, Knives of The Avenger. According to Tim Lucas' always informative liner notes Bava made this film so quickly that he finished three-quarters of the film in less than a week. After watching the picture I never would have guessed that such a fine looking film could be made so fast (or cheaply), but that is part of Bava's genius isn't it. Knives... is not a great film but it is enjoyable. The film's plot and look doesn't differ much from Leone's western films. The anti-hero of this picture is Cameron Mitchell. He's scruffy, looks like he smells awful, and he's just as quick with a knife as Eastwood is with a pistol. He's a loner condemned to a life of wandering. Other than the excessive jumping into the air at an opponent (a ridiculous feat that I doubt any skilled fighter would do) the fight scenes in this film are well staged. The added bonus here is Mitchell's endless supply of knives (Bava's idea). The film has a great score, but that too follows the spaghetti western formula. Despite some of the lame dialogue, "She's dead", Knives Of The Avenger is well acted. The DVD is decently letterboxed and the colors are fairly strong. The disc comes with a heavily damaged black and white trailer and a small supplement of production photos and poster stills. Take a close look at the production pictures and you'll see Mitchell's stunt double. The disc also comes with English and Italian language options but no subtitles.

This is a very strong Mario Bava film that under the Nordic costumes and settings it comes across more as a western, with a terrific performance by Cameron Mitchell (who collaborated with Bava for Erik The Conqueror and Blood And Black Lace). Mitchell plays a beggar who saves a woman and her son from being assaulted by a couple of men with his prowess with knives (hence the title). The movie's familial themes, along with the avenger's conflicts between two divided camps makes this one of Bava's most engrossing and endearing films. This DVD comes with a four page booklet with liner notes by Tim Lucas, a Mario Bava biography and filmography, theatrical trailer, photo and poster gallery, and trailers from other Mario Bava's films.
A worthwhile experience. Check it out!

Jack Lyons is a successful pilot who dies when his plane explodes in midair. His widow, Kathryn, is left with bittersweet memories and endless questions. In addition, she finds that government officials suspect him of causing the disaster. Kathryn begins unveiling Jack's secret life.
The acting is very well done, especially by Christine Lahti as the despondent Kathryn Lyons. The plot has such potential.
Yet, "The Pilot's Wife" failed to hold my interest. I didn't doze off, but I also didn't root for any of the characters or feel satisfied when the credits began rolling.
The scenery doesn't help much. This is a very dark movie - literally. How can I be concerned with what's going on when every scene is so darn bleak? Granted, the story isn't particularly lighthearted, but can't we get some color into this movie??
This movie is just not enjoyable, and that's all there is to it.

A commercial jetliner explodes off the English coast, killing all on board. The recovered voice recorder indicates a struggle in the cockpit just before the crash. It appears that the pilot may have smuggled a bomb onto the plane and detonated it, causing the tragedy.

Christine Lahti stars as the wife that learns life-shattering truths about her late husband (John Heard seen in flashbacks). Campbell Scott is featured as union representative that comes to Lahti to provide support. All three are believable in their respective roles.

A taut script, good performances, interesting cinematography, and a evocative score make this 2001 production an above average TV movie.

It's no wonder that its initial 2001 airing was cancelled due to the events of September 11th.

There's "food for thought" here.

The Pilot's Wife is my all time favorite book. When I found the made for TV movie on DVD, I was both intrigued and skeptical. The book is both emotionally wrenching and touching at once. I had no idea if it could be pulled off in a movie, particularly a made for TV movie.

That said, I was almost entirely pleasantly surprised. The movie, for the most part, stays close to the story line in the book, although it doesn't follow the book precisely. Kathryn (Christine Lahti) learns at the beginning, that a plane piloted by her husband has gone down off the coast of Ireland. Campbell Scott is amazing as Robert Hart who, as a union representitive, is the bearer of the bad news.

In the days following the plane crash, Kathryn must not only deal with the grief and take care of her daughter (Alison Pill), but must come to terms with the fact that maybe she didn't know her husband as well as she thought. As lies and secrets are uncovered around her, Kathryn must figure out who Jack (her husband, played in flashbacks by John Heard) really was.

All in all, this is an excellent movie and I really enjoyed it. My only complaint though (and it's a big one, to me anyway) is that the end takes a huge detour from the book. Due to [Amazon.com's] spoiler rules and the fact that I don't want to ruin the ending for those who haven't seen it, I won't elaborate more than that. Suffice to say the ending for the movie was a huge disappointment. My only solace in the ending is that the movie covers a much shorter time period than the book, and thus I consoled myself by thinking that maybe the movie just hadn't gotten as far as the book. This movie still ranks 5 stars because it is so well done and does pack an emotional impact that is at least comparable to the book. My only real complaint is the ending.

All in all though, this is an excellent movie and I recommend it without reservations.