Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves

Directed by: Kevin Reynolds

Written by: Pen Densham and John Watson










When trying to decide where to start again with this blog, I decided that it would be best to start with something "older." This movie is not old in the literal sense, but it is very old in my mind. Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves is one of the first movies I can recall seeing in the theater, and when it popped up as an option for streaming, I figured it would be worth re-visiting and might prove to be a good film to help me back into the saddle of blogging here.

To start: I can't believe my parents took me as a child to see this movie. It's not at all like the cartoon Robin Hood I would have been familiar with going into it. It's dark. It's violent. (Nowadays we'd probably call it a "gritty re-imagining.")

It's also very long. The word "bloated" comes to mind. I kept checking to see how much more time was left, not because I was bored but because the pacing of the story was so inconsistent.

This movie has all the right pieces, but is so hit-or-miss that it never quite settles in to all the pieces working together. Although there are many great actors in here, there are issues with the acting being very ham. (Would it be cliche here to point out Kevin Costner's Mid-Western accent not quite working? Why have Sean Connery arrive for one scene and about three lines?) Although there are many great action scenes, there are issues with those scenes being reduced to camera tricks. (How many times did the movie jump to a "point of view from the flying arrow"?) Although the story should be compelling, there are issues with some of the drama being forced. (What exactly were we supposed to feel when Will Scarlett reveals his parentage? Why did the Scots come and go so quickly?)

I was caught up in this movie at times. Alan Rickman snivels and sneers like a master. Morgan Freeman awkwardly pulls off his part as Azeem. Moments of tension, such as the hanging at the wedding, were convincingly dramatic.

This movie screams 1991. And, despite its weaknesses, it holds up as a proto-typical big 1991 film.

Field of Dreams

Directed by: Phil Alden Robinson

Written by: W.P. Kinsella (book); Phil Alden Robinson (screenplay)










"Field of Dreams" is a film about baseball and yet not about baseball. It is, instead, about the things that tie one generation of Americans to the previous and the next. Baseball is merely the medium the film uses to discuss this theme.

Kevin Costner shines in this film (which, I hate to say, he rarely does). He brings the confusion and anguish of Ray Kinsella to life. His supporting cast does a great job, too. James Earl Jones as Terrence Mann steals every scene he is in and plays well off Costner. (And, as a brief side note, the Mann character was modeled after J.D. Salinger, but he threatened to sue, and so the character was altered enough to avoid litigation.) Burt Lancaster plays one of the most memorable characters and manages to navigate the emotional climax of the film.

Baseball serves as the backdrop to the story, but runs like a red seam through the entire film. I wouldn't categorize this as a sports film, though. It's a story, more, about family. It's about the search for history and the resolution of dreams left unfulfilled.

This is, by far, one of my favorite movies, and the end nearly brings me to tears every time I see it.