Review of Finian's Rainbow (1968) by Bobby L — 09 Jun 2010
Fred Astaire bloddy rules! At age 69 he starred in this Francis Ford Coopola musical, made in 1968, based on a play from 1947. His performance is so genuinely charming, fun, and exuberant, that even when the film is about to be crushed by it's own bloated weight, there's still a small smile on your face, because, Astaire rules!
At 2 and a half hours, this film is far too damn long, and goes off on too many tangents. Why is there the subplot about smokeless cigarettes? Why does there need to be the investigation subplot?
However, the songs are rather catchy, and all sung extremely well, and again, Astaire just owns any time he's on the screen, making even the dumbest parts tolerable. The rest of the cast does fine, but merely, just fine.
The sets are fake as all get out. It's clearly astroturf and styrofoam trees, which is too damn bad, as so much of it takes place in the forest, it's really hard to get buy into everything while looking at such fake things. The fakery never becomes a staple, and thus never fully embraced, which if it had been, could've been great.
Coopola doesn't do much, obviously working under some harsh studio restrictions, and doesn't add much heart. He's too talented to really hinder the film, but can't corral it into a meanignful whole.
The final problem here is just how simple it is. It's politics are hamfisted, however noble, and there's not enough consequences. An oddity, with one amazing performance, and lots of good songs, but to what avail?
This review of Finian's Rainbow (1968) was written by Bobby L on 09 Jun 2010.
Finian's Rainbow has generally received mixed reviews.
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