Review of The Freshman (1990) by Ross B — 02 Jan 2012
Andrew Bergman's film is a love letter to the gangster films that he seems to have loved. Matthew Broderick plays Clark Kellogg, a freshman NYU film student from Vermont. Clark is immediately ripped off once he gets to New York by Victor Ray (Bruno Kirby), a car service operator who steals all of Clark's belongings.
When Clark catches up with him, Victor says that he has all of Clark's belongings except that he does not have the money that he had. Victor offers to pay him back by giving him a job with his uncle Carmone.
Carmone Sabatini (Marlon Brando channeling a certain former role), who has a striking resemblance to a certain movie character, is a "legitimate importer of goods" who offers Clark $1000 a week to simply run some errands for him.
What follows is a crazy series of events that center around a komodo dragon. The film is fun to watch and does not take itself extremely serious. There is clearly a love and admiration for the Godfather films and Brando does channel a bit of his old gravitas.
Broderick once again plays the every man well. It is a fun comedy for anyone who enjoys mafia movies or who simply remembers the troubles that come with being a freshman in the big city.
This review of The Freshman (1990) was written by Ross B on 02 Jan 2012.
The Freshman has generally received positive reviews.
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