Review of The Night of the Iguana (1964) by Alex S — 14 Aug 2009

Stop me if you've heard this one before: an ex-priest working as a tour guide in Mexico, a teenage girl, an old flame and a traveling artist who is broke all spend one night in a coastal hotel where emotions explode and Tennessee Williams puts his name on the aftermath.

That's more or less the plot (slightly less... I haven't even touched on the overbearing mother, the tour group of women, Skip Ward as an escapee from a "Fred from 'Scooby-Doo' Appreciation Group," two guys dancing with maracas at all times, the poetic grandpa, etc.

) and for the most part, this thing takes off. No one in here puts in a weak performance, and special note must be given to Richard Burton as the ex-priest for running the emotional gauntlet as he does.

While the scenery is beautiful and the shots are well-thought, at the end of the day, this is a play adapted for the big screen and the dialog is what is going to make it. Now I haven't read the play or seen it performed but this thing loses steam in the final 40 minutes as one element in this lover's quarrel is removed entirely and a conclusion that is practically forced on the players is reached.

If that's how it all shakes out in the actual play, add another star to this review. If not, well, try and seek this one out because it is actually a fairly entertaining show... despite sounding like a lame b-movie horror experience.