The Last Tycoon on DVD
Well, theres two hours well never get back.
Its a shame, too. Wed never seen this movie before, but when we
saw the names Elia Kazan coupled with Robert De Niro, Robert Mitchum, Harold
Pinter, Ray Milland, Tony Curtis, Jeanne Moreau, Jack Nicholson, Donald Pleasence
and Sam Spiegel, we figured we couldnt lose.
We were wrong.
The Last Tycoon was the great Kazans last film and, alas, he went out
not with a bang but with a whimper. This is one tedious movie (in fact, it has
enough tedium for two movies) that seems far longer than its 123 minutes.
All is not bad, however. De Niro is excellent as Monroe Stahr, a wunderkind
Hollywood movie producer of the 1930s supposedly based on Irving Thalberg.
De Niro is driven, yet human, and haunted by a lost love he thinks he finds
anew in a lookalike who proceeds to screw up his life royally.
The movie basically amounts to a soap opera in which Stahrs increasing
obsession with the girl (Ingrid Boulting) affects the rest of his life and his
work and ends up with his being given the boot - at least temporarily - by the
studio brass (which includes Mitchum and Milland).
Everything is indeed in place for this to be a terrific movie. The all-star
cast, not surprisingly, is excellent, and the production values of this period
piece are top notch. But somethings missing. We never felt involved, drawn
into the movie and never really cared that much for the characters - though
we must admit that we rooted for De Niros character and hoped hed
end up getting the girl.
Alas, theres no Hollywood ending here (well
) and this sterile piece
of filmmaking ended up causing us to be checking our watches repeatedly, wondering
just how a movie with such potential could leave us so cold.
The film was based on an unfinished novel by F. Scott Fitzgerald and is supposed
to be an engrossing tale of studio politics. And all but the engrossing part
is there.
The DVD is pretty good, though sparse. Paramount has given it a nice anamorphic
widescreen (16x9 TV compatible) treatment and the picture quality is for the
most part very good. The image is sharp, the colors are deep and rich and though
theres some grain in evidence at times, overall its a pleasant task
for the eyes to watch this DVD.
Audio is offered in two versions: restored mono (or momo as it
says on the box) and Dolby Digital 5.1. The latter doesnt really have
any surround, but it does spread the musical instruments across the front channels
and is overall a more pleasant version of the soundtrack. Audio quality is good,
not great, but theres nothing really wrong with it other than the odd
bit of distortion.
There are no extras, alas. It would have been nice to see some making
of or other background info that could have explained how a movie with
such potential fell so short of it. But what can you do?
The Last Tycoon, from Paramount Home Video
123 min. anamorphic widescreen (1.85:1, 16x9 TV compatible) Dolby Digital 5.1
surround and restored mono
Starring Robert De Niro, Tony Curtis, Robert Mitchum, Jeanne Moreau, Jack Nicholson,
Donald Pleasence, Ray Milland, Dana Andrews,
Produced by Sam Spiegel
Written by Harold Pinter, Directed by Elia Kazan
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