Don't know how many will ever see the 2,086th comment in this site - but just saw a friend's DVD of this film, again. I had missed it due to being in Europe on an extended business trip when it played first-run, and caught some portions of it a few years later, and then completely sometime following.
This was the third or fourth time I'd seen it straight through, and it is one of those very rare films which is as good - maybe even better - on successive viewings.
Robbins, Freeman, Gunton, and all of the remaining cast - whether in larger supporting roles or smaller - are outstanding, without a single exception.
My friend is a computer whiz, with an IQ of probably 150, and widely-expert expert in this area. But he's so immersed in this realm, that whenever forced to use pen and paper (instead of mouse or keyboard) he does so on about the 5th-grade level. After the film (he had bought the DVD, but had never seen it before) he stated he didn't feel the Robbins character could have pulled-off all the shenanigans with the money, from prison via mail (and perhaps sometimes using a messenger of the warden's) the way the film depicted -- whereas today, if such an inmate had a computer terminal available, it would be more possible.
I told him I felt certain the opposite was true. In the era of the story, a very intelligent financially-adept individual - especially a former whiz-kid bank V.P. - could have done what was shown even more effectively and successfully than via computer today, with all the firewalls, and in-house computer nerds any bank has. Someone with both tremendous financial and hacker ability might - but not as easily as Tim did, during a period when signatures and figures on paper and the like were the governing elements.
This aspect is one of the most critical and climactic for the story and its very satisfying ending. And Gunton, a tremendous actor who has done many sympathetic characters, presents one of the best performances portraying a truly evil person - more so for the quieter and "nasty-nice" elements of this portrayal. He juxtaposes quiet demeanor, often even pious, with completely selfish, vicious, amoral actions, as well as humanly possible, with his performance in this role
This is a film for which the term "perfect piece of entertainment" does not exaggerate.
This was the third or fourth time I'd seen it straight through, and it is one of those very rare films which is as good - maybe even better - on successive viewings.
Robbins, Freeman, Gunton, and all of the remaining cast - whether in larger supporting roles or smaller - are outstanding, without a single exception.
My friend is a computer whiz, with an IQ of probably 150, and widely-expert expert in this area. But he's so immersed in this realm, that whenever forced to use pen and paper (instead of mouse or keyboard) he does so on about the 5th-grade level. After the film (he had bought the DVD, but had never seen it before) he stated he didn't feel the Robbins character could have pulled-off all the shenanigans with the money, from prison via mail (and perhaps sometimes using a messenger of the warden's) the way the film depicted -- whereas today, if such an inmate had a computer terminal available, it would be more possible.
I told him I felt certain the opposite was true. In the era of the story, a very intelligent financially-adept individual - especially a former whiz-kid bank V.P. - could have done what was shown even more effectively and successfully than via computer today, with all the firewalls, and in-house computer nerds any bank has. Someone with both tremendous financial and hacker ability might - but not as easily as Tim did, during a period when signatures and figures on paper and the like were the governing elements.
This aspect is one of the most critical and climactic for the story and its very satisfying ending. And Gunton, a tremendous actor who has done many sympathetic characters, presents one of the best performances portraying a truly evil person - more so for the quieter and "nasty-nice" elements of this portrayal. He juxtaposes quiet demeanor, often even pious, with completely selfish, vicious, amoral actions, as well as humanly possible, with his performance in this role
This is a film for which the term "perfect piece of entertainment" does not exaggerate.