Reviews

It seems like Hollywood's lack of new content and ideas, is taking them to twist the good old characters into some sort of new and sad shade of what they used to be. This is certainly NOT the Robin Hood we are used to. It could have been called Walter Smith or something... I mean, they somewhat twisted the story into something new. If you like Russell Crowe, you should go and see this movie, but if you liked the Kevin Costner Robin Hood... well, maybe you are going to be a bit disappointed. Where are all those "merry men" that Robin Hood used to have? Robin don't steal the rich to feed the poor here, it's a completely new story! It's not a bad one, but somewhat inconsistent, and it is NOT Robin Hood the prince of thieves.

I like to see Jude Law and Robert Downey Jr.on the screen, but if Conan Doyle were living, he would go and kill himself after watching this movie. It is NOT Sherlock Holmes, and Watson is not Watson here. They are completely and awfully twisted. I like very much the Sherlock Holmes character and it was a painful experience to watch this movie. In fact, I just didn't watch it completely. After half an hour I couldn't take it anymore.If you are a fan of Sherlock Holmes, do a favor to yourself and do not watch this movie. I think the characterization of the characters was awful. Sherlock Holmes is not an action man, it's taller, older, he notes things almost without watching people. Watson shouldn't be smarter than Sherlock! Come on Hollywood, next time, CREATE new characters, instead of stealing old but good ones.

It contain spoilers! I love David Niven, and I really like Shirley MacLaine, so when I read the plot of this movie, I wanted to watch it. It's a silly little romantic comedy, where there's this girl (Maclaine) who comes to the big apple to get a job and find a husband. The movie has a few scenes filled with sexual insinuations, because Maclaine has to get rid of a couple of guys that just wanted to get laid. So, men are portrayed as sexual wolves or something like that, at least with someone like her: a young girl who doesn't know how a big city works. Then, after quitting her job, she goes to a marketing company that is paying $2 to anyone that tastes a new cigarette brand. That company is run by 2 brothers: The older one, (Niven) who is a stiff fellow and doesn't care about anything but work, and the younger (Young), who is a cute playboy, who doesn't care about anything but women. So, she enters Niven's office to run the test and everything goes wrong, as she doesn't even smoke. She gets out quickly, only to run into the younger brother, who likes her immediately and hires her as a new employee, in spite of his older brother's opinion, who doesn't want her there. After a while, she discovers that she can apply the marketing techniques to nail down the younger brother, so she asks Niven to help her, as if she were a new customer.

He agrees, because he wanted his brother to get married and put his head into work instead of women, and the idea appeals to him, as an experiment.

He (Niven) gets his brother's little black book with all of his girls' telephones, and starts to date each one of the girls, so he can understand what attracted his brother to each one. And when he gets the idea, he passes the information to her. So MacLaine gets "modified" according to the "potential consumer's" taste.

Naturally, both Niven and MacLaine find they are in love with each other, just when Young proposes to her; but now she doesn't want Young anymore, because she discovers that beyond the rough surface, Niven is a sensitive, nice, decent man. But he doesn't make a move (because she's his brother's girl), so, she leaves them, to go after his former boyfriend (the one who wanted to get laid, who is played by Rod Taylor), and tells him that if the offer is still open, she will take it. So they get a train to his cabin in the country.

She tells her girlfriends what she's gonna do, and they tell Niven, who go after her, with Young of course.

In the train, MacLaine gets a bit drunk, and starts to say that she doesn't want to go to the cabin, that she was in a very low mood then, but she feels better now, and that going there is just craziness. In that moment appears both Niven and Young. Niven is outraged, and tells Young that if he loves her, he must punch the guy (Taylor). As Young don't feel like punching anybody, Niven goes after the guy, fiercely. Seeing how his brother acts, Young realizes that Niven is in love with MacLaine. (While realizing that she loves his brother also, because the drunk girl tells him that she loves Niven).

If you liked Sabrina, My Fair Lady, The Sound of music, Love Actually etc. You'll find this movie pretty amusing. Niven is a bit older, but never that much as Humphrey Bogart!! He's still very sexy, and very cute.

If you're like me, you'll love this movie, despite its silliness.

Please, be warned, it contains spoilers!!! . . I love David Niven, so, naturally, I wanted to see this movie. He's charming (as always),and the film was, indeed very well done. The music, the flashbacks, the characters are pretty well portrayed. So, that's why I've voted this movie a "5". Because, the other "5" points that it needs it's the story itself!

Come on! They tell you this is "Just About the Most Wonderful Love Story Ever Filmed!" Yeah, sure. They put David Niven and Teresa Wright on the cover, smiling... so you believe it. But it's not a nice little love story. Everyone ends up alone, sad, and dead. Well, the "new generation", I mean the American ambulance driver and the Canadian pilot, gets to survive, and you can tell that they do survive and can get together because of Niven's advice... but that's not enough for me. In a love story... I want love! There's a lack of fulfillment in this movie that I can't take it. Let's face it, I like happy endings. But isn't that what they sell to you when they add that tagline?!

If you are a fan of David Niven, go and watch it, If you like sad movies, when you end up with a tear or two, go and watch it.

But don't expect a happy "lived together ever after" ending. There's a lot of sadness in that house. You just want to enter the movie and punch Selina (Niven's sister, who is the jerk that put them apart).

This movie is very accurate telling how people lived in Buenos Aires at the beginning of the century. It has very witty dialogs, and very good actors. It contains an intelligent critic of society, and politics. I've found a short clip of this movie, that shows how politics were in Argentina here: http://www.ligadelconsorcista.org/node/1321 It tells the life of a middle-class family, and how years came and go. How the children grow up and marry, and how some beloved ones dies, and tells how some things in Argentine's society changes, and how some other things should change, or should have changed. If you study sociology, this is a very interesting movie. Buenos Aires's society was full of European immigrants that added so much to the criollos. In two words: Worth watching.