Spoonatects Am i the only one who thinks........Average?

Matrixiole Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

ActuallyGlimmer The best films of this genre always show a path and provide a takeaway for being a better person.

Aneesa Wardle The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

Jonathan Roberts 'The Fortune' is a crime comedy, centred around the dubious exploits of two 1920s conmen, promisingly played by Jack Nicholson and Warren Beatty. Their job is to cheat a wealthy woman out of her fortune, and the film starts off positively. The film's song, 'I Must Be Dreaming', is quite enjoyable, and I was glad to see Nichols reuse it in the credits at the end. Unfortunately, it all goes downhill from the hopeful first scene. The premise was interesting, but it may have been performed better if the film was more serious. It felt a little like a rom-com, road movie version of 'The Great Gatsby', and the effect wasn't very good. The script was a little off at times, and I think that, in places, Beatty failed to remain on Nicholson's level during their usually fun exchanges. There were a few genuinely funny scenes, but I don't think there were enough of them to justify watching this. Other scenes degenerated into mind- numbing silliness, almost to the point where the viewer forgets the plot or the premise of 'The Fortune'. Overall, I was quite disappointed with this film. Nicholson, as ever, delivered a great performance, but I don't think that 'The Fortune' operated along the right lines. It could have channelled the atmosphere of 'McCabe & Mrs. Miller', or been a serious Prohibition crime film, but its direction steered it into becoming a very mediocre comedy.

eric262003 It seems ironic that three doomed projects that Mike Nichols directed starred Jack Nicholson ("The Fortune", "Heartburn" and What Planet Are You From?"). Nicholson along with Meryl Streep was in "Heartburn" and Warren Beatty and in "The Fortune" which marked the debut of Stockard Channing of "Grease" fame.I have a problem of watching stupid people commit some of the dumbest things. It makes me cringe to see such talented performers like Beatty, Nicholson and Channing would lower their standards to playing these characters. Even awful films like "Ishtar" directed by Nichols and starring Beatty has more things going for over the abominable "The Fortune". This movie takes its place in the annals of other 1970's stinkers like "The Frisco Kid" that starred an odd pairing of Gene Wilder and Harrison Ford and was directed by Robert Aldrich (both were period pieces with "The Frisco Kid" set in 1850's while "The Fortune" was set in the roaring 1920's).Due to the restriction of the Mann Act, it was against the law that a man to transport a woman across state lines for purposes that were deem immoral, which was at the time having sex outside of wedlock. To avoid such penalization, the cautious Nicky (Warren Beatty), who's struggling from divorcing his wife, manipulates his friend Oscar (Jack Nicholson) to marry Frederica (Stockard Channing), who's about to become extremely wealthy. She was oblivious when her husband arrived at the wedding ceremony drunk orchestrated by Nicky. The three travel by berths from the East to Los Angeles and settle in a stucco house that is owned by a workaholic Mrs. Gould (Florence Stanley).Oscar wants to go over some nuptial agreements to this marriage and property matters (which also means intercourse to prevent this marriage from being null and void). Nicky is harried at his friend's neediness and idiocy to the person he falsely claims he loves.Once Freddie knows that she's being conned by the two men who are after her fortune, she starts becoming vocal about donating the fortune she's about to receive. This means that the boys must do something drastic before she does such a task. The antics are awkward and lacks in anything logical even for a screwball comedy. There's no wit or reasonable approach to their schemes to the point where you don't really care for the characters.It's a complex procedure as to find the right ingredient for a comedy to work, but it's even more complex into unravel how a comedy can flop. I mean the script was written by Carole Eastman who in past wrote several films in which Nicholson starred in like "The Shooting" and "Five Easy Pieces". You have a very capable director Mike Nichols who has been more successful in adaptations like "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?" and "Angels in America". And we have top quality stars here like Warren Beatty, Jack Nicholson and Stockard Channing who have had great success in the movie world. So where did we go wrong? I can play the blame game to just about anyone, but the culprits behind this abomination goes to writer Eastman and director Nichols. Eastman wrote pedestrian dialogue, awful characters, the plot devices are incoherent and she had the chance to edit out these abysmal devices and try to make it work. The horrible comical timing is partly Nichols to blame as well as the thespians. It's not he was a stranger to them (he directed Nicholson in the 1971 classic "Carnal Knowledge"). Beatty does not have much humour implanted in him, but had his moments in "Bulworth" which he directed himself.Sure there may have been some people who found this film funny and you know what? That's fine you are all entitled to your opinions. It's no surprise that the Coen Brothers like it (especially Joel). To each their own I say. If you are curious to see this movie, well do not let me stop you. I just will not consider watching it again, ever.

stanistreet Stockhard Channing must be one of the most underrated comediennes about. This is an hilarious film. gridoon, who found it disappointing, seems to base his critique on the quality of the cast; Nicholson; Beatty & Channing. His expectations were probably pitched too high - and, sure, Five Easy Pieces is amazing, and Bonnie & Clyde is a classic. But The Fortune can stand on its own. It is very funny. The pace is hectic and the storyline has resonances of "It Happened One Night". The difference being that in the "The Fortune", the heroine is kidnapped - a botched attempt by two incompetents (Nicholson & Beatty). The so-called Swedish Syndrome seems to have rooted here, in that the captive falls for her captors & doesn't want to be saved. This film is well worth putting into DVD format - all Regions, please.

ptb-8 A box office failure upon release, it just seems impossible to believe this genuinely hilarious film did not hit with audiences then and now is not the iconic cast and title it deserves to be. Columbia must have been aghast when it didn't set the box office on fire especially given what major stars Nicholson and Beatty were in '75. It is hard to find this film and if you have the time and luck to find a copy, try and also get THE FRONT and THE CHEAP DETECTIVE two other Columbia films around the same time that were reasonable successes and deserve to be major titles in anyone's home library.In Australia each of these films + HIGH ANXIETY suffered from the intro of colour TV and the cinemas all took a nosedive for 4 years 74-78. Very few films in thie period were big hits and cinemas closed in dozens. Pity as so many great films were made then and this comedy genuinely is one.