Nonureva Really Surprised!

SparkMore n my opinion it was a great movie with some interesting elements, even though having some plot holes and the ending probably was just too messy and crammed together, but still fun to watch and not your casual movie that is similar to all other ones.

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Roy Hart If you're interested in the topic at hand, you should just watch it and judge yourself because the reviews have gone very biased by people that didn't even watch it and just hate (or love) the creator. I liked it, it was well written, narrated, and directed and it was about a topic that interests me.

aarosedi Many of the actors' parts in this film had been a sort of a poking fun their most well-known screen roles or celebrity personas. Marlon Brando plays a comedic version of Don Vito Corleone, the character that he parodizes with delight throughout the film. But there is a certain finesse and tenderness in his portrayal of Carmine Sabatini. He made the mobster employer more amiable and endearing than any other mobster character featured in the Godfather films, the kind that doesn't resort to uttering threats regarding offers that one can't possibly refuse. He relies instead on his charm in being an emphatic persuader (e.g. marrying off his daughter) in recruiting the film school freshman or convincing him to stay in his employ. It's his most accessible comedic film performance, if not his entire career. Broderick play Clark Kellogg, a clueless kid that has none of the wiles and a stark contrast to the role that made him the household name, the suave titular character in the hilarious Ferris Bueller's Day Off. Clark who arrives in NYC to enter college but not before he is befriended and smooth-talked by Victor Ray played by Bruno Kirby who will then lead the desperate student Clark to his boss/uncle Carmine. The henchman that Kirby plays is similarity to Clemenza, the one that introduces the young Vito Corleone to the mob life in the classic film The Godfather Part Two, the film which is coincidentally being studied in Clark's film school class, the one that professor Arthur Fleeber conducts. Paul Benedict plays the eccentric and narcissistic film professor who is a penchant for title dropping films every now and then to rub off his expertise in film knowledge that on the surface seems quite ill-suited, but upon closer scrutiny it's incredibly spot-on. Some people might remember him as that Mad Painter guy that always gets into different sorts of trouble because his zealous way of teaching number recognition in those Sesame Street comedic vignettes. Bert Parks, well-known as being the former Miss America pageant host, who also got his share of the fun as well, dedicating the "There She Is" song to a hapless komodo dragon. His musical performances near the end of the film performing classic hits such as "Tequila" and "Mona Lisa" with a live band in a spectacular stage set designed by the legendary Ken Adams is a beholding spectacle. There's also Maximilian Schell, celebrated for his Oscar-winning performance in Judgment at Nuremberg, who hams through his role as Larry London, the chef who's responsible for preparing the dishes for the exclusive nomadic club Carmine is hosting. Also notable are the enjoyable performances of the young actors that will soon make their mark in the film world. Penelope Ann Miller's Tina is someone who embraces her father Carmine's notoriety as a mobster which is quite a hoot, Frank Whaley's charming take as the late-'80s-early-90's dapper roommate/classmate who gets dragged into Clark's mob errands, and B.D. Wong's take as London's Zen-ish associate gives the film it's most significant quote, "Well, without humor, what do we have?" I had to applaud how Andrew Bergman turned a somewhat grim premise into a charming one where he created an insightful script where all the film's characters and elements are seamlessly juxtaposed, kind of resembles the Kandinsky painting seen as a poster on Clark's dorm room. Not a single scene or character is wasted, each one contributes to help the audience understand what the plot is about. And for a film that was released also in the same year as The Godfather Part Three, which can be considered a sad but satisfying conclusion to the Corleone family saga, and Good Fellas, the film that deconstructed the gangster genre, The Freshman kind of gives us an affectionate if not sentimental glimpse of the people living in the fringes of the society that we should be always wary of. My rating: A-minus.

Tweekums Clark Kellogg is a student from Vermont about to start university in New York. Things don't get off to a good start; the man who gives him a ride from the station steals his money and his luggage then his main lecturer says he must by $700 worth of books. He sees the thief again and chases him; he catches the man but he tells Clark the money is gone… but he can get him a job. The job turns out to be working for Carmine Sabatini, a man who strongly resembles 'The Godfather'. The job sounds suspicious $500 to pick up a package at the airport and deliver it to a specified address. The package turns out to be a Komodo dragon. The job doesn't quite go to plan but it is ultimately delivered. Later he learns that the dragon is due to be the main course at the 'Gourmet Club' an illegal restaurant where people pay a fortune to dine on the most endangered species. Soon government agents are putting pressure on him after being tipped off by his step-father and Carmine's daughter Tina is convinced that Clark will marry her! Clark is clearly out of his depth.I first saw this film in the cinema while on holiday then forgot about it till recently when I picked up the DVD… I must say I really enjoyed it. The story is obviously silly but it is played relatively straight and provides plenty of laughs. Matthew Broderick is on fine form as Clark and Marlon Brando is great fun as he sends up his character from 'The Godfather'; as this is directly referenced it could easily have broken the suspension of disbelief but actually it worked amazingly well. The rest of the cast are solid too; most notably Bruno Kirby who is a lot of fun as Victor, the thief who introduces Clark to Carmine. The scenes between Broderick and Brando are one highlight of the film; another is the scene where the Komodo dragon escapes and causes havoc in a shopping mall… even if the film doesn't actually feature a real Komodo dragon; that would have been far too dangerous and impractical! The ending feature a nice twist that doesn't feel out of place with what happened before. Overall this is a fun film that I'd certainly recommend to anybody wanting good inoffensive entertainment.

Wuchak "The Freshman" (1990) stars Matthew Broderick as a freshman film school student in New York City. Desperate for money, he's hired by the local Godfather-type who just so happens to look and act exactly like Vito Corleone from the famous '72 Coppola film, probably because the character is played by the inimitable Marlon Brando. Penelope Ann Miller plays the daughter of the Mafia don, Bruno Kirby a fast-talking con and Maximilian Schell a curious chef of exotic foods. This is a unique crime dramedy, which I found okay on my initial viewing, but liked better on my second, probably because I utilized the subtitles and could make out Brando's mumbling dialogue. Broderick was still in his 20s and shines as the wide-eyed protagonist, but Brando naturally steals the show. It's not great, but it's amusing enough and wins points for its peculiarities, like the komodo dragon. The film runs 102 minutes and was shot in New York City and Ontario. GRADE: B

rlong7246 Anyone who has seen Brando for years understands this. He finds the space in each role to try something totally unlike he has ever done. When you think about it, that is not easy for any actor. In fact, let's face it. Many actors make a career... making a career. They find one hook and take it to the bank for the rest of their lives. Now no actor can completely move outside of himself or herself in every role. But what Brando has done in this movie defies imagination. He takes a role that assumes he must portray a direct caricature of his role in the Godfather and then does not merely caricature that role; he adds depth and nuance beyond what even that role allows for. This is spectacular acting. The end, in any comedy, tends to be predictable, of course, but the middle of this movie especially, as one reviewer notes here, the dormitory scene with Matthew Broderick, and an earlier scene where Brando sips espresso with Broderick and discusses his daughter, are the height of American acting. You may think you can't see them at times when he squints-but watch Brando's eyes in that scene.