MovieChat Forums > The Night of the Iguana (1964) Discussion > Total waste of time with every viewing!!

Total waste of time with every viewing!!


Garbage. Witless. Absolutely no entertainment value. Not really a plotted flick, just a collection of rendered lines delivered as pretentiously as possible by a pack of grandiose Hollywood denizens spouting their roles to an unintended comedic level. The lesbian is an overdone and creepy, the silly housewife a goose-faced simpleton, the man-chaser teen ONLY that. In short, every character was a cliche over-exaggeration of the type of character they were cast as. Tough broad is tough, whiny matron whiny, drunk over-dramatic Burton an over-dramatic drunk, etc, etc. A goofy, absurd flick photographed, acted and edited with apparently no one aware of how stupid their work looks. BLEAAHHHHHH.

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I agree that the characters are over exaggerated, but that does not prevent this from being an entertaining film. Dr. Strangelove has over exaggerated chracters, do you think it is a waste of time? Suspension of disbelief is a concept you need to aquire.

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Strangelove was a farce. This...play...is supposed to be drama. I repeat, totally unwatchable. People sitting in chairs and looking stupid. Actors overacting. Goofy characters who look, sound, act goofy and apparently aren't SUPPOSED to be goofy! This mess only makes sense if you assume Huston was lampooning Williams and his confusing success.

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Sorry you didn't like it. Burton's my favourite actor, so I'm understandably biased, but I think his scenes -- particularly in the first half -- are comic gold.

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[deleted]

"People sitting in chairs and looking stupid. Actors overacting. Goofy characters who look, sound, act goofy".

This almost sounds like dialogue from an Ed Wood movie.



"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan

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misquote

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The "facts are stupid things" quoting guy again. Please do some research on Reagan and that line.

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I would call this a drama with many funny moments and lines. Dramas can have comedy in them and comedies can have drama in them. Not every film has to fit strictly into one or the other.

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Yeah...it's really too bad they couldn't make something like "Jackass" or "Dumb and Dumber", with pratfalls every 2 seconds and fart jokes instead of humor that nobody from the current educational system can understand! I'll grant you, it's no classic, like "Godzilla", but gosh-darn it, people HAD to act like that back then; they had no CGI, or even any special effects! It's hard to appreciate this after you've blasted through "the Matrix" or stayed stoned throughout "Pineapple Express", then tuned in to "Dancing with the Stars" to watch Bristol Palin dancing her fat a** around! Viewers today...they've got it made.

She deserves her revenge, and we deserve to die.

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Shut up retard. Stop spewing elitist crap all over the place.

Absolutely agree with the OP. It really was cringe-worthy from start to finish.

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[deleted]

But I'm puzzled by Diddy's use of the phrase "with every viewing." It seems to imply that the OP has seen TNOTI more than once. I wonder why, since OP considers it garbage, witless, etc. Very strange indeed.

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It's like the old joke "The food at the restaurant was terrible, and the portions were too small".

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Agreed. Didn't like the movie, but apparently watched it several times and then wasted several minutes of a useless life to post about it.....nothing worse than a message board troll than those that waste time arguing with one!

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jdown-1

multiple viewings may reveal subtle points that were missed in previous views. Not in this flick!!
The only rationale that comes to mind was Huston made it deliberately farcical to poke fun at Tennessee Williams.

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Maybe a troll. I watched last night on TCM, can't believe i've never seen this treasure. A was totally enthralled. Ava Gardner deliciously flawed and the end, oh yes. This is a great great film.

Maybe I’ve fallen in with the wrong crowd.- ‘Title and Deed,’ by Will Eno

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I watched last night too, the first time I saw the whole thing. Quite lively! I wonder why the OP troll bothered to watch after the first half hour. Turn it off and go find something better to do!

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Agreed. It seems very dated. If a movie like this came out today it would probably get a score around five or so.

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Definitely not quality entertainment like the superhero movies these daze. There you are talking true art that will stand the testes of time.

American voters will destroy the economy by 2016. Whoopsy-daisy!

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You obviously can't see beyond the surface of things. Truth is not always reality. Or maybe you simply can't connect to being at the end of your rope. I hope that when you get there, you will handle it with decorum and the utmost of logical behavior. No one I know who ever has been there has been able to approach it that way.

"The answers to all of life's riddles can be found in the movies."

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I agree: This film was a total letdown. Shameful performances from Ava Gardner and Dick Burton. Sue Lyon had very little to offer to the film. This was a poor imitation of Dolores Haze. The only decent performance was given by Debbie Kerr. I suppose there's "a lot" of substance to this film for those who identify with Burton's character. I can't. He's at the end of his rope? What a joke. Cliches aside, he's his own worst enemy. His performance as a whacky drunk is unimpressive and annoying. The same can be said of Ava Gardner, who I would hardly consider a good actress; but she really embarrasses herself here.

I have to agree with the OP that this film is like a parody of Williams and that all of the performances are generally exaggerated. So, whatever supposedly deeper meaning there is to the film is muddled by the performance of the so-called stars of this picture. I could point out specific scenes: The scene where Ray (the bus driver) keeps throwing punches at the maraca boys and missing. That scene was so terrible and pathetic I had to fast forward through it. I was waiting for the dyke b!tch to get served and it never happens.

The ending is the best part of the movie but that's only if you can last that long. Add this to the list of movies I wish I never watched and I will never watch again. It was far more interesting when I didn't know about it.

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I think the best thing about it is the view it gives you of Mexico in the early 60's. Plus it would be nice to own a hotel like that.

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