I first saw this movie in the early 90s and I was blown away by it.
Then just recently I saw it again on a movie channel and I was equally impressed. It was still current and Michael J Fox's performance is great.
I don't understand how it got such low ratings here...
one possibility i came up with was; with Micheal J Fox in the lead perhaps the film wasn't so well received by fans of his wanting a more wholesome family type flick a la 'Back to the Future'
Probably has a low rating as it's not a very good film?
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It has its faults, but a 5/10?
C'mon.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mk1IZFPH1Eo
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it has to be that it isn't what people expect. I saw this yesterday and expected a movie similer to the Hard Way, how wrong was I?
its by no means a bad movie, its just not what you usually associate Fox with.
People expected this to be a frothy comedy starring Fox maybe and were not keen on him doing serious roles.
I enjoyed the movie at the time.
Its that man again!!
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It doesn't really get going until the last 30 minutes or so, but at that point I gradually got more and more interested...
Love United. Hate Glazers.
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I think it's because the book was so well received. I just re-read the novel and saw the film for the 3rd or 4th time in my life (still can't believe it's been 23 years since I first saw it on the big screen). Some of the novel's humor didn't translate well. Some of the theme music, like when Michael J Fox runs away from his brother Michael, was awkward and didn't seem to fit the scene. Fagen's musical style was more somber for a film that wanted to pace itself as a glitzy, contemporary piece with musical acts like Depeche Mode, Bryan Ferry, and Prince on the soundtrack.
I recall that when the film bombed, many critics blamed Fox as being too wholesome to convincingly portray the character. One went so far as to suggest they should have cast Tom Cruise.
The novel's charms (its sense of humor, its innovative use of the 2nd person as the narrative voice, its sympathy for Jamie's (Fox) struggle to cope with his string of losses and to "grow up," being identified with the Coma Baby) just fell flat on the screen. I found myself wondering if there was an editing issue, or if Bridges made any changes to McInerney's script (and since this was probably McInerney's first major screenplay, I'm tempted to ascribe some of the film's shortcomings as the work of an inexperienced scriptwriter).
In my humble opinion, I have to agree with the 5/10 rating. Unless you're a real fan of the actors on screen, the film went nowhere, and I felt that Fox didn't pull off the climactic meltdown too well; came off more like an anguished Alex P. Keaton. Too bad, too: I'm a huge fan of both Fox and McInerney.
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I rated it 8/10 and it is among the best movies i've seen. Perhaps because one can relate to Jamies misery.
"Microchanges in air density, my a$$....."
Yeah I can relate to Jamie's misery as well.
I think the main problem with the film is,it's just too realistic.In alot of people's everyday lives,nothing much happens.
The film didn't have huge dramatic scenes,and alot of the interactions between the characters and in the dialogue were awkward which made it believable.I don't even think the ferret scene was out of place because again,that's life.There's always humour,drama and the absurd.There's no preaching about doing drugs (which was surprising)and it doesn't really have any climax at all.It's not pretentious and it doesn't seem bothered about winning favour with the audience,which you have to give the film some credit for.Especially a mainstream film starring Michael J.Fox.
It deserves to be more well known so people can give their opinion about it.
One of my favorite movies from that era and I liked MJF cast in that role. Comedians are so often the best actors. I don't know - I could relate to the character so maybe that had something to do with it. Not reading books before you see movies also helps. Movies are almost never going to live up to expectations. I also liked Less Than Zero and Bonfire of the Vanities that were both hated by the book readers.
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