Rating: 
Summary: And the Singer sings his songs.....but can't act!
Review: This film feels like a bad 1950's B movie, although it is too earnest to achieve the cult status of many such films.
The story is entirely unbelievable, set, as it is, in 1979/80. Who could really empathise with the dilemma facing Jess in his struggle for independence from tradition (at the callow age of 38 no less!)
There are three redeeming features. Lucie Arnaz is very engaging in a thankless role. Neil Diamond shows that, while he can't act at all, he has a very charismatic stage presence in his musical numbers.
The third redeeming feature is the soundtrack. Neil Diamond shows that his songwriting skills are of a high quality. The performances in the film enhance their impact.
Songs like America, Hey Louise, Summerlove, Love on the Rocks and Hello Again are populist and extremely well written. You Baby, Acapulco, Robert E. Lee and others are pleasant surprises and together ensure, unusually for film soundtracks, that the music here can stand independently from the film. This probabl;y explains why the soundtrack grossed more than the film on its original release.
All in all, I would say: rent the film, watch the bits where Lucie Arnaz is on screen and where Diamond is performing. On that basis it is worth 4.5 stars. If you insist on watching the whole thing, I give it two stars.
Rating: 
Summary: WONDERFUL!
Review: I can't understand why this movie was so poorly accepted. It was a well acted, well directed film.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't pay the 50 bucks!
Review: Neil Diamond is, well, Neil Diamond after all, in this good story about a Cantor's son/musician trying to break ranks with his Jewish heritage and family tradition. Neil's acting is okay and of course, Sir Lawrence Olivier is great, Luci Arnez does a respectible job in the film as well. What speaks to us music lovers is THE MUSIC, some wonderful tunes and a not-so-bad love story. Now that brings us to the question of "Why is this DVD SO DARN EXPENSIVE?!" It's worth about [money amount], if that and I won't buy it, I still have the VHS version and will store it in a nice cool place and bring it out once or twice a year to watch it with pleasure. Don't get suckered into some auction and pay more than you should for a used version, maybe if we're patient with Amazon, they will bring their price down, hmmm?
Rating:
Summary: Fantstic, Original and fanstasic muisic
Review: Jesse Robins (Rabinowits) Neil Diamond plays the son of Rabbi, and wanting so much to have his only son follow in his foot steps but Jesse has other dreams and ideas. He is a wonderful singer and wants to write music, and is being smothered by his father makes for strained relationships. The father played by Sir Lawrence Oliver is outstanding, and Neil Diamond gives it the extra tense and scared view. Jesse is called to Hollywood by some friends where he meets Luci Arnez who is a talent rep. she starts helping him and although Jesse is married, he starts to fall in love with her, and stays in Hollywood, when the father goes to see where he lives, and finds Luci Arnez, and as Jesse tries to explain the situation, it just causes more strain on their relationship. This is a wonderful story line, it is believeable, the struggle to find your way is always on the edge, and to find meaning to one's life. Neil Diamond does a fabulous first time acting job, and the music that was written for this movie is outstand; Hello, Love On The Rocks, America and more.
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