Benedict Arnold - A Question of Honor

Rating:
Summary: COULD'VE BEEN WORSE!
Review: "Benedict Arnold: A Question of Honor" is a good film. Even though the editing is a bit messy, and I really wasn't 100% convinced of Kelsey Grammar's portrayal of Washington (Jeff Daniels was better in "The Crossing"), it had some good battle scenes and decent storytelling. I also wasn't 100% happy with Aidan Quinn as Arnold. But it is worth a look or two! Grade: B-

Rating:
Summary: A Messy Version of Arnold
Review: A@E normally produces pretty good stuff. For some reason they never really got it together on this one. The subject matter is certainly good, but the chronology of the story seems confused. For one, this should have been a longer story. At least another hour could have included and clarified many aspects of Arnold's complex career in the Revolution. As it stands here many important events are left out, including the battle of Freeman's Farm, as well as his clever deception of the Indians which fouled Berry St. Leger's drive down from Oswego. These were important aspects of Arnold's career, which should have been included. The excessive romance scenes with Peggy could have been cut down to make room. Jeff Daniels would have been better to have as Washington. He was so good in "The Crossing" which was a much better film. The relationship with Major Andre is grossly over-stated. Aidrian Quinn does an adequate job playing Arnold, but his work is not made easiler by an overall weak support cast, and poor editing. What is good about the DVD version is that you get the true story of Arnold's life from the A&E Biography thats included. An overall attractive production with unfortunate short-comings.

Rating:
Summary: A Messy Version of Arnold
Review: A@E normally produces pretty good stuff. For some reason they never really got it together on this one. The subject matter is certainly good, but the chronology of the story seems confused. For one, this should have been a longer story. At least another hour could have included and clarified many aspects of Arnold's complex career in the Revolution. As it stands here many important events are left out, including the battle of Freeman's Farm, as well as his clever deception of the Indians which fouled Berry St. Leger's drive down from Oswego. These were important aspects of Arnold's career, which should have been included. The excessive romance scenes with Peggy could have been cut down to make room. Jeff Daniels would have been better to have as Washington. He was so good in "The Crossing" which was a much better film. The relationship with Major Andre is grossly over-stated. Aidrian Quinn does an adequate job playing Arnold, but his work is not made easiler by an overall weak support cast, and poor editing. What is good about the DVD version is that you get the true story of Arnold's life from the A&E Biography thats included. An overall attractive production with unfortunate short-comings.

Rating:
Summary: Harlequin Romance masquerading as History...
Review: Good lord, but this was awful. Normally A&E makes a mean costume drama, but /Benedict Arnold/ stank like rotting poultry. The dialogue was stilted and incredibly unrealistic, the battle scenes were rendered in clunky slo-mo to cover up the lack of extras, and the costumes appeared to have been rented from a cheap Halloween shop (with the exception of the military uniforms, especially the Continentals', which were accurate). Aidan Quinn chewed the scenery into pulp and used "historical voice" (the lame semi-British accent affected by actors in costume drama). Kelsey Grammer was pretty darn good as Washington, but his lines were horrid, horrid stuff ripped from the pages of a grade-school history text. Worst of all were the simpering John Andre and Peggy Arnold, whose rose-garden courtship scene was laughably bad. In short, don't even bother to rent this. It's an hour and a half of your life that would be better spent cleaning the house or napping.

Rating:
Summary: Harlequin Romance masquerading as History...
Review: Good lord, but this was awful. Normally A&E makes a mean costume drama, but /Benedict Arnold/ stank like rotting poultry. The dialogue was stilted and incredibly unrealistic, the battle scenes were rendered in clunky slo-mo to cover up the lack of extras, and the costumes appeared to have been rented from a cheap Halloween shop (with the exception of the military uniforms, especially the Continentals', which were accurate). Aidan Quinn chewed the scenery into pulp and used "historical voice" (the lame semi-British accent affected by actors in costume drama). Kelsey Grammer was pretty darn good as Washington, but his lines were horrid, horrid stuff ripped from the pages of a grade-school history text. Worst of all were the simpering John Andre and Peggy Arnold, whose rose-garden courtship scene was laughably bad. In short, don't even bother to rent this. It's an hour and a half of your life that would be better spent cleaning the house or napping.

Rating:
Summary: Harlequin Romance masquerading as History...
Review: Good lord, but this was awful. Normally A&E makes a mean costume drama, but /Benedict Arnold/ stank like rotting poultry. The dialogue was stilted and incredibly unrealistic, the battle scenes were rendered in clunky slo-mo to cover up the lack of extras, and the costumes appeared to have been rented from a cheap Halloween shop (with the exception of the military uniforms, especially the Continentals', which were accurate). Aidan Quinn chewed the scenery into pulp and used "historical voice" (the lame semi-British accent affected by actors in costume drama). Kelsey Grammer was pretty darn good as Washington, but his lines were horrid, horrid stuff ripped from the pages of a grade-school history text. Worst of all were the simpering John Andre and Peggy Arnold, whose rose-garden courtship scene was laughably bad. In short, don't even bother to rent this. It's an hour and a half of your life that would be better spent cleaning the house or napping.

Rating:
Summary: Very Good Movie
Review: I have to say that my rating was graded on a curve. I'd say this movie is some where between a high 3 and a low 4. Basically the equivalent of a C+ or B-. My disappointments with the movie was that I felt that it could have been 30 minutes longer and better edited. The story line seemed to jump around a tad. As for Grammer & Quinn? I thought that they both did a great job portraying Washington & Arnold.

I would recommend this DVD for those curious about Arnold. This movie sparked my interest in Arnold when it was first televised and convinced me that Benedict Arnold's treason was more tragic then anything. The DVD also has the A&E Biography of Arnold and is well worth the money.