Home :: DVD :: Television  

A&E Home Video
BBC
Classic TV
Discovery Channel
Fox TV
General
HBO
History Channel
Miniseries
MTV
National Geographic
Nickelodeon
PBS
Star Trek
TV Series
WGBH Boston
Seize the Day

Seize the Day

List Price: $19.95
Your Price: $17.96
Product Info Reviews

Features:
  • Color


Description:

This 1986 film--a dead-serious performance by Robin Williams, minus the overlay of schmaltz that informed his acting in the late 1990s--sat on the shelf and had no theatrical release, for obvious reasons: the film has the downbeat spiral of a 1970s film, relentless in its depiction of human frailty at the breaking point. That doesn't mean it's a bad film; to the contrary, it's actually quite a good film. But it is in no way audience-friendly in its vision of a human being who has reached the end of his tether. Directed by Fielder Cook, it's based on a Saul Bellow novel and strikes exactly the right note, a combination of absurdity and dread. Williams has the desperate energy of a man approaching 40 with nothing to show for his life--and a disapproving, disappointed father he's constantly trying to impress. Jerry Stiller is great as Williams's seeming friend, who hooks him into a business deal guaranteed to change his life and his luck. --Marshall Fine
© 2004, ReviewFocus or its affiliates