Rating: 
Summary: Read the Book
Review: Hey another Kevin Wilson ! Having read this marvelous book back in the wacky, greed fuelled 80's I had long heard how bad this movie version was. Having seen it at last... mmm well, the whole spirit and message of the book has been distorted. Unlike some I like Brucie, but his character he plays here is basically a reprise of 'Moonlighting'. Nothing like the 'rotten to the core' tabloid man he was supposed to be portraying. Memorable scenes from the book are wasted... I remember sweating with Sherman as the hours ticked away on the night before he was due to be arrested. There is none of that tension in the film. The ultimate Hollywood copout is having Morgan Freeman play the 'Myron Kovitsky' role. In the book this feisty, honest and just Judge was Jewish. Faced with a story full of so many unsympathetic black characters you can almost hear the closed door compromises that led to that character becoming black. Given the subject matter of the film, that's almost a satire in itself. Read the book people...
Rating: 
Summary: An unmitigated disaster
Review: Holy Crow! Unfortunately this review did not allow me to give this movie anything less than one star. If I had had a choice I would have given it two middle fingers. I am outraged. I had just finished reading the book(which is fantastic) and decided that I should see the movie, horrible reviews notwithstanding. Well, I don't have words strong enough to register my dissappointment and disgust. Anyone who loved the book (and i'm assuming hated the movie) has to read "The Devil's Candy" by Julie Salamon. It sheds some light on what happened in the making of the movie, although a complete explanation of the lack of judgement involved seems impossible to me.
Rating:
Summary: Deadening version of the wonderful Wolfe novel
Review: How could a movie based on a novel that was so hilarious, biting, ironic, involving, fresh, and downright loveable become so extremely horrendous, unfunny, and boring? Well, that's because EVERYTHING here is WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! All the stars are miscast, the direction is lackadaisical, the pacing is elephantine and lumbering, and the screenwriter drained all the irony and wit out of the original source to give us an unwatchable waste of film.
Rating:
Summary: really bad
Review: I agree with previous reviewers who have declared this movie "astoundingly bad." Indeed, while movies made after great books often fall short, I am hard pressed to think of a film that does such a disservice to a worthwhile book. Basically everything that could be bad about a movie is present here. The acting is atrocious, the directing is some of the worst I've ever seen. I would give this movie two stars for its amusement factor, but it is just tiring and disappointing.
Rating: 
Summary: Better than expected.
Review: I avoided this movie like the plague for two reasons. 1.) it's rep as a dog of a movie, and 2.) because I read the book -- which franklly didn't do that much for me. But despite the miscasting of Tom Hanks (who is my favorite actor), it definitely was better than I expected. I see now why Melanie Griffith got the best critics' reviews of anyone in the movie. I had to to see it to believe it, but her scenes were excellent. And as a Southerner I found she delivered a good approximation of a Southern accent. But I thought she and Hanks had absolutely no chemistry together. Probably due to his miscasting.
Rating:
Summary: Yes, if you haven't read the book; no, if you have.
Review: I DID read the book and I cringed through part of it. I thought Willis was weird, Hanks so-so and Griffith great. My wife didn't read the book and she loved it.
Rating: 
Summary: A FILM MASTERPIECE
Review: I know-everyone thinks the movie paled in comparison to the book but I saw the film first so I met it with a clean slate. This was my favorite movie when I first saw it and it is still my favorite movie today. It just completely sums up the essence of humanity and also offers good acting as well as great direction. The setting was brilliant, the whole movie moved like a symphony. Tom Hanks was good as was Melanie and Bruce (don't forget movie first not book) and to my great surprise I just recently realized that the WASP-y Park Avenue wife is none other than Kim Catral! She makes a good dramatic actress. All in all I recommend this movie if you can see it as just that-the movie and not the book. I truly love it.
Rating:
Summary: Woefully underestimated!
Review: I picked up this film for only $1 at a local rummage sale without knowing anything about it. I have since watched my VHS copy so many times that it finally stopped playing. This film is fantastic! The film should be taken on it's own merit, and apart from the original novel.
Bruce Willis is absolutely wonderful with his portrayal of a drunken journalist, and definitely my favorite character from the film. Melanie Griffith makes an excellent bad girl, as she tries worming her way out of trouble. F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hanks, and many more!
This is the perfect example of a sleeper film, and I am so happy I finally found the DVD! 5 stars for excellence!
Rating:
Summary: Woefully underestimated!
Review: I picked up this movie for only $1 at a local rummage sale without knowing anything about it. I have since watched my VHS copy so many times that it finally stopped playing. This movie taken on it's own merit is fantastic! Bruce Willis is absolutely wonderful with his portrayal of the drunken journalist, and my favorite character from the movie. Melanie Griffith makes an excellent bad girl, as she tries worming her way out of trouble. F. Murray Abraham, Tom Hanks, and many more! This is one hell of a sleeper movie, and I am glad I finally found the DVD version. My suggestion is rent it, and if you love it as much as I do, then buy it!
Rating: 
Summary: True To New York's Racial Politics
Review: I read the book and loved it, and I saw the movie and loved it as well. How people can complain about a movie having a different feel than the book that it is based on is absurd. They are two different mediums and can never be the same. Books go into so much more detail and insight that it is almost impossible to recreat it in a movie. Anyway I thought this movie was very close to the idea that Mr. Wolf was expressing. I've lived in New York city all 43 years of my life and have seen this story played out so many times it is sickening. I guess too many of the liberals and elite can't handle seeing what goes on behind the scenes(...). That's why the bad reviews. Liberals have a problem with the truth. This movie was well acted by all concerned. I feel the casting was fine, Tom Hanks, Bruce Willis, maybe F. Murray Abraham doesn't come off like Ed Koch, but he was very amusing as the mayor. I feel this movie was the best satire made in a very long time. Rent it then you will buy the DVD from Amazon. Thank you Amazon for letting me express my views and reviews on your web site.
| 
