The Ninth Configuration

Rating:
Summary: My favorite film of all time!
Review: The first time I watched this I thought, "Oh great! Another boring 1980s psychodrama." But the classic bar scene at the end had me riveted so I thought I'd watch it again. I have since seen this film more than 15 times and it practically gets better every time. The zany inmates, the brilliantly stoic Keach, and the amazingly well-written subtext about the existence of God all add up to an excellent movie going experience. This film probably supplied me with more than 20 quotes that I use on a regular basis. Recommended for film buffs or smart and/or thoughtful people--otherwise you had better not bother.

Rating:
Summary: An great and unusual film
Review: It's hard to categorize this movie. You'd expect horror from William Peter Blatty, the man who gave us unforgettable scares (and new uses for pea soup) in the Exorcist. But nothing is what it seems to be in this film. Ninth Configuration takes place in an imported European castle nestled deep in the Pacific Northwest. In it are housed an interesting group of inmates: high-ranking military officers, and one astronaut, who are all suffering from inexplicable mental disorders. They are isolated, and given unconventional therapies in an attempt to determine if they are truly ill, or merely slacking. Since nothing seems to work, a new head shrink is called in. His name: Kane, played by a wonderfully stoic Stacy Keach. He immediately makes an impression on the inmates, truly listening to them, and in some cases indulging their whims. But there are undercurrents here; Kane seems to have a past, which figures into the development of the story, and ultimately, the ending. What makes this movie so fun to watch is the excellent acting, mostly from genre actors, such as Joe Spinell. The dialogue is clever, and the movie actually makes you THINK. There's a lot of talk about good and evil, and the hows and whys of man's existence. All in all, a great movie well worth getting. END

Rating:
Summary: One of the 100 Best Films Ever Made.
Review: The Ninth Configuration (William Peter Blatty, 1980)

There are some movies that will stay with you after you've turned off the VCR or left the theatre. Some of them will give you a couple of days or weeks of mulling over; others are with you for life. The Ninth Configuration is of the latter variety.

The story revolves around Hudson Kane, an Army psychiatrist (Stacy Keach) sent to a remote asylun in the Pacific Northwest during the closing days of the Vietnam War. Together with the asylum medic, Col. Richard Fell (Ed Flanders, a longtime member of the cast of St. Elsewhere), Kane is tasked with figuring out which of the inmates are really insane and which are just faking it to get out of combat duty. His top priority is recently-committed astronaut Bill Cutshaw (Scott Wilson, recently of Pearl Harbor and The Way of the Gun), who takes an almost perverse interest in Kane, with the two of them immediately set at odds by Kane's Catholicism and Cutshaw's aggressive atheism.

While it is the deeper issue of Cutshaw's lack of faith and Kane's immersion in it that turns an otherwise good film into a great one, even without that particular driving force, this would be a worthwhile film. The cast of inmates are simply stunning to a man, and the situations they're given to act are no small potatoes. Jason Miller, who previously collaborated with Blatty on The Exorcist, is Lt. Reno, a man obsessed with adapting the work of Shakespeare for dogs, and Cutshaw's best friend among the other inmates. Robert Loggia's character, Bennish, is convinced he's on Venus and only needs his flying belt to get home. Fromme (played by Blatty himself) is convinced he's actually the camp medic, and keeps stealing Fell's pants. Et cetera. The staff aren't much less crazy than the inmates, and they, too, are perfectly cast. Just putting the ensemble together without a script and giving it free rein to improvise for two hours would make for a good movie. Blatty, however, takes things to another level with the conflict between Kane and Cutshaw, setting up a familiar love story plot (two people who need each other, but refuse to see it themselves) in a therapeutic setting. You never feel, however, that you're in the middle of a bad romance film, or even a buddy-cop picture. Both Keach and Wilson play their roles with more obvious intelligence than the actors in your average genre flick, and as a result, the audience never feels manipulated. In fact, the movie's big plot twists end up taking a back seat to the Kane/Cutshaw relationship; it's not that the revelations of the various mysteries Blatty sets up are any less startling than they are in a mystery film, but that the mysteries are simply stage decoration in Blatty's morality play.

Flawlessly executed, a perfect film in every way. Easily one of the hundred finest films ever made. Do not miss it. *****

Rating:
Summary: NOT WHAT YOU MIGHT EXPECT
Review: First of all, I would like to correct the description above. The movie doesn't take place on a remote island in the Pacific. It takes place in a remote castle (!) in the Pacific Northwest. But I know that the movie itself was filmed in Eastern Europe

OK, if you're going into this and haven't seen it, don't expect a horror film. True, all the elements are there: a fog enshrouded castle asylum, Jason Miller, and William Peter Blatty creating the whole thing. But it doesn't turn out that way. The movie truly becomes more of a character driven drama that delves into paranoia, post-traumatic mental issues, and man's innate ability to kill. The ending seems to come out of nowhere and might leave you feeling somewhat shortchanged.

Although I must say, if nothing else, you have to rent this. There is a lot of hilarious dialogue, most of it coming from the inmates. Not knowing who else was in it besides Keach and Miller, I was pleasantly surprised by the casting. Robert Loggia (as an Army sergeant), Moses Gunn, and the great Joe Spinnell! They and the other inmates are really funny! Monologues, one-offs, and crack-brained ideas come at you so fast you won't know what to do. Jason Miller's idea of putting on a Shakespearean play using only dogs cracked me up! It's kind of like the cast of One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest starring in the first half of the Dirty Dozen.

Give it a whirl, you might like it. I've certainly never seen anything like it! I'm glad this review has been helpful. I never thought anybody would read this.

Rating:
Summary: Finally, the real thing
Review: I'd just like to add my hosanna to one of the greatest cult films ever made. Whether you like it or hate it, it will provoke discussion, and will stick in your mind. I recommend seeing this with One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest or King of Hearts (1966), or perhaps John Carpenter's Dark Star, for a nice thought-provoking evening. I've only seen the director's cut on VHS, but I'd like to get the DVD with the deleted scenes and extras.