On DVD (1994). Rated R, 135 minutes. Trailer.
Legends of the Fall is a sprawling epic about a military family living in Montana in the early 20th century and its favorite, wild son, Tristan (Brad Pitt). Co-starring Aidan Quinn, Anthony Hopkins, Julia Ormond, and Henry Thomas, my memory of this film was an A, but it only held up as a B+. Director Ed Zwick (Glory) uses the scenery and his great cast to craft a good, but overly campy and cliched film. The genre, an old west period piece with flashes of war and amazing scenery, is one of my favorites, so I can live with a little camp on this one.
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Hopkins is the patriarch of the family, a rich former general that is an Indian sympathizer after witnessing the policies of the US in resolving the Indian wars. Quinn is the nerdy older brother that always plays by the rules, while Thomas is the runty youngest brother Samuel that is taken care of by Tristan. Pitt's portrayal of the untamed favorite son and heartbreaker helped launch his career as a mega-star. His 'roughneck' character spellbinds his youngest brother's fiancee (Ormond) before they all go off to war. When Samuel is killed in front of Tristan on the front lines in Germany, he goes crazy and then finally returns home from war and Ormond moves on in. There are several machinations of tortured love and Tristan, ending with a bear fight in the Northern Territories.
Parts of this film are great, like the scenery, Pitt, Ormond and Hopkins (I buy his performance with the stroke). The story is just too overblown and grandiose to get through it without a couple of eye rolls. Worth renting.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Legends of the Fall - B+
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2 comments:
it's been too long for me to rate this (my memory gives it about a B). i did like ormond and do miss her performing on this side of the pond, but i was one who loved hopkins pre-stroke and couldn't take him post.
C+ range for me. It's been a long time, though. Aidan Quinn didn't work for me as the second lead. And post-stroke Hopkins is terrible. "Screw 'em!" And as the father of 2 boys - you try to be equal, never showing any favoritism. Hopkins was a horrible father.
BTW, priest, Ormond was good in a limited role in Lynch's Inland Empire.
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