There seems to be a lot of divided opinions on this portal about whether or not Wisdom is a complete waste of time or whether or not the movie is brilliant.
There are a lot of comments about how the ending is a cop-out and to those I say, take a look at it one more time. How could it not have ended the way it did? You are being set up at the very beginning. I think, although not brilliant, it is one of the more clever endings to come out of 80s movies.
I think part of the reason some people don't like this movie is because they don't like Emilio Estevez and I can understand why. He doesn't really come off likable in any of his movies from the 80s or 90s, even though he was almost never cast as a villain in his entire career. He looks like a surly teenager almost all the time. That's probably the reason why he chose to star in The Mighty Ducks to kind of change his image.
My rating of this movie is somewhere in the middle. It is one of the few films that dared to comment on Reagan's America and for that it deserves enormous recognition. Although, the theme was better commented on in Oliver Stone's Wall Street, let's keep in mind that this is by far a docu-drama like Wall Street. It isn't that smart but in it's own way a comment on the pursuit of fulfillment. Wisdom feels he has to contribute but goes about it very, very wrongheadedly.
As for Emilio's acting, I think that it's the best that he ever did, except for maybe his performance in The Breakfast Club. He wasn't really challenged during his acting career, not even when playing a real person like Billy the Kid in the two Young Guns flicks, which were more like two-hour pop videos than actual biopics.
There are also many talented people like Tom Skerritt, Veronica Carthwright and William Allen Young in the cast. Skerritt and Cartwright don't have much to do, except look worried, but Allen Young does deserve some credit for making a thankless part somewhat interesting. I haven't seen him do anything of note lately, except playing Brandy's dad in Moesha.
So to those who hate this, let me just say: It's Estevez at his best. Does that mean that this is a great movie. No. But I can't recall I have ever seen him in a brilliant movie - except Breakfast Club.
There are a lot of comments about how the ending is a cop-out and to those I say, take a look at it one more time. How could it not have ended the way it did? You are being set up at the very beginning. I think, although not brilliant, it is one of the more clever endings to come out of 80s movies.
I think part of the reason some people don't like this movie is because they don't like Emilio Estevez and I can understand why. He doesn't really come off likable in any of his movies from the 80s or 90s, even though he was almost never cast as a villain in his entire career. He looks like a surly teenager almost all the time. That's probably the reason why he chose to star in The Mighty Ducks to kind of change his image.
My rating of this movie is somewhere in the middle. It is one of the few films that dared to comment on Reagan's America and for that it deserves enormous recognition. Although, the theme was better commented on in Oliver Stone's Wall Street, let's keep in mind that this is by far a docu-drama like Wall Street. It isn't that smart but in it's own way a comment on the pursuit of fulfillment. Wisdom feels he has to contribute but goes about it very, very wrongheadedly.
As for Emilio's acting, I think that it's the best that he ever did, except for maybe his performance in The Breakfast Club. He wasn't really challenged during his acting career, not even when playing a real person like Billy the Kid in the two Young Guns flicks, which were more like two-hour pop videos than actual biopics.
There are also many talented people like Tom Skerritt, Veronica Carthwright and William Allen Young in the cast. Skerritt and Cartwright don't have much to do, except look worried, but Allen Young does deserve some credit for making a thankless part somewhat interesting. I haven't seen him do anything of note lately, except playing Brandy's dad in Moesha.
So to those who hate this, let me just say: It's Estevez at his best. Does that mean that this is a great movie. No. But I can't recall I have ever seen him in a brilliant movie - except Breakfast Club.