...and not much of a movie either. Pointless remake of the 1927 "talkie"--the plot was old then; the plot was still old in the 1950s Danny Thomas remake; it was laughable in 1980. If Neil Diamond really wanted to do a movie, why not do a concert film?
Diamond plays a Jewish man who wants to sing rock music--his father (Laurence Olivier!!!!! Why Larry?) wants him to perform only traditional Jewish songs. Also he falls in love with a non-Jewish woman (Lucie Arnaz giving the only good performance) which he knows his dad would never approve. Yawn--what a lousy script.
The acting is beyond belief--Diamond is a great singer but he's no actor--he was very bad; Olivier is a howl as his father--he hams it up mercilessly and just gives an unbelievable (I don't mean that in a good way) jaw-dropping performance. Olivier was one of the most respected actors around--why did he do this? Didn't he read the script? It's obvious he's hating every moment--I guess he was really hard up for the money. Arnaz is actually very good despite everything--she also has the film's second best line (after Olivier's "no son" line). She tells Diamond seriously, "You're too talented to waste everything on singing". Sheesh!
What saves this movie from total disaster is the singing--Diamond was (and is) a good singer and some of the songs are great. When he's singing the movie is OK--when he's not it's a laugh a minute. ALMOST bad/good.
Diamond plays a Jewish man who wants to sing rock music--his father (Laurence Olivier!!!!! Why Larry?) wants him to perform only traditional Jewish songs. Also he falls in love with a non-Jewish woman (Lucie Arnaz giving the only good performance) which he knows his dad would never approve. Yawn--what a lousy script.
The acting is beyond belief--Diamond is a great singer but he's no actor--he was very bad; Olivier is a howl as his father--he hams it up mercilessly and just gives an unbelievable (I don't mean that in a good way) jaw-dropping performance. Olivier was one of the most respected actors around--why did he do this? Didn't he read the script? It's obvious he's hating every moment--I guess he was really hard up for the money. Arnaz is actually very good despite everything--she also has the film's second best line (after Olivier's "no son" line). She tells Diamond seriously, "You're too talented to waste everything on singing". Sheesh!
What saves this movie from total disaster is the singing--Diamond was (and is) a good singer and some of the songs are great. When he's singing the movie is OK--when he's not it's a laugh a minute. ALMOST bad/good.