Login
I firmly believe that Arthur Hiller could be a good director when he rustled up the courage and ingenuity to do so. The Americanization of Emily features a dark and complicated performance from Julie Andrews and is an impressive film. But he also threw out Love Story, a sappy Lifetime movie-of-the-week before such a thing existed. That is just to name two of his films. So where does that leave Man of La Mancha? Well, it’s a bad film with a few good moments.
Insufferably long and armed with uninspired and groan-worthy songbook to go along with it, Man of La Mancha is confusing and cheap-looking. Told in flashbacks and fantasy sequences, which you eventually learn but improbably difficult to figure out for the first oh half hour, it takes place mostly in a dungeon. A dungeon which is poorly lit and dingy, at best, and only furthers the question as to where this film’s budget went to.
Peter O’Toole, a fantastic dramatic actor, is an awful musical star. Some actors could do the musical route and straight acting (Judy Garland), some are best at straight acting but can manage in a musical (Penelope Cruz), and some are just absolutely atrocious as song-and-dance performers, like O’Toole. He’s visibly drunk and it effects his performance throughout the film – yes, even the straight dramatic parts. Sophia Loren, again cast as a hooker with a heart of gold, can sort of sing, but she mostly is capable of projecting the warmth, concern and motherly affection needed from this role. The rest of the supporting cast is neither awful nor good, just there to get their payday and move on.
But what can be said about a musical adaptation of a novel which presented Don Quixote as figure of satirical intent and changes that to a straightforward, literal-minded examination of Quixote-as-hero, daring to face the impossible dream? Well, that they missed the point is obvious. But even better: “The Impossible Dream” is the kind of bombastic schmaltz that taints the image of musical theater in the minds of many.
