Having read the book and loving it, I was looking forward to seeing this film. Overall, the film was very faithful to the novel. The acting was excellent but I did have reservations.
While Melanie Griffith would normally have been perfect for wacky Aunt Lucille, she was NOT 34 years old as the radio announcer said on the getaway car radio. If they acknowledged this fact, and actually STATED somehow that Lucille was 40 years old, "no spring chicken," or whatever, the credibility gap would not have been so wide.
Additionally, in the book it was very clear that Lucille named her 7 children after movie stars: Rock for Rock Hudson, Sandra for Sandra Dee, etc. It was virtually lost in the movie. And why were the kids almost ALL the same age (7 or 8). One or two should have been 12 or 13, given Ms. Griffith's age.
And I was totally put off by the fact that Lucille got her BIG BREAK by just sending in her head shot to the producers of "Bewitched," and they went on and on about how wonderful she looked. Eh???????????? Studios get thousands of head shots from Hollywood hopefuls, and frankly her photos were pretty pathetic. In the book, a vacationing talent scout saw Lucille in a community theatre production of "The Sound of Music" and saw some Star Quality in her and invited her to come look him up if she ever got to Hollywood. Now THAT would've made a lot more sense and it would have been far more BELIEVABLE!!!!!!!
Other than those points, I found everyone's acting wonderful, and Banderas did a fine job of directing. And why were some of the critics so "CONFUSED" by the switching back and forth of the two stories? Duh!!! Didn't these people go to high school or college? It wasn't confusing to us poor dumb SOBs who paid for our tickets!
Anyway, it's far from a great movie. But it sure is far better than some of the negative reviews from the "experts."
While Melanie Griffith would normally have been perfect for wacky Aunt Lucille, she was NOT 34 years old as the radio announcer said on the getaway car radio. If they acknowledged this fact, and actually STATED somehow that Lucille was 40 years old, "no spring chicken," or whatever, the credibility gap would not have been so wide.
Additionally, in the book it was very clear that Lucille named her 7 children after movie stars: Rock for Rock Hudson, Sandra for Sandra Dee, etc. It was virtually lost in the movie. And why were the kids almost ALL the same age (7 or 8). One or two should have been 12 or 13, given Ms. Griffith's age.
And I was totally put off by the fact that Lucille got her BIG BREAK by just sending in her head shot to the producers of "Bewitched," and they went on and on about how wonderful she looked. Eh???????????? Studios get thousands of head shots from Hollywood hopefuls, and frankly her photos were pretty pathetic. In the book, a vacationing talent scout saw Lucille in a community theatre production of "The Sound of Music" and saw some Star Quality in her and invited her to come look him up if she ever got to Hollywood. Now THAT would've made a lot more sense and it would have been far more BELIEVABLE!!!!!!!
Other than those points, I found everyone's acting wonderful, and Banderas did a fine job of directing. And why were some of the critics so "CONFUSED" by the switching back and forth of the two stories? Duh!!! Didn't these people go to high school or college? It wasn't confusing to us poor dumb SOBs who paid for our tickets!
Anyway, it's far from a great movie. But it sure is far better than some of the negative reviews from the "experts."