little_red_corvette

When this movie was released in 1992 it sounded worthwhile. I was (and remain) a fan of many of the actors, enjoyed Rita Rudner's comedy, and had been impressed with Kenneth Branagh's work to date.

But I never got around to seeing it until recently, and now I understand why it received middling to poor reviews on its release.

From the first scene following the opening montage, the entire film feels simultaneously flat and strident. None of the characters feels natural. Each actor is playing an archetype, and with no subtlety. The script is cliché-ridden and the actors seem compelled or directed to over-deliver every line. The final scenes are truly painful due to the hackneyed, awkward delivery, and the forced gaiety of the final scene.

There were a few enjoyable moments, but the movie never comes together. When it was over I felt relieved, and embarrassed for the participants.

The house and grounds the story is set in are gorgeous, though.

In the sixties my father worked for a NASA sub-contractor and thus had a small role in the American space program. He would bring home NASA film clips (PR stuff) and show them on our 8mm projector for the neighborhood. Watching this series in 1985 brought back a lot of good memories of that amazing time. It was marvelously done, with archive footage both familiar and lesser-known, combined with new interviews with a stellar list of individuals, many of whom are no longer with us. It captured the excitement and uncertainty and humanity of the endeavor. And the music was spine-tingling good! Top it with Martin Sheen's narration and you have a corker of a documentary series that puts most modern efforts to shame. It's hard to believe this series was first broadcast twenty years ago!

This would be a marvelous series to have on DVD, unfortunately it appears to only be available on VHS for now.