holdencopywriting

Intriguing film. Kept me guessing as to what would happen next. Ben Kingsley gives an excellent performance. I was struck by the scene in the country when an old woman seemingly ignores Kingsley, but just touches the side of his face as she passes him. Great moment. Not a perfect film, but definitely worth seeing.

Usually, Gilbert & Sullivan operettas are supposed to be light, funny, witty, ironic, and entertaining. But this production is none of those things. Even Vincent Price can't save it. There's a lot of bad singing, heavy-footed dancing, and people sort of standing around doing nothing. The costumes are uninteresting. The sets are dull. Characters that should be fun and silly and memorable are flat and tired.

There's a lack of joy and fun. Plodding, that's the word. Plodding. I couldn't wait for it to be over. If you showed this DVD to someone unfamiliar with Gilbert & Sullivan, they would never go see another operetta during the whole rest of their lives.

Dream Job is a pleasant little show. Vincent Price is charming and does a slight southern accent that makes you just sort of want to curl up with him. He's so charming that he makes the rather unbelievable plot believable. I loved the premise that Joan Leslie is an annoyance to her temp agency for giving up jobs because she's got the notion that there's a perfect job out there with easy hours, perks, and a charming boss (wedding bells someday?). And then he shows up. I enjoyed Dream Job. It's a fluff, but Vincent Price always is so good you don't notice the plot holes until later, and then you don't care. I saw it on youtube.com.