The Best of Times

kurt russell is in top form as grizzled reno hightower in this classic sports film from the 80's. a decaffeinated robin williams garners laughs as a sad-sack football revisionalist, jack dundee, aquarius, (gotta, gotta, gotta satisfy) who is on pins and needles as he grubs on the daughter of jack "the big boss" palance, in sheer, naked horror of her father's horrid, horrid wrath. donald moffat nearly steals the show as dundee's overbearing father-in-law, which harkens back to michael caine's work in jaws 4, which, in turn, echoes c. thomas howell's classic performance in soul man. you'll grip the edge of your seat as you witness the braveheart-esque titanic clash of dr. death and jack dundee (who's pretty fast for a caucasian).

Moron, California was renamed Taft after the discovery of oil. The town suffers from a losing streak until 1972 when star quarterback Reno Hightower (Kurt Russell) seemed poised to win against hated rival Bakersfield. Hightower suffered a career ending knee injury as he launched the perfect game winning pass. Jack Dundee (Robin Williams) dropped the ball and has been haunted by that moment. Present day, he is a bank VP and married to the boss's daughter. His boss, the Colonel, is a big Bakersfield booster who taunts him relentlessly. Reno's life is stale and his wife Gigi (Pamela Reed) wants a divorce to try singing in L.A. Jack gets his car fixed every week by Reno but it's only an excuse to drive the loaner out to the massage parlor to see former Homecoming Queen Darla. She comes up with the idea to replay the game which ended in a tie. Using lies and blackmail, Jack convinces the town to battle Bakersfield once more.

I like the general concept of this black comedy. I'm fine with Jack being a little weasel although Robin Williams may be wasted in this role. I would like more friendship between him and Reno. Their bitterness taints the chemistry. It makes the movie less fun than it should be. In the end, the few laughs are just enough to make this work.

Jack & Reno have become very mediocre married men, but they have one claim to fame: they were heroes in high school when they played football. The only problem is they lost "that game," the one most important game of the season; then they went on to live their lives, marry the high school sweethearts, and never got a chance to redeem themselves. This has become an obsession, to the point where they can't do anything but think about football. They watch every game that's on.

The problem is, their wives are sick to death of hearing about it- so sick of hearing about football, they are talking about divorce. Still- this obsession is almost as important to them as their marriages.

There is an hilarious scene in which they have finally talked their wives into giving them one more chance, and the four of them are having dinner together. Unfortunately, the wives have picked the worst night of the week to ask them over for dinner: football night. As the four of them sit at the dinner table, the wives are unaware that the football game is on in the next room, and they are more absorbed in the game than in the conversation at table. Watching out of the corners of their eyes, they finally blow their own cover by hollering and screaming at an exciting football play.

Of course, they end the movie with a horribly-played game in which they redeem themselves and everybody is happy ever after. It is the study of men and how they tend to focus on their masculine pursuits to the most ridiculous extremes. And it is a study of how women deal with these "boys will be boys" types. Very real, very funny, and something many of us can surely identify with!!

I remember one day I was sitting around the house, bored. I saw that a movie was coming on and that it had Kurt Russell and Robin Williams, so I thought I ought to check it out. It was one of those great moments where I was unexpectedly greeted with a really fun, charming movie.

Both Russell and Williams give funny performances, but their characters also feel pretty real. The girls are also quite believable and fun to watch. The football scenes are funny, but when it's not making you laugh, it seems genuine. I also felt drawn into this little town called "Taft". Here's this little town that seems quite small with not a lot to do, yet I found something enthralling about it. No doubt the characterizations are a big plus for the film. I highly recommend this movie, whether you like football or not because the cast and director really make it work.

I guess that everyone has to make a comeback at some point. And that's exactly what embarrassed Taft resident Jack Dundee (Robin Williams) intends to do in "The Best of Times". Yep, the man who went all crazy with the radio in "Good Morning, Vietnam" is playing football. In this case, he seeks to replay a game that cost his high school a prestigious title. But ex-teammate Reno Hightower (Kurt Russell) isn't just going to go along with it so easily.

Granted, it's not the best movie for either man. But Williams and Russell are actually a pretty good comedy team. And some of the names in this movie are likely to give you the giggles (to say the least). Check it out.