The Best of Times

I have always liked this film ever since I saw it when I was a teenager. It wasn't a hit and no one really saw it but it is the kind of film that grows on me every time I see it. It is a predictable but winning little comedy about the desire that one might have to relive and redo mistakes in their past.

It stars Robin Williams and Kurt Russell Jack and Reno. They are friends since high school and played football. William dropped a perfect pass in a game that his team would have won against an arch rival. He is haunted by that drop. He is living in the past, thinking that his life would be better if only he would have caught the pass. Kurt Russell was the star QB in high school but is now a van painting specialist who has a wife that wants to leave him. Hack gets the idea of replaying the fame so that he could try to correct his past. Williams is very funny as Jack, and Kurt Russell is very good as Reno. They have great chemistry. The whole thing about playing the game is standard come back stuff but the charm of this film is that it's very well acted by all and sweet. It has no.orher pretentions than that and it works on that level. It is really the kind of nice comedy that isn't really made these days.

Grade: B

Why did this movie fail commercially? It's got a sharp script (by Ron Shelton) and great performances by Kurt Russell and, especially, Robin Williams, in a brilliant manic nerd turn that's different from any of his other work. A great renter.

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.

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.

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!!