The Big Brass Ring

I found this a moving and refreshingly upbeat "take" on the "flawed hero" theme. The pursuit of power has led all the characters to make ruthless and morally dubious choices yet they still strive for some sort of decency in their relationships and by the end of the film have just about achieved this. Yes it's a bit melodramatic but unrealistic? - the more I learn of American politics the more real it seems ( Clinton? Kennedy?) Don't be put of by those reviewers who claim the plot isn't clear. If you pay attention it is! Pellarin's body guard for example is a Vietnam veteran & turns against Blake when he discovers he draft-dodged. The performances are all excellent, particularly William Hurt's as Blake. For the first time I realised I may actually have something in common with these larger than life politicians and they may be as interested as I am in making the world a little better for us all.

The Big Brass Ring apparently never made it to a movie theater, and doesn't get anywhere else, either. The script, credited posthumously to Orson Welles, takes a number of twists and turns, but they are neither clever or clear. William Hurt portrays Missouri gubernatorial candidate Blake Pellarin, an independent running against another independent, which is unlikely enough. The fact that both candidates sport Southern accents even though it is set in Missouri is another peculiarity that is never explained. Miss it and you'll be better off.

I never knew running for governor was so leisurely. Plenty of time for extra curricular activities...

The movie was interesting but confusing. I like a little mystery in my movies, but it was tough to keep all the balding white guys with multiple names straight -- especially in the flashbacks.

However, CNN correspondent Christiane Amanpour (Irène Jacob) never looked so good.

William Hurt plays Gubernatorial candidate William Blake, in the final days of his election campaign. Nigel Hawthorne is Kim Mennaker, a svengali figure from Blake's childhood, who lives in Cuba for some reason, and has evidence which can sink Blake's election chances. Actually, by halfway through the movie, half of Missouri seems to have this evidence, and why nobody actually uses it is about as bewildering as why Hurt wanders about all night with a monkey on his shoulder, which he had previously complained had urinated all over him - unless that's a pun on a monkey for his back.

As usual, William Hurt is boring (look, I'm sorry, but he just is). Nigel Hawthorne, on the other hand, is incapable of being less than good, though his character is really quite ridiculous.

An understated movie, which, I admit, has emotional subtleties and plot complexities which keep it above average, but which ultimately don't save it from being a bit soporific. I'll give it 6.0. Worth watching, but don't expect to be dazzled.

It might seem hard to imagine that a movie based on an Orson Welles script, starring William Hurt, Nigel Hawthorne, Natasha Richardson and Irene Jacob couldn't get a theatrical release. Get a snootful of ten or fifteen minutes of this flatliner and you'll understand why. The movie does make one contribution to Welles scholarship: it proves once and for all that in the case of the superhuman Welles, the words of the page were not the main event.