leon-barbee

I'm an old geezer, and I actually enjoyed this film. Agreed, not the best acting, but the story was good. Somewhat sappy in places, also agree, but the thing that I liked the most was the cat and mouse action between Scott and Julie, both knowing the attraction was there, but neither willing to step out to be the first to declare themselves. How many of us have missed opportunities to connect with someone just because we were afraid to be the first to say something?? I did get tired of Elliot Gould in this one, and the sappy Roger that from the boy, but overall, the film had a "home feel" to it. Two people who obviously liked each other, but neither could broached the "being first to say something". I prefer this type of movie over the so-called realism movies of cuss words, vulgarity, vacuous sex scenes, violence, etc. I see enough of this in the news and other media, I would like to enjoy "movies" that have a high road to it.

I graduated in 65, so this one hit home with being "sorta lost", although I didn't have the parents to fall back on, and with the money group that Ben belonged to. However, knowing that I was going to be teaching, it was still a rather scary time, not knowing what to expect, but also knowing I had to make it on my own. I couldn't relate to several of Ben's "problems" but I did see a lot of my college friends in Ben and their lack of direction, their lack of commitment. It wasn't the best of times, but it certainly wasn't the worst of times either. I couldn't imagine Ben's plight with the mom coming onto him, but I could have identified with his bumbling in getting a room, being totally naive about such things. It was a time of turmoil, not only with self, but with what was going on in the world at the time. No doubt all "ages" have the same types of problems, and kids aren't really ready to tackle "life" just out of school, and this movie just points out that the real winners are the ones who actually roll up their sleeves and get on with life, doing the best you can, and working towards a goal.

This was a great movie when it first came out, and I still enjoy watching this movie (I purchased the VHS a long time ago). The entire story has everything a person could want, and to realize that a friendship could be destroyed by greed, power, and a sense of entitlement just reflects reality to the nth degree. The story of love of family and love of country is just part of the overall appeal of this movie. In addition, saving the Roman fleet commander ins spite of his hatred of the Romans, indicated a noble spirit beyond mere mortals. This movie is watchable any time, and I just wish they still made movies like this one.