Vashirdfel Simply A Masterpiece

SpuffyWeb Sadly Over-hyped

Humaira Grant It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Kien Navarro Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

preppy-3 A horrible attempt to do a 1930s musical with 16 Cole Porter songs. Burt Reynolds, Cybill Shepherd, Madeline Kahn and Duilio Del Prete (no--I don't know who he is either) play two couples who fall in and out of love for two hours. Is this a good movie? No--it's terrible. A prime example on how NOT to do a musical. However it IS lots of fun to watch.The 16 Cole Porter songs are shoehorned in clumsingly. They come out of nowhere and come across as more (unintentionally) funny then charming. The songs themselves are great but (with the sole exception of Kahn) nobody can sing! Reynolds and Shepherd try but can't pull it off. Del Prete has a THICK Italian accent that makes most of his lyrics unintelligible. Kahn manages to pull it off. The dancing is worse than the singing. Kahn and Shepherd are tolerable but Reynolds and Del Prete are embarrassing! Those two guys look like they're stomping not dancing. The plot is stupid and thoroughly predictable. The dialogue is even worse. As for acting--Reynolds is obviously not taking any of it seriously and is having fun with his role. Too bad the audience isn't! Shepherd is just terrible--blank-faced and unfunny. Kahn was a wonderful actress but she looks lost here. Dep Prete tries--I mean he REALLY tries--but he's a terrible actor.On the plus side Eileen Brennan and John Hillerman are funny. They can't sing or dance either but they take their pathetic dialogue and wring what humor they can out of it. Mildred Natwick shows up briefly and jump starts the movie giving a wonderful performance. Also the film looks incredible--the sets are stunning and the costumes are beautiful (even in the crappy full frame version FXM shows).Still this is a terrible musical. At first you just sit there stunned at how horrendous it is--but then you start laughing. By the time we got to the unforgettable powder room sequence with Shepherd, Brennan and Kahn singing and dancing I was in hysterics! I taped this off FXM. The version is terrible--faded color, full frame and I'm missing the last few minutes--but it's a keeper. A real camp classic!

edwagreen While I have to say that Cybill Shepherd's voice got better as the film progressed, nonetheless, this was a miserable 1975 film. 1975. The best picture winner was "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest." Believe me, you had to be cuckoo to pay admission to see this film.Yes, while Peter Bogdanovich tried to pay homage to the 1930 musicals with the beautiful music of Cole Porter, assembling non-singers to do this, was outrageous at best. Burt Reynolds, with his suave good intentions, didn't have the range for it. Although, it may be said that he could kick up his dance heels. Madeleine Kahn should have been allowed to be her natural self in this one.Eileen Brennan and chauffeur John Hillerman made good chemistry. However, the movie didn't do justice to the period. Mildred Natwick, of all people, played the mother of Reynolds and engaged in the mayhem.The cast sang among other Porter hits: You're the top! This picture was sure the opposite.

ep193577 AT LONG LAST LOVE was an unmitigated critical disaster when it premiered at Easter 1975. 20th Century Fox was so displeased with it the studio pulled it from distribution and it signaled the end of director Peter Bogdonacvich's up until then promising career which included the classic THE LAST PICTURE SHOW, the very funny Barbra Streisand screwball comedy WHAT'S UP DOC?(which foreshadowed this Cole Porter inspired film with Streisands dynamic and playful rendering of Porter's "You're the Top" over the beginning credits) and the much beloved PAPER MOON. Three years in a row, 3 blockbuster hits and 12 Oscar nominations later, Peter BOGgeddownabit with 1974s DAISY MILLER before crashing and burning with AT LONG LAST LOVE. If nothing else, AT LONG LAST LOVE is a beautifully costumed and art directed film thats a heck of a lot of fun. Very often , as a 40 something guy, I try to recapture memories of old movies I remember consuming endlessly on HBO and finding that with very few exceptions looking at films through a 12 year old eyes doesn't translate well 30 years hence. AT LONG is one of those exceptions. There is much to admire as an adult(AT LONG LAST LOVE had its biggest strike against it for a randy 12 year old-it was rated G! We loved HBO precisely for the opposite reason-to see naked girls in R rated movies.). The Cole Porter songs-however out of key they may be sung by Burt Reynolds and Cybil Sheperd-are a pleasure to "hear". Its like watching your favorite cool Aunt and Uncle at a wedding drunkenly singing some standards-yes they sound none too good but because of their dynamics you infectiously smile, grin and have a great time. Burt and Cybill get over as those favorite Aunt and Uncle did-they were young, carefree and beautiful to look at-who cares how they sounded? You are compelled to watch them. The story is as thin as the chiffon on the dresses but as a whole-it worked. Madeline Kahn , Eileen Brennan and Eileen Heckart add heft as a triumphant trio of comedic /singing talent. AT LONG LAST LOVE is like a dazzling Broadway show that has a great score, a credible book and likable stars-but the featured players steal the show. As a Broadway show it probably would have drawn raves, as an expensive studio musical in 1975-a year chock full of musicals with FUNNY LADY, TOMMY and LISZTSOMANIA among others-it flopped, and shouldn't have. Fox seems to be digging in their vaults lately, releasing movies to DVD that never even made it to video. I can only hope that they are planning a Burt Reynolds box set from 1975-including WW AND THE DIXIE DANCEKINGS , LUCKY LADY and AT LONG LAST LOVE- now that would be De-Lightful!And hopefully they'll allow Bogdonavich-with his new clout as an actor on The Soprano's-to revisit this musical classic and do it justice. While director Bogdonavich is no SAINT, he just need to remove his actors MASK and try to direct again. After all-when he did it in the 70s the audiences were grateful-THEY ALL LAUGHED.

ianlouisiana Peter Bogdanovich was annoyingly clever and annoyingly young.His girlfriend was the annoyingly beautiful Cybille Shepherd and he had made an annoyingly large amount of money from his annoyingly successful films. Naturally the vultures were gathering.They swooped on "At long last love". They gorged themselves on malice and envy(he'd been a critic too)and,when they'd picked his bones clean he was never quite the same man. It isn't a masterpiece - it's far too idiosyncratic - but it is a brave experiment,unpolished leads tackling sophisticated material backed up by good old pros doing their schtick.Live musical numbers making up in spontaneity what they lacked in well rehearsed technical excellence. It certainly isn't one of the "Great Musicals" either.Let's concentrate on what it is.It's fun,it's tuneful,it's energetic,it has two wonderful performers - Eileen Brennan and Madeleine Kahn - and a lot of enthusiastic if not particularly expert hoofing from Mr Reynolds and Miss Shepherd. It's got some good lines and the costume design is terrific. 30 years on,Burt Reynolds is sending himself up in a good-natured way and Cybille Shepherd is still annoyingly beautiful. I've only ever seen it on TV here in the uk once.If it comes on again -carpe diem.