Beanbioca As Good As It Gets

Limerculer A waste of 90 minutes of my life

Allison Davies The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Marva It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

rhoda-9 If a movie gives you Hedy Lamarr to look at, it seems churlish to complain. But even the presence of one of the most beautiful women who ever lived, plus the adorable June Allyson and the endearing Robert Walker do not begin to compensate for the hideously vulgar and phoney goings-on.This routine princess-falls-in-love-with-ordinary-American comedy is joined with a love story between Walker and Allyson, the woman he really loves without realising it. |Nothing wrong with that, but she is paralysed from the waist down. Why? Because--the doctor gives us his medical opinion--in childhood she was not loved enough!Can you imagine the feelings of parents of crippled children on hearing such a thing? Back in the Forties, most people would have thought such a question absurdly oversensitive, but now it's a matter of common decency. Not only that, there is a long dream sequence in which Allyson imagines herself, in a feathered evening gown, dancing with Walker. Worse yet, at the end she actually begins to walk! and starts dancing with him! In the absence of a FAIRY princess to wave a magic wand, this is repulsively vulgar and cruel.Not only that, but Allyson is portrayed in a manner right out of cheap Victorian sentimentality. She does not sit in an ugly wheelchair but reclines on a couch, rising from it only when Walker, visiting her in the evenings, carries her to the roof for some fresh air. I wonder if any kid in the audience ever piped up, "How does she go to the bathroom?" She has a lovely flat, full of antiques and beautifully kept, which is understandable, as she works at painting dolls, and earns as much as--$3 a day! Poor June! She spends the whole film in cotton pyjamas or a floor-length, high-collared, puffed-sleeve nightie, while Hedy gets to float around in one fabulous evening gown after another.Some more hypocrisy: The princess wants to see some low life, so Walker, very reluctantly and apologetically, takes her to a place where the floor show is a couple in 19th-century costume, singing "Wait Till the Sun Shines, Nellie." Positively decadent! One man punches another, leading to the kind of phoney free-for-all that happens only in the movies. I have always wondered why, if two men start fighting in a saloon, other men should suddenly start fighting each other all over the place, and women should whack them over the head with bottles. Any suggestions?

dougdoepke On the whole, Walker carries this lengthy comedy-romance over a number of rough spots. As the irrepressible bell-boy, he's having trouble deciding between stepping up in the world with a real princess or stepping next door to discover the "princess" who's already there. As Jimmy Dobson, Walker is all boyish enthusiasm and charm. Good thing too, since LaMarr looks beautiful but glum, while the high-spirited Allyson is not allowed her usual bounce. So which will our bell-boy end up with—LaMarr's gorgeous princess or Allyson's invalided girl-next- door. Of course, coming at the end of WWII when the virtues of all things American were celebrated, the outcome's predictable-- Better to be among the land of the free than confined to a royal throne.It's a modern day fairy tale that importantly suggests not all princesses wear crowns. But the movie itself is uneven, lacking engagement from director Thorpe who does nothing to provide overall sparkle. Thus, a meandering storyline breaks down into a few amusing moments-- Jack Norton's drunk, Ragland's fractured English, Walker's clumsy enthusiasm. But the movie itself lacks overall style of the kind that would make it, and not just a couple of the performers, a success. (Hard to believe that the excellent comedic actor Rags Ragland would pass away only a year after this production.)

HarveyA I turned this on almost reluctantly. Nothing else was on. I stuck with it and I'm glad I did. It's light, charming and totally predictable, but its stars make it much more than expected. Hedy Lamarr is, as everyone else says, gorgeous. She's what a European princess SHOULD look like, although few ever have. James Walker is a complete surprise to me. He's exuberant and very likable. But for me, it was June Allyson who stole the show. I've always thought she was cute and sweet, but in this movie, she's really lovely. There's no one in the movies today who's remotely like her, although I suppose comparisons might be made to an early Meg Ryan. She completely unaffected and natural. I would imagine that when this movie was released, every boy wanted a girlfriend like her.

ksf-2 (Poss Spoilers) Rags Ragland steals the show as the comedic sidekick working in a New York hotel. Too bad they didn't give Agnes Moorehead a bigger part..has a smallish speaking part as Lady in Waiting. "Her Highness" has some elements of Queen Christina from 1933, and maybe even Sullivan's Travels '41. Seems to have been remade as Roman Holiday 1953, with a few changes. Weird dream sequence by Leslie (June Allyson), which didn't really add anything to the already long plot. Leslie is unable to walk, and works from her apartment, and may require more than medications to be able to walk again. This is a love triangle (rectangle ?) story involving a Princess from a foreign land who falls for Jimmy the bellboy (Robert Walker) . Of course, both Jimmy and the Princess (Hedy Lamarr) already have admirers in their lives, so things get complicated. Also a running gag where Jimmy spouts the names of cities in rapid mumble, which gets them out of a couple jams. And I SWEAR that's Shemp Howard that brings them to their table when they go back to Jake's for a night on the town, although he's not mentioned in the cast list. They look at each other and the Maitre D' keeps doing double takes. Lots of fun stuff going on. The drunk in the bar was Jack Norton, who made a career by playing the drunk in Bank Dick, Day at the Races, and Jezebel, and so many more. The only really serious side of the plot is how Albert (Ragland) gets mixed up with a bad gang, and Jimmy keeps trying to get him to keep better company.... this part of the plot is never really resolved, but the princess seems to learn a lesson in love right at the last minute. Like Rags says, "they all lived happily ever after", although its ironic that he says this, since he is the only one sitting down while everyone else is up dancing. A good MGM show directed by Richard Thorpe, who had just directed Lamarr in White Cargo. Both films play now & then on Turner Classic Movies.