Runtime: 112 minutes
Directed by: Don Siegel… among others. I’ll elaborate later
Starring: Burt Reynolds, Lesley-Anne Down, David Niven, Timothy West, Patrick Magee
From: Paramount
Rough Cut… what an appropriate title.
A movie I’ve had on Blu for more than half a year; why did I not watch it much sooner? Sure, the movie is not a must-see--my comment is more a critique of myself for purchasing physical media then waiting awhile to view said physical media. Until Paramount Presents released it earlier in 2022, the movie did not make it past the VHS era; on streaming there are only SD prints (still is as of now) so the disc purchase was wise on my part. Furthermore, the one special feature is a piece led by Leonard Maltin which explains that this was a rather troubled production; the inclusion of that was at least honest—I’ll elaborate later.
The plot and cast intrigued me: Burt Reynolds and Lesley-Anne Down team up to steal millions in uncut gems… excuse me, uncut diamonds. Scotland Yard Detective David Niven attempts to stop the duo. Hearing in relatively recent times that this was a change of pace for Burt and a positive review on the Pure Cinema Podcast were further reasons why I made this purchase. Unfortunately, it’s not a movie I can really recommend.
“Rough Cut” (a title that Siegel wanted to change; something not great would result in obvious jokes being made, which is exactly what happened) is a movie that really meanders around until the actual heist occurs. The humor doesn’t always land & it seems as if there are random scenes for little reason and/or the flow between scenes can be rather ragged. The back half is better than the front-among other things, the heist itself was done in a satisfactory manner-but it is never free from its various issues.
The issues off the screen were even more interesting. Among other things:
*
Blake Edwards was to be the original director; Don Siegel eventually
held that job… until he was fired… then later rehired because Ol’ Burt
was quite angry at his dismissal. Peter R. Hunt and Robert Ellis Miller
make their contributions. All are experienced directors yet that was not
enough to make this worthwhile.
* Larry Gelbart wrote the movie (based upon a novel) but he was credited as Francis Burns as he wasn’t happy.
* Neither was Niven, who actually sued because he allegedly did not get what was promised to him.
From hearsay, producer David Merrick is to blame for the majority of this drama.
The movie is not bad-Lord knows Burt was in far worse-yet you’d hope for better given the talent involved and Reynolds wanting this to be a “light caper” like what Cary Grant used to do. Charade this ain’t although Nelson Riddle covering various Duke Ellington songs was an inspired choice and at least some nerds will get the reference as Reynolds does his version of Grant to Down and she remarks that it’s more like Tony Curtis doing Cary Grant.
To close this out, there is a gag that I’m sure was awkward at the time but boy is late 2022 a REALLY bad time for me to see it. One of the people needed for the heist is a pilot. Burt asks a German… who is not a former Nazi during the World War II days but is STILL a Nazi! His introductory scene is in a big room full of Swastika flags and even a mannequin of Hitler! It’s supposed to be “funny” you see as this German’s radioman is going to be a Black guy. They of course get along—like I said it doesn’t seem so hilarious now. To think, if a certain mentally ill A-hole rapper who I've never liked knew how to fly, Burt could have hired just one person…
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