Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Sexyloutak Absolutely the worst movie.

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

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

bkoganbing I think someone was a big fan of Beau Geste to have written Rocket Gibraltar. If you'll remember Beau Geste the two surviving Geste brothers give their gallant brother Beau a Viking funeral just like they talked about when they were kids. According to a recent biography of Burt Lancaster this was to be his On Golden Pond or The Shootist, but it did not win the critical reception that those other two films got. In time though it found its audience and I'm part of that audience. Burt was 75 when he made this film and he was playing a part of a man who was going into his 77 birthday and his family has come out to Westhampton Beach out in Suffolk County to celebrate his birthday.Burt has three daughters and a son and has led an interesting life. He was a writer of sorts who survived the McCarthy/blacklist era and has brought the kids up with certain values. The kids have gone out on their own however and while none of them is a disgrace, they're far from what he idealized them to be. His wife had died several years earlier.The daughters are Suzy Amis, Patricia Clarkson, and Frances Conroy and the son is John Glover. Amis is unmarried and truth be told she's one of loose morals. The other daughters are married to Kevin Spacey and Bill Pullman, a hack comedian and a washed up ballplayer. It's in the grandkids that Burt sees some hope and maybe salvation for his ideals. He likes them all, but his favorite is MacCauley Culkin years before his Home Alone films. He tells them that his ideal would be a Viking funeral, after all the thought of his cadaver being worm food is nothing for a real man to want.Of course the kids set out to do just that and they do it in a winning manner. These kids truly connected with their grandfather the love really comes through in the scenes with each other and with Lancaster.Rocket Gibraltar is funny and sad and bittersweet all at once. I'd give it a look, there are worse ways to go out.

MartinHafer I wanted to like this movie more a lot more than I did, but it did have a lot going for it in the first 80% of the film--and most of that was the pleasant acting of veteran star Burt Lancaster. The acting, plus the music and direction, made this a film that is worth seeing--even if the story itself was a bit dopey towards the end. No...it got a LOT dopey.Lancaster plays the patriarch of the family. He's obviously older and nearing death when he invites all his kids and grandkids to come and celebrate his birthday. During most of the film, not a lot happens--just lots of nice, subdued little vignettes. I liked this and Lancaster's laid back performance. Unfortunately, late in the film, it got dopey and seemed like a combination of a Disney film and a remake of the Kirk Douglas classic "The Vikings"....if directed by Dr. Kevorkian!! I mean, it really, really got weird when all the grandkids found dead grandpa and decided to honor his last request (probably a joke) and give him a Viking funeral!! It's done in such a way, that it's like the Spielberg or Disney-type film where the kids know best and the parents, begrudgingly, agree when all is said and done. However, common sense says you don't barbecue grandpa on the beach!! Remind me now to go swimming at Westhampton Beach, Long Island!

chrissy this heart felt film is well worth watching. the simple script is full of characters any family will recognize, it is lifted by the talents of a huge ensemble of incredibly talented actors. while the film is carried by the soon-to-be lauded adult actors, the children add completely uncommented truth. the combination of the two drives the film into your heart. watch it if only for the glimpse of Kevin Spacey, Patricia Clarkson, Frances Conroy, Burt Lacaster, Bill Pullman, even a fresh faced Macaulay Culkin. a must see, especially for those big east coast families of beach summer traditions. watch it with the whole family, but be warned the heart wrenching ending may catch you by surprise

BrianPatrix This movie invoked in me a funny kind of feeling. What feeling exactly, or why I don't know, but it was with a definite contentment that I watched it. Just go and rent it, you'll see. Maybe it was the time that I watched it, Sunday afternoon, or the fact that I felt good for other reasons, but the interaction between Lancaster and Culkin is so nice and touching ('cuse the sappy language) that it makes you feel good with the world. The movie just has the right atmosphere and incomparable good acting by Culkin (8 years at the time) especially.I don't want to go into the story line or that kind of crap, just go and see it.