Jeanskynebu
the audience applauded
Greenes
Please don't spend money on this.
Lumsdal
Good , But It Is Overrated By Some
bcrumpacker
SPOILER ALERT The thin story is a close copy of The Boy in the Plastic Bubble, all the way through. Just change bubble to leather suit, and add motorcycle.The good: Cheryl Pollak is very pretty and sparkly, as always. The Yugoslavian coastal scenery is carefully filmed and looks great. Brad takes off his shirt, if you like that sort of thing.The bad: Cheryl Pollak sings. Twice! Her idiot friends. Brad Pitt's untrained voice. The motorcycle "race" on the beach. Brad conceals his true identity from Cheryl for no real reason. The weird: When we first see Brad Pitt's face at the 35 minute mark, he is dressed like James Dean in Rebel Without A Cause: jeans, white tee shirt and red jacket. The R rating for showing one topless girl for a few seconds. The Adriatic coast is famous for its nude beaches, so what's the big deal? Brad plays with a dolphin, which would normally violate the Marine Mammal Protection Act. Brad's spaced out mom in a wheelchair shows up at the end for no reason. And most importantly, why does Brad kill himself right after sleeping with his true love? Most guys come back for more.Bottom line: a lightweight romance, sprinkled with eye candy and oddball choices. Gave it a 5 because I like Cheryl in almost anything.
creitz
In spite of what others have said, I enjoyed this movie. I had never heard of it before and I have just seen it on the Canadian Movie Channel. I was puzzled to see how young Brad Pitt was - even younger than in "Thelma and Louise" - until I read the explanation about it being filmed in Yugoslavia in 1988 and then being lost for 9 years until finally issued in 1997. As I am a male senior citizen, I don't get palpitations at the sight of Brad Pitt, but I do like and respect him, and have enjoyed most of his movies. Some of the acting and parts of the script leave a great deal to be desired. However, this movie has a very Film Festival European feel to it, and in my view is a bit too deep for most North American film fans (insult intended). The scene of him frolicking in the ocean with the dolphins, and his description of the most wonderful day that he had ever spent, moved me tremendously. Life is made up of choices, and the choice for the hero was one day of great happiness and joy, or a lifetime of imprisonment.
Ed_the_happy_BioCloner
I do not like Brad Pitt even a little, and I do not watch love dramas. And when this came on TV in the early A.M. I almost didn't watch it, the description was so stupid and squishy. But I put it on 20 minutes late, and found it almost instantly engaging. I had no idea I was watching Brad Pitt, who is usually mis-cast in movies he doesn't belong in such as 'Cool World' and 'Se7en', and was intrigued by the chemistry between his character and the father. I really liked the scene where the father went back to the bar looking for the Americans, even though the fighting was unconvincing, and loved it when he popped the barkeep in the forehead heheh. I was so charmed by the woman that I wished I was dating her myself. Interesting and disappointing that there are no pictures of her on google. The ending was unique in that it ended abruptly with it's point having been made and went straight to credits while you were still thinking about the finality of it. An American film would have drawn the ending out laboriously with plenty of 'tragic' sounding music to try to look "deep". Like I said, this isn't my genre, and I truly dislike Brad Pitt, but if this film even moved *me*, what the hell is everyone else complaining about?!
Ashley Layton
"I want to live! But sometimes I wish I had never been born" are the opening lines of 'Dark Side of the Sun'...bit melodramatic. Some might feel that some excellent performances are marred by the occasional desire by some actors to add a bit of heightened drama to what is a relatively simple film. For instance Guy Boyd's performance as the father is superb though there are some moments such as towards the end where he talks to his mentally ill wife that his performance goes a bit day time TV-ish this though was probably more to do with Nikolic's (director) need to make sure the audience don't get bored with what is essentially a film about life, namely the difference between observing it and participating in it: "I am just an observer of life" says Brad Pitt's character… yes Brad Pitt: Fight Club, Mr. and Mrs. Smith etc…only this is Brad Pit at a young age before he'd been noticed in Thelma and Louise (although 'Dark Side Of the Sun' itself wouldn't be released until six years after when all the footage had been rescued from war torn Yugoslavia, it then went straight to video so you'll probably only see it on late night TV or amongst such classics as Rambo 12 or whatever in the bargain bucket ) so expect more of a Leonardo Dicaprio in Romeo and Juliet performance than Achilles in Troy. Rick (Pitt) has been stuck in a world of darkness all his life moving across the world to find a cure for his disease the next and final hope is a Yugoslavian healer, a man who Rick's dad has complete faith in to find a cure. It ain't happening basically and Rick is getting jaded with it all. The character is very much a poet and philosopher and there are plenty of high angle shots to suggest a superior quality in this pasty faced hero. "People can hide without using a mask' there's a lot of this sort of half wise half pretentious dialogue in this film which could be easily mistaken for a student work …in fact there a lot of pants bits here but hey if you like Pitt or nice little unheard films go for it; splash out a quid/dollar for it I've slatted it a bit but its alright give it a watch.
