Cradle Will Rock
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Movie Reviews of Cradle Will Rock
Movie Review: A complex and wonderful film
Summary: 5 Stars
It looks like a great deal of money was spent making this movie and in a perfect and fair world, it would have wound up, if not a grand commercial success, at least taking home a number of Oscars. But the world doesn't work that way, so most people will have to luck into the experience of Cradle Will Rock, and I hope the reviews on this page will help. The complex plot has already been dealt with by other reviewers here, so I'll just say that, although I am not expert on the movie's subject (though I had read, in an Orson Welles bio, a little bit about the original play), it wasn't too difficult to keep up with the various plot and character strands. A little bit of extra information, perhaps in an opening or closing crawl, would have been nice, but the movie can definitely be enjoyed by intelligent moviegoers without the apparatus of an historical essay. The film is beautifully shot and edited, and the acting is absolutely superb throughout, especially Hank Azaria, Joan Cusack, and Bill Murray. My favorites were Cherry Jones, as a somewhat naive but honest and hard-working arts administrator, and Vanessa Redgrave, as the wife of a steel magnate who gives her sympathy and energy to the theater folk. Her part could easily have been played as just another bored rich person dabbling in politics, but she gives her character such verve and enthusiasm (especially during the climactic performance of the play) that she becomes a fully rounded and engaging character. Robbins stated that he was going for a screwball comedy pacing, despite the serious tone of most of the material, and the pacing works well, keeping the plotlines going with no boredom and a minimum of confusion--although we did have to stop the DVD a couple of times to make sure we were getting all the developments straight. The movie ends on a high note, and the very last, very surprising, shot, puts a perfect cap on this, a wonderful movie indeed.
Movie Review: A True American Film - "We Do Our Part"
Summary: 5 Stars
I have never seen a more splendid movie, nor splendid play within a movie - which this film is about. The producer, Tim Robbins, is a saint for finally producing this wonderful play of FDR's Federal Theater Project and putting it into a modern wonderful film. The result is awesome. The theme, cast and photography are exquisite. There are no flaws in this film.
This great film serves as final justice for a great and wonderful play written for the Federal Theater Project that was never shown, yet deserved the highest accolades as one of the greatest plays ever written, produced or played. The wonder and glory of this great film is not only the initial play's great value, but the conditions of complete oppression and repression under which it was, nevertheless, written, produced, viewed and reviewed. The vision is extraordinary and actually will make other such spectacles, for example, such as the Grand Canyon, seem as they really are, in comparison, such a petty thing. Do you want to see something that makes the Grand Canyon seem petty? See "Cradle Will Rock". It is one of the greatest films and stories and chronicles of all time!
Movie Review: Thank you!
Summary: 5 Stars
Thank you, Tim Robbins!Thank you for allowing the story of the FTP to be told.
When I saw this in the theatre nearly half the audience walked out. I say, forget 'em. My friends and I loved it. Simply because everyone doesn't get Brecht jokes certainly doesn't mean they shouldn't be made. Overall a beautiful movie showing a piece of American History which people seem very willing to forget.
And as to those reviewers who shun the movie for slandering Hearst and Co., check your history. A great deal of the American magnates, particularily Hearst and Ford, were either fascists or heavy supporters. Deal with it.
And yes, The Cradle Will Rock isn't "revived" very much. That's because it's not Cats. It's Brectian dialectical theatre (Like Threepenny Opera). And while Mack the Knife became a hit after being changed a bit by Louis Armstrong, the point with Brecht's kind of theatre was never to produce top 40 songs. It was to create an intellectual theatre for the masses. Bawdy, funny, musical, and intelligent.
In other words, the diametrical opposite of, say, Starlight Express or similar tripe.
Movie Review: Brilliant and Important
Summary: 5 Stars
Tim Robbins created a brilliant story with many amazing and interesting characters. Bill Murray is fantastic as the Vaudeville actor who loves joan Cusack who also Shines. Hank Azaria is also great. Emily Watson is amazing as the actress who doesn't have a good voice, which was the point of her being the part which one of my fellow reviewers didn't understand. Susan Sarandon was good but her acsent was terrible. John Cusack was good but didn't have a lot to work with. But the film really belonged to Cherry Jones and John Turtturo. Cherry Jones has a wonderfully intreging voice that she uses masterfully. John Turtturo is wonderful especially at the end when he is portraying the male lead in the play The Cradle Will Rock. All in all, Tim Robbins should be extremely proud of his wonderful film.Movie Review: A great story that needed to be told
Summary: 5 Stars
Although this movie has some flaws (it rambles at times, and it's hard to say if that is a directorial or writing flaw), I gave it an overall 5-star rating because of its superb cast and the way they bring an important but overlooked period and events--the 1930s and the Federal Theatre Project--to life. The stories of Marc Blitzstein, Diego Rivera et al. hold as important a place in American history as do the World Wars, yet the latter have received an overabundance of cultural attention while the former are often relegated to an overlooked shelf. Thank you Tim Robbins and company for putting the stories of Blitzstein and his associates from the left side of 1930s America into a big, beautiful, mainstream work of art. This is a film that should be seen by every American.