ThiefHott Too much of everything

Laikals The greatest movie ever made..!

GazerRise Fantastic!

Cody One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

MartinHafer "The Dresser" was nominated for several Oscars--including Best Picture and Best Actor for both leads (Tom Courtenay and Albert Finney)--so obvious, it was a well-respected film when it debuted. However, I wasn't quite as bowled over by it for a variety of reasons. It's not a bad film but I can't help but think that there MUST have been a lot of other films of the day that I would have chosen instead for such honors. I have two major complaints--BOTH leads had a tendency to over-act and their parts seemed overly broad and the other is that the film, while very original, is quite unpleasant.The film is set during WWII and follows a touring Shakespearean company in Britain. Because of the war, it's hard to get good actors, they are constantly in danger of being blown up by German bombers and their lead (Finney) is emotionally exhausted and on the verge of a nervous breakdown. So, it's up to his dresser (Courtenay) to massage this fragile soul through his next performance. Time and time again, folks expect the show to be canceled since Finney is incoherent and appears to be cracking up--and time and time again, the dresser tells them that he'll be fine! A HUGE portion of the film consists of Courtenay and Finney in the dressing room--and Finney is slowly transformed into a competent and accomplished actor once again. Another HUGE portion is the performance itself--which is GREAT if you adore Shakespeare. And, following the performance comes a shock--and Courtenay gets to have a very strange monologue himself.The film is interesting in some ways. Seeing the obvious parallel between the actor balancing between insanity and greatness and his playing the lead in "King Lear" is pretty clever--as Lear, himself, was much like Finney's character. It also was interesting at the end--Courtenay's character shows a darker side and there is a strong homo-erotic aspect of this that makes the performance one you cannot just dismiss. However, and this is what bothered me, I thought Courtenay's gay character was too campy--too flamboyant and too difficult to believe to be true. Making the character less stereotypical would have made him much more believable and universal. As for Finney, his was a maddening performance. At times, he was mesmerizing and other times he seemed like a bellowing water buffalo in the throes of a bleeding ulcer! Subtlety also would have helped with this character. And, combined with the unpleasantness of the plot, it was a chore to finish this one. Not bad, but it could have been so much better.By the way, Finney looks amazingly old yet he was only about 47--he looked at least 65! Also, read through the reviews for this film--it's rare to see such divergent views on a film--folks loved it and folks hated it!

edwagreen Excellent picture about life backstage at the theater and an actor desperately trying to get through a performance of King Lear. Albert Finney as the failing actor and Tom Courtenay as his subordinate dresser, richly deserved Oscar nominations for best actor. A case could have been made to have put Courtenay in the supporting division, but that's old history.Finney lets loose with a terrific performance as a domineering, nasty performer who lets loose with just about everyone. Courtenay, with his effeminate ways, only gets his freedom when the ending occurs. You wonder if the two ever had a homosexual relationship going.There is a lot of comedy as well. The film takes place during World War 11 England and might have been better served to have been filmed in black and white, more suitable for the period. The performance is about to begin when the air-raid sirens are sounded and the bombs begin to fall. This suggests that these bombs might cancel the performance which seems to be leading to an even bigger bomb cast.Patriotism is shown by Finney at the end. The play must go on and its head must rise to the occasion.

moonspinner55 A tough sell: British playwright Ronald Harwood adapts his autobiographical stage drama into loud, bellowing film about WWII Shakespearean theatrical troupe saddled with an aged, blustery, brilliant-but-unreliable star at the end of his tether. The actor's effete assistant works diligently to get his master coiffed and costumed for a production of "King Lear"--during an Air Raid!--yet both men are losing their grip on their unraveling situation. Based on the waning years of actor Donald Wolfit (whose dresser was Mr. Harwood), this acclaimed production would seem to be a welcome haven for scenery-chewing thespians. Unfortunately, Albert Finney (at this point in his career, not at all elderly) seems too robust and quick-thinking to play the actor; Finney (and Oscar-nominated director Peter Yates) cannot modulate Sir's moods and bouts of coherency in a way that makes sense to us, so that in one scene he's stopping a train with the commanding echo of his voice, and in the next he's curiously falling apart. With such a wreck of a human being in the midst of failing health and aptitude, one would assume a dedicated assistant would go to great lengths to protect his boss (and his future), yet servant Tom Courtenay prods and badgers and goads Finney to carry on rather than rest. Courtenay, who played this part on stage (and was nominated for an Oscar alongside Finney for Best Actor), is far more attuned to his role, and eventually his bleating commands and confusion achieve the only real feeling in the film. These two, thankfully, do not peck at each other's heads, and scenarist Harwood is careful not to fall into a love-hate pattern (which could possibly be perceived in the film's first act); but, without a juxtaposition of servant vs. celebrity, there's nothing much to behold in this portrait except for the deterioration of narcissism, the hint at what once was. *1/2 from ****

ccthemovieman-1 I really admired the fabulous job of acting displayed by Tom Courtenay in this film but story- wise, this wasn't an entertaining two hours for me. I mean, who wants to watch a senile old man (played by Albert Finney) rant and rave for two hours? Not me.I endured it, especially in the first hour which was brutal, to admire Courtenay's work and the nice cinematography in the early train scene. From that point, it was nothing but dressing room scenes (I'm told this was a much better play than film) with Courtney trying to calm down Finney. It gets better in the second half when we see why people put up with this obnoxious actor,. because he CAN act really well, as he demonstrates in this King Lear production staged during the WWII blitz on London.As I said, Courtney, playing the patient dresser, "Norman," to the aging star (Finney, who only is called "sir" in here) was terrific and many thought deserving of an Academy Award. I could understand him better, too, because Finney started yelling I couldn't understand a lot of what he said with his accent. That also hurt my enjoyment of the film.