IslandGuru Who payed the critics

Tacticalin An absolute waste of money

Matylda Swan It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Robert J. Maxwell Directed by, and starring, Burt Reynolds, this is comedy about a salesman learning he has only months to live is in Woody Allen territory. The script has joke upon joke, few of them demanding to begin with, but then embellished by bits of business that are a little distracting.Well, I'm giving the elements credit because it's not that easy to make a comedy about having a terminal illness. Dabney Coleman managed to inject a few funny boluses into "Short Time" but "The Bucket List" was a slapdash affair providing an excuse for two older (but sometimes magnificent) actors to do the things we wish we had done. I almost hate to say it but arguably the most entertaining comedy about dying is the Rock Hudson and Doris Day film, "Send Me No Flowers." Burt's direction of "The End" is function and lapses only into one easy cliché -- a man wakes up sweating and thrusts his goggle-eyed face into the camera. He also drags out amusing moments. The script by Jerry Belson is fast and touches the bases. It may depend a bit much on obvious jokes -- "I told you not to cuss, Godammit." But it more than makes up for such weaknesses. Eg., Burt goes to make his last confession. The priest is Robby Benson, who looks about fifteen years old. Burt uneasily explains that he has a little difficulty calling him "Father" so the priest suggests Burt just call him Dave. In the confessional, Burt begins with, "Bless me, Dave, for I have sinned." And when the priest isn't regaling Burt with his OWN confession about lust and ambition, he flosses his teeth while listening to Burt talk about infidelity. Burt is doing his best to get organized but there is the intermittent "pluck" and "plick" from the other side of the confessional window.I really like Burt Reynolds. He's the least prepossessing movie star who ever breathed. Confident enough to be self deprecating in public despite his dark handsomeness. Cary Grant would never have made fun of his own ouvre the way Burt did at an Academy Award presentation by portentously rattling off a string of his own hits, like "Navajo Joe" and "Sam Whiskey." He can handle serious drama well and with the proper plot he excels, as in "Deliverance." But his ordinariness doesn't seem to work well with comedy. What you get without cultivation is lowbrow slapstick that sometimes is more silly than witty. As a performer Burt has a certain range but comedy broaches the perimeter of possibilities.

TedMichaelMor Burt Reynolds' film "The End" delights me. From beginning to end, the movie charmed me with one set piece after another with relentless gifted performances emerging as the protagonist Wendell Sony Lawson encounters one person after another discounting him and his impending end. The pace seems a tad slow, but that does not diminish the flow of the story. Nothing interferes with that flow.The silliness here works. I think that in some ways Dom Deluise almost overwhelm the second half of the film, but for most viewers his performance seems to make the movie and I suppose it does. I love the confession that Sonny tries to make early in the movie to the unfocused youthful priest played by Robby Benson. The telephone call to an indifference suicide hot line is also lovely, along with the sour milk used to down sleeping pills.I very much liked the score and the editing. Nine migth be tad high, but I do like this film.

Brian T. Whitlock (GOWBTW) There's more to life than just ending it, just because you are terminally ill. For Wendell(Burt Reynolds) he just want to die fast and not be in so much pain. We all know that suicide is a act of selfishness when that person wants to rid himself off the Earth. That really brings more pain than ease to others. Every time when Wendell tries to get rid of himself, those plans are intervened by something else. He tries to OD(Overdose) on some pills, the milk he drinks has soured. He gets committed to an asylum the suicide attempts there are thwarted, after he meets another mental patient who happens to be more off than himself. Marlon(Dom DeLuise, 1933-2009) is so unhappy with himself, he bungled all tempts to help put Wendell out of his misery. Wendell on the other hand decided to see what he is doing to himself and just live life the way it is despite his condition of health. If I was terminal, I would enjoy myself everyday, until the end of time. A very funny movie with a touch of serious in the mix. Enjoy it! R.I.P., Dom Deluise! 3 out of 5 stars!

lambiepie-2 I was young when I saw this film..and haven't seen it since so I can tell you at the time I saw it..this was the funniest film ever made to me. It was silly.You have to be a three stooges-type comedy fan to have affection toward this film. Being young helps too. This is a non-calorie, non-filling type of film...fun for fun sake. And silly. But it was the 70's and Burt Reynodls-Dom Deluise-Sally Field trio had a few films dealing with silly 70's comedy. Silly, not good.This is what I remember...A very handsome (and self-centered, at least to me) man finds out he has a short time to live. Instead of letting nature take its course, he tried to speed up the process. Now of course this doesn't sound funny. And if something like this was made today, I can imagine the protests (although it sounds ripe for Ben Stiller or the Farley Brothers!)...but it was done as silly as possible to soften the idea. And once again I say, this was silly.The one part that had me in stitches is when Sonny wakes up to the wonderful, calming, sweet and serene chirping of birds after one of his attempts. yes, it's silly, but if you're in the right frame of mindless silliness, this will have you laugh heartily as well.If you like slapstick-silly of the 70's, then this film will be for you.