Mabuse

I've always been aware of this movie, but just got around to finally watching it. I've been spending years trying to catch up on Sidney Lumet and this has been on the "to watch" list for a while.

This is a fantastic film. Very good screenplay. The thing that stood out is that each of the characters demonstrates both virtue and immorality. For example, the Mathew Broderick character is very selfish at various moments in the film. The ties between the three generations of family are very strained and the men do, or confess to, many cruel occurrences between themselves over the years, yet we never dislike the characters. Rather, they feel much more real and alive.

I watched this "double feature style" along with Trumbo with Brian Cranston. The strengths of Family Business were readily apparent compared to the newer film. The foremost reason being that the Dalton Trumbo character goes through all the harrowing events of the film with a very untrue-to-life reassurance that everything will go fine. In reality Trumbo trod through real danger and was forced to make difficult, sacrificial decisions, but the movie version of him does it all with a certitude that seems like clairvoyance. Trumbo is a character that seems like he already read the script and knows there will be a happy ending. He never has a scene of doubt or uncertainty. Louis CK gives the better performance because he is allowed to voice some hesitation about the decisions Trumbo and everyone else are making.

Family Business feels like there are real stakes. Everything is carefully laid out before the heist, it's established how everyone has something to lose, and when things go wrong we wince at the mistakes and feel the sting of the consequences.

I was surprised to find the film was widely panned when it came out. I imagine in it's day that expectations for Lumet were higher, but today this felt like a breath of clean air and a sip of pure water. So refreshing to see something nuanced, clever, exciting, and funny.

Crocker Jarmen

You sold me. Too bad there are no more video stores around here, otherwise I'd go out and rent it. My best bet is to check out the flea market next week. They still got about ten thousand VHS tapes there, and chances are good I might be able to find a copy.

Mabuse

I rented it on DVD through netflix.

The Infidel

I've owned this DVD for years. Always been a favorite.

By the way, you can rent this online from Google Play for $2.99, or buy the digital copy for $7.99.

https://play.google.com/store/movies...id=u-Ic8gDKHEk

Mabuse

Also, all the actors are at or near the high point of their career. Hoffman had just won an Oscar for Rainman, Connery had won two years earlier for The Untouchables, and Broderick is just three years past Bueller and this was made at the same time as Glory.

I really liked Connery in this, this was the period where Connery was the most "Connery"; where every line was both macho and funny. If you love him in The Untouchables and Last Crusade and Red October and The Rock, you're going to love this.

Bacon

I still have in on my DVR in HD from 4 years ago when Encore had it on one day

very underrated and funny, the cast was perfect

Hokeyboy

Broderick was on Gilbert Gottfried's podcast last year. This movie was brought up, and he (Broderick) still wasn't quite sure what the movie was about!