Customer Reviews

Author! Author!

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Author! Author! is a guilty pleasure. It features Pacino in one of his rare forays into comedy (the other being the underrated and little-seen '70s gem, Scarecrow) as a beleaguered New York City playwright who has to juggle a houseload of kids, a wife who is cheating on him and a play that he is struggling to get off the ground.

This is a sweet, endearing film that isn't too sappy as to give you diabetes. Pacino really keeps everything grounded and delivers a wonderfully understated performance. He lets all the kids ham it up and deliver the best lines, especially, as one reviewer pointed out, the youngest one who is a really good little actor. What happened to that kid? And you've got veteran thesps like Tuesday Weld, Dyan Cannon, and my personal fave, Alan King, who doesn't do enough films, IMO.

This is one of those comfort movies that you end up turning on partway through on TV and then watch all the way to the end. There is just something about it that is so fascinating to watch. Maybe because it was so reviled by critics and ignored by audiences that it now languishes in Cable TV limbo awaiting a possible DVD release... some day?

This film is also a great snapshot of NYC circa the late '70s early '80s. The film uses its locations so well and anyone who has lived there (or still lives there) will instantly recognize certain places and areas. It's almost like stepping into a time machine to a New York that doesn't exist anymore.

Watching this movie makes me wish that Pacino would do more comedies but sadly, he has a rep for doing intense dramas and is probably only offered these kinds of films anymore.

I have waited for years for this movie to make it to DVD, only to be SO DISAPPOINTED with the treatment it recieved!! Not only is this a very good Al Pacino movie, but it is a very good movie period, so why when it is turned out on to DVD is it treated like a stepchild at a family reunion with the final scene left on the cutting room floor. I thought that the idea of DVD was to give the audiance what couldnt be give given on a 2 hour VHS tape, and the scene that was cut was one of the best in the film...when the kids bring him 'back down to earth' after the has spent his first day as a hit playwrite in bed. Guess I'm back to waiting for the 'soon to be released' Collector's or Deluxe Edition of this movie.

Well I love this film........................the video version........There is a problem with the dvd version and the version that has been shown on TV.......................It's missing the last scene..........If anyone has seen this film they will remeber after Ivan and the kids leave the resturant and read the review in the NY Times. The next scene is him in the waking up the next morning in bed and the kids are crowded around him with more reviews from newspapers and hitting him with a cake. Well that scene in cut from the dvd/tv showings. It ends when they read the NY Times review when they leave the resturant...........What A jip.............Now it's finally going to be relesed here in the US. I don't know if I'm going to get it. After seeing the import version. Also............the beginning credits is supposed to have the NY skyline as it's backdrop...................................No t here either.....................So I'm sticking with the original VHS version.........

I can't think of any other Al Pacino movies, well except Godfather, because I'm neutral about him. But this is such a sweet, over-looked movie! The kids are great, especially the youngest little boy, most of the Al's children are adopted from his horrible wife, and she is a putrid specimen of womankind! Obviously this woman read Moll Flanders, or something. . . she deposits variously fathered children with Al like he's the bank.
Al is a Broadway playwrite, living in my favorite city, New York. He's a vegetarian, looks lovingly after his 5 or so kids, while trying to write a play, get over his awful, awful wife and have a relationship with Dyan Canon. Read: He's stressed!

I put this movie in my ever-growing "Sunday afternoon, I don't feel like doing anything because the weekend's almost over" category. It will make you feel a little better about Monday.

First let me say, I am glad that this is finally on DVD. I have been looking for this one. Second what is with these companies. They changed the ending. Ok, not changed it, THEY TOOK IT OUT. I enjoyed this movie when it first came out. It should how a father struggled to make ends meat with 5 kids. Having to deal with a cheating wife, and still write a play. It showed the love that a father has in these kids. Mind you only one is his. The other 4 are his by marriage and he loves them as if they were his own. But to take out the one scene that was fun and touching is stupid. What is wrong with the kids showing there father that, not only is he a success on Braodway but that he is still their Dad. I loved that scene and hoped that when it was released on DVD it would be there. But NO! They took it out and stopped it when he is reading the paper. They really need think. This is not the first movie that has been changed. I now am going to try and get the VHS instead. At least that one, hopefully they didnt change.

DVD was delivered in good time, faster than stated. DVD was in good condition. HOwever was disappointed to find that the DVD version crops off the original beginning and 10 minutes off the end. The oriinal screen and VHS version ends with a celebration the next day in Ivan's bedroom with the kids hitting Ivan with a cake! The DVD version ends on the street the night before in front of the news stand. Disappointing.

Ok DVD. No real extras. The Powers That Be for some reason chopped out the last 2 or 3 scenes from the original print. A bit jarring if you have seen the film before.

This is one of my all time favorites. Tender enough to be sweet but funny as heck. I don't think the cursing kids would be permited in a movie today in our PC world, but in this '82 movie it not only worked, it was funny! If you haven't seen this gem-rent it. If you have seen it-good for you-bet you'd like to see it again. Watching this movie is coming home to milk & cookies!

Does this film seem dated? Sure. But it's very enjoyable to watch. Pacino, Alan King, and Dyan Cannon are obviously having good fun with their roles. Pacino channels a little Woody Allen as Armenian playwright Ivan Travalian (at one point he quips "you can always tell an Armenian; their last name rhymes with Armenian") with a mid-life crisis, a failing marriage, a new play to finish, and a stable full of kids (mostly from his soon-to-be-ex-wife's previous couplings) all with their own distinct personalities and issues. It makes a pretty nice comedy-drama jambalaya that doesn't hit any high marks, but is entertaining nonetheless. Look for delightful cameo roles by Bob and Ray as brothers investing in Travalian's play. Also worth noting is a young Eric Gurry who plays Pacino's oldest son and sometimes his father's caretaker. Apparently Gurry left films to become involved in the venture capital industry but this film shows he had some promise as an actor.

Lesser known Pacino film, but fun to watch again. The video quality is superb, especially those who have widescreens at home. There are two options on audio, Stereo and mono. I started watching it in Stereo on my Dolby digital system, but found that I had to switch to mono. The stereo sounded a bit synthetic, unnatural.

My biggest problem here was the "missing" final scene. At first I thought my DVD was malfunctioning, only to discover that Fox must have re-edited it for some reason that only they can understand. It was badly done, too. For those familiar with the film, on the part where Pacino says to his youngest son- "It means Heraldo gets his snake"- Pacino's mouth isn't even moving. The frame is frozen and the credits roll. Then, on the music overdub you can actually hear (if you listen closely) the sounds of kids laughter on the last scene that they cut, suggesting that something was missing. Again, those not familiar with the film won't notice. But, to those of us who are familiar with it, it's rather annoying and disappointing.

WHAT'S THE REASON? My guess is marketing. At some future release, they'll come out with a DVD with the final scene in tact, as well as the kid's interviews on some sort of "Where are they now" feature. This way, fox will get everyone to buy the DVD again and make profit once again on the film. Just look at how many different versions George Lucas has on "Star Wars." It's all in the marketing.