Customer Reviews

The Best of Times

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I guess I first caught this movie on Cinemax or some other cable channel back in '87 or '88(?) while still in High School. I've watched it at least once a year (around September usually) ever since. A "Sleeper" I suppose, but a sleeper at it's finest. In my opinion one of Williams' best, up there with "World according to Garp" and "Moscow on the Hudson". Kurt is perfectly cast as a former high school GOD turned beerbellied, blown out kneed "Van Specialist" desperately trying not to bathe in past glory. It has that "quirky and delightful" feel, not unlike Bill Forsyth's films like "Local Hero" and "Gregory's Girl". Now that I think of it, "Mystery Alaska" wouldn't be a bad comparison either. It goes way beyond simply a football/sports movie (my Wife likes it too but probably just because of Kurt Russell) but hey, I love football anyway so it it works for me on multiple levels. Of course, the idea of going back and correcting one's biggest screw up/regret would appeal to anyone. I always feel good after I watch this one, it hasn't let me down yet.

I first saw this movie when it was out on VHS. Yes, it is that old of a movie. From the start, I thought this movie was a classic. Jack Dundee (played by Robin Williams) is living in a state of agony because of a dropped pass in a highschool football game. Reno Hightower (played by Kurt Russel) was the quaterback, the only good quaterback the town ever had, who threw him that pass. The town in the movie is a typical small town where highschool football is big. Unfortunately for Robin Williams, that was the one chance the town had for a championship season. Robin Williams gets the idea to replay the game with the same players on both sides. Without giving away the plot, this is one movie that is worth getting. It will keep you amused and rooting for Williams throughout the whole movie.

Nice mild but funny film, with Robin Williams not acting in his usual annoying hyperactive manner, but giving a rare subdued performance. Kurt Russel is great as always, as are the rest of the cast. The Script is well written, and the direction good. Kind of like an old Disney film, in the best sense of that term.

Best of Times is a overlooked classic from the 80"s!
Kurt Russell is great as the old hero football star
who winds up in a car repair shop and Robin Williams
in his best role ever as the pathetic bank manager
who's life is out of control and both team up to
relive their youth by starting up a football game
with the stronger rival team that whipped them years
ago. Of course they win the game and all ends well but
it's worth watching this classic comedy.

This movie hits at the core of small town America. The men and women have well defined roles that each is willing to play out. The men are the warriors and the women are the support system needed to keep things together, no matter what the age of the warrior or the maiden.

"Best of Times" is really less about football, and more about the theme of redemption. Robin Williams plays a manic bank manager traumatized by a dropped pass 13 years previous. He is haunted by this failure, and is made to feel defined by it through himself, his father-in-law, and even the small-town populace who still remark on the 13 year-old loss. After having one of his panic attacks related to "the Game" (as he terms it), a helpful prostitute (yes, that's right) suggested he replay the game. An epiphany, Williams' character, Jack Dundee, sets about a quest; but not to merely replay the game. Rather, his goal is purely to redeem himself as a failure. Unfortunately for Dundee, the high school quarterback phenomenon from that team, Reno Hightower (Russell) is less enthusiastic about replaying the game. Unlike Jack, Reno absolves his dead-end "van specialist" job with the ever-escalating stories about his greatness: "Hell, I'm afraid to throw a beer can in a trash can, because someone will say "hey, Reno, losin' your touch?'" As much as Jack is haunted by this past, Reno subsists on it. In both cases, of course, neither is being served by it. For entirely opposite reasons, both characters must somehow get the game behind them before they can move on. Fortunately, the film subtly exposes the fact that it is only Dundee who is openly aware of it. Jack eventually blackmails Reno into throwing in his support, and convinces both towns to replay the 13 year old game. But, it isn't only Reno who doesn't want the game replayed. Hightower's wife is frustrated by her own efforts to reclaim her youthful greatness in high school and transfer it to a contemporary performance stage, and Jack's wife was mortified at the prospect of having to pick up the pieces from her already tortured husband's psyche if he drops the ball again. A little more examination of both these women's characters would have been interesting - but with four major protagonists and an inherent screen time limit, some trimming was inevitable. Still, the script, directing and acting effectively conveyed these women's internal conflicts. An important subplot involved another Taft, California athletic failure who Jack nor anyone else in the town seems to know about. I won't spoil this small but important plot element, but suffice it to say that you should really pay attention to the seemingly non-sequitor introduction prefatory and the subtle focus given to an old man at the end of the film. This film is extraordinary in its examination of redemption. Each character was in need of making up for something - however, it was only the neurotic Jack Dundee who seemed to be self-conscious about it. Reno Hightower needed to break away from his dramatic, but long-passed legendary gridiron exploits in order to grow as a person in real life. The same could be said for his wife, albeit in a different venue. Even Jack Dundee's wife needed to let go of her husband's self-flagellating retrospective behavior - something she could not do without Jack proving to himself he could accomplish it. Even the town of Taft, California reinvigorated itself from the quiet desperation of a remote industrial town. The setting is sports, but the theme is entirely centered on the human condition of redemption. This is a comedy, and an effective one at that. But, it is really its message that is more memorable. I was inspired by the movie's climatic football game. But, it wasn't the operation of the football spectacle that I found moving. Rather, it was the way the scene nicely tied up a clever commentary on perceived flaws versus the actual state of the human condition.

Though not widely known nowadays,this film has become a fall tradition in households around the country.Best of Times is the hilarious tale of one mans quest to correct a highschool football failure that plunges his small town into "lethergy" and haunts him well into adulthood.Robin Williams and Kurt Russel unite to lead the old team to victory and redeem their towns dignity and pride in this football classic that's packed with tons of heart and soul.This is one of those rare comedies that delivers in every department,so suit up and join the tradition by enjoying one of the most treasured and heartwarming comedies that has brought families together since the real best of times. "In conclusion I'd just like to say...Bakersfield must be destroyed!"

I give this one 3 and 1/2 to 4 stars, and it is really cute, not as funny as one might think, but it is cute and if you love football or used to be an old player, and have ever had dreams about playing again or what if??? then this movie will give you a laugh!

This is a great movie for anyone who has botched something and never had the chance for redemption. Jack drops what would have been a winning touchdown pass against his arch-rival and takes it upon himself to rewrite history. Robin Williams and Kurt Russell are great as best friends whose fortunes have changed since their high school football days. There is even a small role by a very young Kirk Cameron.

It's a fun filled comedy about highschool football in a small town. Robin Williams and Kurt Russell are great as they replay the game that shaped their lives