Product Details

• Actors: Sean Connery, Joanne Woodward, Jean Seberg, Patrick O'Neal, Colleen Dewhurst
• Directors: Irvin Kershner
• Writers: Elliott Baker
• Producers: Jerome Hellman
• Format: Color, NTSC
• Rated: NR (Not Rated)
• Number of tapes: 1
• Studio: Warner Home Video
• VHS Release Date: February 7, 1995
• Run Time: 104 minutes
• Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• ASIN: 6300270289
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #323,222 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

A Fine Madness would never pass muster by today's politically correct standards. The "hero" of this 1966 comedy, a pompous poet named Samson Shillitoe (Sean Connery, doing a Saturday Night Live version of himself), is a classic bad boy--"an exact cross between Dylan Thomas and Mike Tyson," as one reviewer put it, a sexist philanderer who reneges on alimony to his first wife and punches out his second (Joanne Woodward, shrill and tiresome), can't keep a job, and insults, alienates, and abuses anyone who comes within two feet of him. (All of which makes him a total chick magnet, because he's an artist who has no time for quotidian vicissitudes, and also because he's Sean Connery.) Even taking the cultural time warp into account, it's hard to say what Irvin Kershner, who directed Elliott Baker's script from Baker's own novel, had in mind here, other than showing that Connery could do something besides play James Bond (in fact, the film was both preceded and followed by Bond adventures). Samson is an unredeemable jerk, the other characters are mostly unlikable as well, and the story, which involves psychiatrist Patrick O'Neal ordering him to undergo a lobotomy after he seduces the good doc's wife (Jean Seberg), is unconvincingly resolved. The film does a decent job of skewering the psychiatric profession and its pretensions, and Samson is probably meant to embody the whole screw-the-establishment ethos of the '60s, but overall, A Fine Madness is dated and simply not funny enough. One footnote: Kershner went on to bigger and better things with Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back. Ironically, he also directed Never Say Never Again, a 1983 Bond film with none other than Sean Connery as 007. --Sam Graham

Product Description

A non-conformist poet's randy and rambunctious behavior wreaks havoc across New York City in a screwloose comedy delight starring Sean Connery and Joanne Woodward. Year: 1966 Director: Irvin Kershner Starring: Sean Connery, Joanne Woodward, Jean Seberg

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

20 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars And now for something completely different, March 13, 2000

By 

David Dearborn (Connecticut USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fine Madness [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Sean Connery sinks his teeth into a full-blooded comic role as a nonconformist poet suffering from writer's block and alimony collectors in mid-1960s New York. The film's madcap style is a bit dated but there are many gems of scenes in this satire of the misunderstood artist in cultureless society. Watching Connery drink and snarl through a poetry 'recital' at a ladies' tea is hysterical, and his little dance on the Brooklyn Bridge is among the revelations. It's interesting that 'A Fine Madness' makes a point of being a NYC movie, and an offbeat one at that, with its bawdiness hinting at the coming sexual revolution and featuring an international superstar who had the energy to stretch himself in something risky--which is more than we can say for most of today's typecast stars.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Somewhat Busy at Times, But Mostly Good., December 10, 2003

By 

Haplo Wolf (Los Angeles.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Fine Madness [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Sean Connery plays a poet suffering from writer's block (incapacity to write something one feels is a finished creation, sort of; or not being able to write at all). He's the (supposedly) unrecognized genius and is as a by-product also totally different than most other people: he sees the world through different eyes, or so to speak. This is, alas, not portrayed as I would have liked to see; it's only more or less stated/presumed.

Next to this he does not pay his bills, is unemployed and not seeking for work, or, if he has a job, losing it easily. And he goes from one woman to the next ... they flock to him, he thinks, so they're not his problem. Samson Shillitoe (Connery) is, in short, sexist and insensitive. He also has the habit of almost-hitting his wife whenever he feels like doing that.

He only wants to work on his poem, and he needs, above all, time and rest. Neither seem to be available in considerable quantities, especially not if the past keeps getting in the way.

Lots of problems, but they're in the case of A Fine Madness tackled with comedy. While I thought the film was at all times amusing, certain scenes stood out. One other reviewer (there are at this time only 3 or so; you'll find him/her) mentioned the poetry recital. Good material!

I just hope you like the style of this film. Somewhat dated, yes, but what do you want? This is how old? From the sixties? I forgot.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars And now for something completely different..., February 27, 2000

By 

David Dearborn (Connecticut USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Fine Madness [VHS] (VHS Tape)

Sean Connery sinks his teeth into a full-blooded comic role as a nonconformist poet suffering from writer's block and alimony collectors in mid-60s New York. The film's madcap style is a bit dated but there are many gems of scenes in this satire of the misunderstood artist in modern society. Watching Connery snarl through a poetry 'recital' at a society tea is hysterical, and his little dance step on the Brooklyn Bridge is among the revelations. It's interesting that 'A Fine Madness' is very much a New York City movie, and an offbeat one at that, with hints of the coming sexual revolution and starring an international sensation who had the energy to stretch himself against typecasting--which is more than we can say for most of today's action stars.