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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
More Like "Dave Clark 1", October 28, 2002
This review is from: Having a Wild Weekend [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This film, which is a cross between A Hard Days Night and the Marx Brothers, focuses almost completely on Dave Clark as stuntman (and alleged kidnapper) Steve and his relationship with meat poster girl Dinah. The other four members of the band are in the background, partying at their pad, attending a fancy dress ball, and keeping the authorities on a wild goose chase while Steve and Dinah experience one adventure after another on their way to Dinah's dream island. In fact, I don't think Lenny Davidson says one word throughout the picture. On their way they meet a group of half-stoned beatniks, an eccentric older couple, and other interesting folks. The film tries to bring depth to most of the characters, except the Dave Clark 4 who remain rather vacuous fun boys. At the time, the Dave Clark Five were promoted as a cleaner cut, non-smoking, drug-free and athletic alternative to the Beatles (probably only the latter was true, as the band members were former gymnists). Clark's character (strong silent type, serious and rather surly to the point of self righteous) portrays this image quite well. The film highlights two songs off their soundtrack beginning with the original movie title "Catch Us If You Can" and the U.S. title "Having A Wild Weekend". Two other songs are played from their previous album Coast To Coast: "I Can't Stand It," and the quite beautiful "When," which seemed to be the theme song of the film. Curiously, other tracks from the soundtrack that would have been very appropriate for the film ("Don't Be Taken In," in particular) were not used. The music, save for "When", isn't their best material, but it's not bad. The acting is also quite good. British comedy fans will no doubt recognize Clive Swift (Hyacinth's hen-pecked husband Richard in Keeping Up Appearances) as a bumbling detective out to find the "kidnapped" Meat For Go girl.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
A good romp but not enough Mike, Lenny, Denis, or Rick., May 13, 1999
This review is from: Having a Wild Weekend [VHS] (VHS Tape)
I have seen the movie several times and have enjoyed it but it falls short of the mark. There is too much Dave (character Steve) and not enough Mike, Lenny (who plays a mute), Denis, or Rick. The soundtrack has some good songs but only two from the LP of the movie. The rest of the supposedly original soundtrack is not there. Instead there is music from older albums. To me this is a great disappointment. I happen to think that the album is the best the group ever recorded and would have made the movie so much better. In fact at times the music in the movie adds nothing to the production of the film. In fact it takes away from the overall quality. For example, at the masquerade ball the song "I Can't Stand It" from the Epic LP "Coast To Coast" keeps repeating the same verse again and again. It became annoying. Why didn't the group put another song into the scene? It was a dance scene and they wanted the action to continue. They could have played the instrumental "On The Move" from the original soundtrack LP or if they had to could have chosen one of their many hits such as "Anyway You Want It" for example. As mentioned Dave played a character known as Steve. The rest of the band was nameless. Yet when "Steve" and Barbara Ferris were at that couples house, the hostess clearly calls him David. Now you would think they would have reshot that sequence. Still as a lifelong fan I get around all these flaws. I enjoy the time, early 1965, England, the weather and the group. They didn't appear as The Dave Clark Five and maybe that is why the movie is good. But when the movie was ending instead of playing "When" from the Epic LP "American Tour" Dave (Steve) should have taken Barbara Ferris in his arms, held her real tight, kissed her and the soundtrack should have played "Can't You See That She's Mine" and they should have run off together.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
The Dave Clark Five Do Their Own Thing, July 6, 2001
This review is from: Having a Wild Weekend [VHS] (VHS Tape)
I was simply shocked at how good "Having A Wild Weekend" was after seeing it for the first time recently. ....The DC5's film borrows the fast pace, ingenious cuts, sense of sprightly enthusiasm and b&w artiness of its forebear, but matches it with a unique plot of its own. Rather than playing themselves, the group here are stuntmen, and the story revolves around one of them (Steve, played by the self-described saturnine Dave Clark) taking a model out for a "wild weekend". The press, egged on by her boss, turn it into a kidnapping story, and the rest of the film follows their attempt to recapture her before she gets to the island she's planning to buy. A suitably thin plot is thickened by scenes which are slightly ahead of their time in dramatic and cultural content--Steve and his girl encounter a group of long-haired ex-beatniks who ask for grass and heroin, and quote Zen koans-- and all of this in 1965! A comically bickering couple who eventually takes them in also provides for a marvellous costume party sequence in which director John Boorman, in his first film, shines. The climax, in which the journey is compared to the final result, makes for an interesting discussion; the film's themes of youth vs. elders, people vs. the press/society and the resulting question of whether it was "worth it" or not would become the riding question of the 60s. It's almost like an "Easy Rider" before its time-- the big question then becomes why the DC5 faded soon after this film's release, not being known as counterculture heavies in the least...
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