Customer Reviews

Kiss the Sky [VHS]

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

 

 

I've been in the video biz for 20 years because I love movies--especially those amazing auteur classics Hollywood somehow let slide for so long in the 70s-- and I'm now 48, comfortable, guilty, confused, and feeling totally misunderstood, misjudged, and about to give up. Then I run across "Kiss the Sky", this incredible movie that actually tries to honestly describe the emptiness inherent in being a successful upper middle class (probably white) American Male. How many buddy movies have you seen like "City Slickers" or "Very Bad Things" that almost get that ineffable feeling of loss and despair right only to cop out with lowest common denominator humor or cheap sentiment? "Kiss the Sky", given the times and given the state of the movie industry is the closest we'll ever get. Deftly sidestepping cliches and easy answers, this tale of 2 middle aged guys who are smart enough to know that their material success doesn't mean that much and isn't really their doing anyway goes bravely if imperfectly where no movie that I have ever seen has gone before. ("Leaving Las Vegas" has some resonance but it's ultimately a one man story, not a generational statement.) I don't know where this movie came from or how it got made or who was nuts enough to think it had any commercial viability (it doesn't except if it's hawked as a hard R straight-to-video cheapie, and the person who wants that will be disappointed by this.) Anyway, if I'm speaking to you, watch this movie!

...is this movie about two yuppies Cole and Peterson searching for the sense of life. The story is quickly told: Jeff and Marty leave their families behind to go on a trip to a beautiful island where they fall in love with the same woman who is played by the amazingly sexy Sheryl Lee. Although "Kiss The Sky" goes on for too long it's never really hard to watch since there are beautiful locations and a nice supporting cast which includes Terence Stamp ("Bliss"), Patricia Charbonneau ("CallMe") and Season Hubley ("Hardcore"). The three leading actors are great, too - although I wasn't completely convinced by Peterson's performance (but maybe that's my fault since I just know him as a tough cop in "Manhunter" and "To Live and Die in L.A.").

Another positive aspect of "Kiss The Sky" is the nice soundtrack by Leonard Cohen (I especially like "Dance Me To The End Of Love").

Not everyone's taste, but if you like the actors you might also like "Kiss The Sky

I liked this movie better as it went along. I, too, am not very happy with the way my life has gone. I guess that if you are self-satisfied, then you probably won't like this movie. But being who I am and where I have been in my life, it touched me deeply, particularly with its mournful Leonard Cohen songs in the background and its sad twist at the end. I strongly disagree with the reviewer who thought the presence of Terence Stamp's Buddhist monk and the story line of the building of the tower were extraneous. I see this story as the two main characters' search for an earthly nirvana, and the tower is a literal construction evoking the movie's title. I bought this movie because I am a big fan of Billy Petersen, and he gives really fine performance here, worth an extra star. (But I'm so glad that he's keeping his clothes on in his current role as CBS's top CSI, Gil Grissom.)

Yes, this could be described as a cinematic exploration of male midlife crisis. Yes, it is very difficult to explore deep philosophical ramblings with any great success in a popular film format. And yet. Somehow, I found myself caught up in the story, predictable as it might have seemed. Excellent performances, sometimes riveting dialog, wonderful soundtrack, beautiful locations... and a sexual threesome thrown in for good measure.

Definitely worth seeing.

Surprisingly this movie was a delight to watch - having been a fan for many years of Billy Petersen, but only seeing him primarily as Gil Grissom - this movie was a breath of fresh air.

it had it's moments where I noticed my mind wandering, but overall it was well written and I enjoyed seeing him in such a role..

The ending was also quite a surprise to me as well - if you are fan of Billy Petersen this is a movie no collection should be without...

You settle down for a nice evening with a home movie and you note when it is over that you haven't touched your beverage or popcorn, and you may well be sitting on the edge of your chair.
In an adventure that begins as an adult/adolescent rebellion against "acting like a man," this story evolves, sometimes gently and sometimes with ferocious leaps, into one of the most spiritual movies you will ever see. The characters are believable. The story involves one of saddness, search, transformation, and reconciliation. The acting is beautiful to behold, and you sense that they really felt what they were portraying. The viewer will feel it too. This movie was recommended to me as being "very erotic." It is erotic,in the sense that a life well-lived is erotic, but it is so much more so. An earlier reviewr recommend that this movie be rented and then purchased. That is exactly what we did in my house.

Ok, I admit it. Put Billy Petersen in a movie and I am hooked. The movie is interesting. Jeff (William Petersen) and Marty (Gary Cole) decide they need a change from the pressures of their everyday life. The two best buddies head off on a working vacation and wind up in an opium den where they hear a man talking of an island where you can kiss the sky. Longing for the days when they were young and free, the two head out to this paradise and wind up falling in love with the same woman. She goes from Jeff to Marty and then spends a night with both of them, which makes for the interesting part of the movie. Between romps in the sack, Marty and Jeff decide to build a haven for others like themselves that need a place to go, a place to be free. Fighting the language barrier, slow arrival of materials, and the coming monsoon season, Jeff and Marty take their friendship to the edge. The ending was a surprise but appropriate.
This movie made me long for my wild and free days and envy Marty and Jeff (and espically Sheryl Lee).

Flawed, but much better than "American Beauty."

An interesting meditation on suburban affluent male mid-life crisis and the search for meaning. Petersen's character here is a variation on his CSI persona --- cerebral, but more of a searcher, more plagued by doubt, more Eastern in his thinking, and more sexual.

I disliked "American Beauty" -- I found it to be a grossly insincere and overly simplistic parody of its subject matter. This film, however, even in spite of its (several) miscues, left me wanting to know more about the characters and their lives. It resonates with much more complex dialogue and thought-processes behind the writing.

A worthy alternative (and to my mind, a much better alternative) to American Beauty ---- but with more explicit sex themes and scenes.

This film takes us along on an escape from the hum-drum life of married men that hit middle age and freak out that things did not end up where they wanted them to go. They each leave their wives and families to build a retreat in a heaven on earth tropical paradise. As they try to inflict their needs on the paradise, mother nature has her way with them. Beware there is open sexuality, naked actors and actresses and situations that are not appropriate for young viewers. (like the threesome) To tell the story the scenes are not out of reach, they flow with the story telling well. Just be forewarned that they are in there.

I'm a big fan of both Petersen and Cole but bought this mainly for William Petersen's role in it. I like the diversity of both characters in roles that they play and knowing from Bio's that they are real life friends there was a chemistry on film with them that was very believable.
I expected the film to be more risque and was pleasantly shocked that it was handled very adultly in the adult material content. The end was suprising and more towards the realities of life and how they play out vs. Hollywood's view on people and their lives. I honestly enjoyed it much more than I thought and will watch it again.