Customer Reviews

The Leading Man [ NON-USA FORMAT, PAL, Reg.4 Import - Australia ]

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(14)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

"The Leading Man" opened to acclaim at the Toronto Film Festival in September 1996. It's appeal was lost on whoever was there shopping for films to buy for distribution. A year later it showed up in a few cinemas in the UK. In March of this year, it had a limited release in America, a year and a half after it premiere in Toronto.

I'm sorry that whoever financed it lost a bundle, because it's a really neat little film. I think people didn't get the fact that it's a comedy because its wit is so dry. Because of this, I suspect no one knew how to market it. The people I've met in marketing departments are surprisingly unoriginal.

I found it to be utterly delightful. I would not have thought much about it when it went to video, if I hadn't been intrigued by the fact that Bon Jovi was listed as its star.

"The Leading Man" is so obscure in origin that, even though it is obviously set in London, much of it may have been shot in Australia. That country's film commission is given credit at the end of the movie, and its director has done almost all his films there.

Don't be put off by the fact you never heard of it either. It's well crafted, acted and photographed It's also a lot of fun.

Lambert Wilson plays a hugely successful British playwright. The film opens with his eleventh play going into rehearsals. He truly loves his wife, played by Anna Galiena, but is having an affair with a young actress played by Thandie Newton. It's safe to say this man is having a major mid-life crisis. Of course, he casts the young actress in the new play to assure that he will be near her all day. A cliche is avoided here because the actress happens to be first rate. She's no bimbo!

Enter Jon Bon Jovi, playing a young star who's last film was a smash hit. He is the costar of the new play. He is self assured, to say the least. His talent on screen and on stage extends to the bedroom. While he'll be the first to tell you how wonderful he is, Bon Jovi plays him not as a man who runs around bragging about himself, but as one who is unafraid to speak the truth. In Bon Jovi's capable hands, the character comes off as rather lovable.

At first the actor comes off as someone who has a scary dark side. As the film progresses, it turns out that it's more a matter of acting things so that those around him get what they really need in life. For example, Galiena [Elana] dwells on how Wilson [Felix] is ruining her life because he can't keep his zipper up. Bon Jovi [Robin] suggests to the philandering husband that the best way to get her to see reason is for him to seduce her.

What ensues is a delightful - and often funny - look at how people deal with relationships. Robin is also attracted to the young actress, while she seems infatuated with him. It also shows in a humorous way how things are not always what they appear to be.

I am delighted to have discovered this little gem, and I hope that you will check it out.

if you are looking at this movie for the same reason i did (bon jovi) then you are looking at the right movie!
i've seen pretty much EVERY movie he's ever been in and this by far is the best. some of the other reviews said the same thing,that if you think bon jovi is the greatest you won't be disappointed!
here are a couple of reasons why this movie should be at the top of your bon jovi list:
*scenes with his shirt off
*he is the leading man
*seduces the leading ladies
*twisted ending
if you need more reasons than those you'll just have to check it out for yourself.

To find humor in another failed show biz marriage, truth in the mythic casting couch, and honor among gentlemen is the gist of "The Leading Man." While hired to seduce the wife of the play's author, Felix Webb, Jon Bon Jovi as studly actor Robin Grange nearly charms the panties off the wife and mistress, not to mention eager groupies, the play's supporting female cast, and the casting coordinator. Smooth and deliberate, Grange as Bon Jovi portrays him has a mercenary backstage approach to career advancement in the theater that make his backstage manipulations of women live up to the play's title, The Hit Man.

Thandie Newton as Hillary Rule, the play's ingenue is a believable, gullible, forgiving other woman, and mistress-in-training. Elegant Anna Galiena, the wronged wife makes out like a bandit snagging Robin and recycling her unfaithful straying husband (Lambert Wilson) to the younger woman. For once, the older beautiful woman gets the younger delicious man. The supporting cast of David Warner, Patricia Hodge, and Diana Quick are wonderful, snide, and gossipy observers to the kiss and bed rehersals, the theater parties, and off-stage performances.

This film should receive more attention than it likely will, and when discovered, its audiences will return for encore after encore of solid acting and humor that it offers.

Successful playwright Felix Webb (Lambert Wilson) has a new play, 'The Hit Man', in rehearsal. Directed by his old friend Humphrey (Barry Humphries), it is already being hailed as a masterpiece; but Felix can't enjoy his success. He has fallen passionately in love with Hilary (Thandie Newton), a beautiful, feisty young actress, and is preparing to desert his perfect family his wife Elena (Anna Galiena) and three lively children. His intolerable situation is further complicated when Humphrey casts Hilary as one of the leads in 'The Hit Man'.

Enter Robin Grange (Jon Bon Jovi), a charismatic young Hollywood actor making his London theatre debut. Robin is attractive, charming and dangerous, and soon inveigles his way into everyone's life. He ingratiates himself with the cast and, quickly grasping Felix's dilemma, set about weaving his web of mischief. He suggests that if he were to seduce Elena, she would be distracted from Felix's affair, regain her self-respect, and perhaps even willingly part from the unfaithful husband to whom she clings. Initially Felix is outraged but as the tension mounts with Hilary, reluctant to continue as the second woman in his life, he succumbs. Watching in horror as Elena responds to Robin's perfectly plotted seduction, and tormented with suspicions that Hilary has also fallen under Robin's spell, Felix spirals towards a kind of madness. Desperate to regain control of his life, he indulges in a grand theatrical gesture, but fate intervenes, and both Felix and Robin learn that real life doesn't always allow the script.

I agree with the positive reviews on this one. The plot and humor are clever and Jon plays Robin Grange well - he makes a devious character quite likeable. If you want to see a lot of Jon, you shouldn't pass on this movie. It took me forever to get through the entire movie because I kept rewinding certain parts where Jon looked especially yummy or said something rather funny. A lot of dry wit and a nice touch of suspense and irony at the end. Well worth the money. Some nudity, unfortunately, not Jon's (grin).

The film has got a funny story,drama at the time,just made for having a good time with some pop corns.It really makes you keep your eyes and sense opened all the time or you would loose some unexpected details.What can I say About "the leading man"Mr JBJ,he just IS in this film,Noone could do this role better,seriously talking,the role he plays in tis film is the same he does in stadiums with the band,as a seducer,as a star making move everybody the way he wants and trying to catch everybody's attention on his acts,as a good showman,this role just suits him,so though this may make someones think that it's just another JBJ "show",is not,is surprinsingly a good acting; and the matter than this just is pure JBJ makes it better,this film is about it,about a "leading man" getting mad everybody around him,getting everything he wants from everybody,and how he can change everybody's life,dark feelings..So good election,he is the man for it.Get it and you'll be gladly surprised

Even if you are not a fan of Jon Bon Jovi this film is very good. It centers around an American movie star, played by Bon Jovi who wants to get artistic recognition by starring in a London play. Thandie Newton plays the playwrights mistress and Anna Galiena his unhappy wife. The playwright is played by Lambert Wilson as Felix Web. The desperate playwrite asks the American star, Robin Grange to seduce his wife so she can leave the marriage with her self-esteem intact. The plot thickens from there with a surprise ending. Well worth taking a look at the slick European film.

I thought this was an excellent thriller and Jon Bon Jovi was really great in it. I cannot understand why this film is not available for sale.I hope to see Jon in alot more choice roles he is well deserving of it.Please try to obtain copies of this film for your frustrated customers.

I admit, I first watched this movie just because I knew JBJ was in it, and I knew there were some steamy scenes. ;) I was pleasantly surprised, however, to find an intelligent thriller with amazing character development and plot twists on multiple levels... it's one of those things you have to watch more than once to catch all the subtle meanings. It's definitely a "chick flick"; the plot development rests almost solely on the evolving interactions between the characters and there's not a lot of action. Cerebral, I guess you'd call it. If you're into that sort of thing, it's a great flick. And the gratuitous shirtless scenes with Jon don't hurt either. ;)

Bon Jovi may not be a Shakespearean actor, but he has chops enough to play a smarmy American that easy to hate, and even easier to envy. The film may be nothing more a series of ruses, but it is fun to watch the actors work. Thandie Newton is particularly good as the object of the playwright's affection, who nearly succumbs to the wicked charms of the awful American. Bon Jovi oozes with fake charm and star quality persona, which is exactly what the role called for. This nothing more than diverting entertainment, but it is fun nonetheless.