Customer Reviews

Lookin' to Get Out (Extended Version)

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I read Nick Dawson's biography of Hal Ashby and admired the young Scottish biographer's attempt to make sense out of the mad rush of US life in the 50s, 60s, and 70s. What a challenge, and in the book he announces that he has uncovered, with the help of Ashby's daughter, Ashby's own cut of LOOKIN TO GET OUT in the UCLA film archives. He made the movie sound so good I pre-ordered the thing on Amazon and counted the days till it appeared. So this is all your fault, Mr. Dawson! In this case, I'm terribly grateful, because I too had heard the stories of how awful GET OUT was and if you hadn't been so persuasive I wouldn't have given the picture a first chance, much less a second.

We watched it on New Years Day, and it was a good way to begin what I hope will be a much better year than last year. Ashby's direction is topnotch and from the beginning he establishes a mood and atmosphere that carries the movie in a rather different direction than the Vegas Vacation sort of caper movie I had written it off as. The movie is like something Robert Altman might have made in his heyday, and Jon Voight and Burt Young excel as hardcore loser gamblers who can't keep a twenty dollar bill in their wallets. In their Morningside Heights apartment life is so squalid that we were reminded forcible of Voight and Dustin Hoffman in Midnight Cowboy. In fact the whole movie is like Midnight Cowboy + The Sting, is you can picture that. Then they have to go to Las Vegas; this part of the setup seemed awfully forced but once they got to the MGM Grand, the movie starts to improve in innumerable ways.

For one thing Ann-Margret's there, and she used to be involved with Voight way back when (six years ago) and we hear she has a five year old daughter, and I'm a sucker for any movie that makes me do the math of pregnancy. Patricia (Ann-Margret) is being kept by the manager of the hotel, slick Bernie Gold, and again based on the average caper movie you wouldn't think you would like this character but the actor, and the writing, makes him strangely sympathetic. I would have liked a whole movie based on this guy, he's a real cool cat.

Speaking of cool cats we get tiny glimpses not only of Angelina Jolie, but of Siegfried and Roy! Very eerie! Anyhow if you like the old, slapdash, ragged narratives that Ashby (and a packl of other talented US directors) used to present us in the golden age of the New American Cinema, get ready for another fantastic addition to that list of great pictures. Again my thanks to Nick Dawson for the tip.

Smash and Grab
This movie influenced Tarantino along with "Eight Million Ways to Die". The last couple of movies by Hal Ashby were swept under the carpet but both broke new ground in depicting the quirky underworld characters that would, just a little bit later, become so hip in Hollywood. Ashby, like Peckinpah, was a wild maverick but I can't wait to see his director's cut and if you've never seen this you're in for a real treat.

Wow. I cannot believe this came out on DVD. For years it has been in my Top 5 movies. I have bought, collected, and coveted many copies of the CBS/Fox VHS version so I would never be without it. I assumed, because of the weak (and completely wrong) reviews and box office performance of the film that it would never be released on DVD. I'm so glad it has been, and I cannot wait to see Hal Ashby's cut.

With all due respect to the Editor at Amazon, Jon Voight's character is anything but "unlikeable, vague, and incoherent". Alex Kovac is intense. He lives hard, he loves hard, he plays hard, he is incapable of modulation. He loves his friend, Jerry Feldman more than himself. There's a great tiny little action that takes place in the apartment in NYC before they go to Vegas. I've never forgotten it, and I'm sure it was not written into the script. Alex has been up all night playing poker and has explained to Jerry how he went through tens of thousands of dollars between the track and the race track. The scene is a riot for anyone who has ever gambled on a fairly big level. It is beautifully done, but what makes it absolutely perfect for me, is when his friend has just gone through the ups and downs and finally the big downer from hearing the result of the loss and debt of a lot of money they need to come up with, Voight's character tells Jerry that he's exhausted, that he's been up all night, and "Let's go get some breakfast." And then he gives the little unwritten touch of cinematic magic... he gently pats his friend on the back. The gesture is huge. It says, "I know I've done us a great disservice by losing all this money. I'm sorry. I love you. I'll not let you down. Please don't be disappointed in me because I'll be devastated." I'm sure I'm the only one who has paid such close attention to the gesture, but to me as a hopeful screenwriter, it's beautiful.

This film was originally marketed terribly. The movie poster is so misleading it's tragic. This isn't a film about gambling. It's a movie about friendship, and the depths real friends will go to in order to stay friends. There are some great pieces of dialog in this movie. Burt Young confides to Ann Margaret about Voight's character, "If you're in a jam, he's a great guy to have around. The problem is he's probably the reason you're in a jam in the first place." Brilliant. And the scene in the casino, where Jerry Feldman tells Richard Bradford, who should have been nominated for a supporting role as "Bernie Gold", the very intimidating owner of the casino, "I understand you, Mr. Gold. He doesn't, but he's my friend and you take the good with the bad." Hearing those words brings Voight out of his greed induced stupor, and he looks at the big boss and quietly asks him, "Did you hear that?" And then they leave. So amazingly great. Also great is Voight's reaction at the end as Ann Margaret looks at him as he and Jerry are leaving. Voight can't even say anything he's so moved. He simply holds up his hand. His emotions are so strong he chooses to just not say anything. That is perfect in keeping with his character. I doubt that was written into the script either.

I want to mention Richard Bradford (Bernie Gold) and Bert Remsen (Smitty Carpenter). As you can all see, I've been using the Bernie Gold character as my User ID for as long as I've been using a computer. How The Academy missed these two performances is beyond me. Bradford plays Gold so complex in this film. He's strong, intimidating, sure of himself, and but extremely weak where Ann Margaret is concerned. I absolutely love the Bernie Gold character. And Remsen as the has-been blackjack player, his performance I believe was the best of his long illustrious career.

Here's my long and short review... This is the best movie about friendship I have ever seen, and I am a real movie buff with an insatiable appetite for movies. I am so thrilled that all of you are going to be able to see this now, and it will clearly flow better with the additional footage, as the great director wanted people to see it. Ignore all previous reviews. You've all hit the jackpot.

I love this movie. I have never seen Jon Voight like this and Burt Young is just great. I love the ending. Hers's a toast to Hal Ashby non-conformist who never made a bad fim (Haorld and Maude, Shampoo, Coming Hime, Being There and now his version of Lookin to Get Out.) Hal told Ann-Margret to unplay her role nd reveala her deep wounds by her eyes and face against these two other crazy characters. At 42, she is an ablsolute knockout-- just a gorgoeous woman who proves again that she can hold her own against the best. Here's you Hal, RIP.

This is Angelina Jolie's first movie in which she is a childhood actress, and completes my collection of her movies up to date. Great product. Quick delivery. Thank you very much

The Midnight Cowboy rides again.. I liked the diversity of character here, between the old waiter they got to gamble for them, the hotel owner 'Bernie Goldman', whose presence added just the right amount of weight, and of course the 3 main stars. It's true, for coming out in 1982 this movie still seems to have that 'best of the 70s' cinema feeling about it. And though I came to this movie as a fan of John Voight, I'll be looking into more movies by Hal Ashby. Was quite interesting to see Angelina Jolie as a child and I didn't know she is in fact Voight's daughter. There are lots of good reasons to see this movie. It feels like cinema history and it's entertaining into the bargain as well. You know quality when you see it.

I am so happy to see that other's loved this film. When I saw the poor reviews the film got by the critics origninally, well I was just doubting myself. How could this be? What did I see at the time that the critics didn't? Perhaps I was a bit naive! Wrong. This film is ever so much the film I remembered seeing and plus with the addition of stupendous reviews it makes my sense of film stand up on its own. When I have work again I will definitely be back to get this DVD.

Jon Voigt described the initial theatrical release of "Lookin to Get Out" as a crippled version. The studio had apparently demanded that Ashby's film be shortened by fifteen minutes. He and many others involved with the film felt that it could not be made to work properly at that length. I saw this version when it was first released with no notion of this problem. I was actually rather shocked at the negative reaction it got from many critics.

The most exciting thing about it, beside its unusual mix of comedy, suspense and drama, is the abundance of really intense, convincing acting by the principals as well as such supporting players as Bert Remsen and Richard Bradford. One feels that the film not only comes close to the feeling of some of the best titles from Robert Altman, but often feels like some of the finer improvisational work in the films of John Cassavetes. There is an overriding atmosphere of suspense as the characters flee from dangerous characters to whom their reckless gambling has placed them seriously in debt. It is a comedy, but never a light, frothy, trivial one.

I have wondered if perhaps the glitzy "Vegas" look of the opening credits sequence might have skewed the reviewers' preconception about the sort of picture they were seeing. It has too often been the case that mistaken expectations about a film can severely distort one's perception of the whole thing. Personally, I interpreted the opening as a visualization of that flashy casino world that loomed so large in the misguided dreams of the central characters. As the story must progress through scenes of the characters' inner city street-level struggles for some time, before arriving at last in the gaudy glamor of Las Vegas, the opening also serves as a tasty hint of the more sumptuous production values to come.

When I first saw the picture, I was so engrossed with its unusual edgy mix of comedy and dramatic tension, that its flaws did not stand out for me. I am most eager to see the new extended edition, as I understand that it not only truly reflects the director's original intentions, but, on top of this, many of those involved in the production seem to feel so strongly that it is so much greater than the original theatrical release. Perhaps those of us who were already tremendously taken with the film will find the alterations in this version very enlightening. Clearly the film, as originally conceived was not, in the mind of its creators, properly represented by that first abridged edition.

Some research has indicated to me that Amazon's listing of the movie's format as 1.33:1 (full frame), fails to note that this DVD apparently features both a standard and a widescreen version. As one who not only seeks always to see the director's shot compositions in the intended aspect ratio, but looks forward to large screen projection of movies to properly the true theatrical experience, I was much relieved to learn that the listing appears to have been an oversight.

Based solely on my rich experience with the first release cut of "Lookin' to Get Out", I thoroughly recommend this picture to anyone seeking stylish, intriguing and refreshingly different film fare.

One of my stated goals in life is to resucitate films that were considered dogs in their day. "Heaven's Gate" in it's untruncated version is a pretty good flick. "Howard the Duck" is okay and not worthy of the brickbats it received from the critics. The recently re-issued "Revolution" where director Hugh Hudson cut scenes is alright but really not worthy of a reappraisal. As for this misunderstood gem it's good, not great, but an enjoyable viewing experience for what it is. The only real flaw I found was in the script, co-written by star Jon Voight, which suffers from fleeting incoherence and meandering. That said, the film is blessed with expert direction by the late Hal Ashby who keeps the proceedings interesting. Voight and co-star Burt Young make likable two characters that are essentially pathetic sad sacks. Ann-Margret's presence, even in forgettable dreck like the "Grumpy Old Men" flicks, always elevates the projects she appears in. Now bring on spanking new director's cuts of "The Choirboys" and "Ishtar".

I never saw the original release cut of this film so I can't compare the two. This film is decent but it didn't do much for me. Jon Voigt is an talanted actor but unfortunately doesn't have the massive body or work from his leading man years that one would hope which is why I picked up this movie. It is a quirky film certainly but doesn't really succeed either as a comedy or a drama. A movie worth watching but one that you probably won't watch again.