Customer Reviews

Track 29 [VHS]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Most people who watch this go away mumbling "where was the plot" it was there, buried, but there. I love this film. Then again, I'm a huge Oldman fan. This was one of his earlier performances and you can see the actor that was to come. His portrayal of Martin, an alcoholic's fantasy version of her long-lost son, is magnificent. He shifts from man to boy, lover to child brilliantly. I wish I could praise his co-stars as highly. Theresa Russell's stiff performance as the bored alcoholic housewife left me cold and, for my money, Christopher Lloyd and Sandra Bernhard could have been left out completely. The only reason to watch the film is Gary Oldman, but his performance makes it worth watching again and again...just keep the ffwd button close.

"MOMMY!"

...says the truck driver to Oldman, in one of the most oddlyquotable lines, in a film built upon scene after scene offrustratingly strange action. Described as a black comedy, I don't remember laughing except in awe of its disregard for coherence . . . The climax scene is indescribable, and I'm not sure if it is weirder in or out of context. It is fitting that the title is a random snippit, explaining nothing and then being less than trivial even after seeing it. If you have an innate desire to see each starring male character's hindquarters, buy this film and enjoy it from the safety of your padded cell.

This meeting of writer Dennis Potter and filmmaker Nicolas Roeg is, as others have noted, nearly indescribable, surreal, outrageous, sometimes confusing but never boring. I don't think it gives anything away to say that Gary Oldman's character is a hallucination conjured by Theresa Russell's character (this is made clear in a bar scene fairly early in the film), which for me accounts for much of his bizarre and over-the-top acting - he's not supposed to be a real character so why should he act like one? She has imagined him and everything he does so he can do whatever she wants - he is an extension of her. There are some ways in which this film reminds me of Robert Altman's excellent and overlooked "Images" in that both films chart the emotional disintegration of the heroine and you are never sure in either film whether what you're seeing is real or not. If you enjoy Roeg films like "Bad Timing" and "Insignificance" you may like "Track 29" as well. If nothing else the film would be worth watching just for the glee on Sandra Bernhard's face as she spanks Christopher Lloyd's bare bottom with her rubber-gloved hands - she makes every film she's in something special. Now we get to my real reason for writing this review, to caution people about this DVD. This is my first experience with a made-to-order DVD and I'm not impressed. It is merely a copy of a videotape, you can see the old tracking static in the bottom portion of the screen from time to time. To say there are no special features is putting it lightly, there isn't even scene selection, which has become so ubiquitous that we don't notice it unless it is gone. Picture quality is bad as is sound, but it is watch-able and it is the only way I have found to get this wonderful and unusual film on DVD, other than a $25 Danish version. So the DVD gets one star while the movie itself gets four stars; good, but not great Roeg.

The initial lines of this famous Lennon `s composition will be the clever device to develop an intriguing story where the love of a homeless guy and a strange twist of fate will make of him (Gary Oldman ) establish a fascinating erotic affair with Theresa Russell one of of the supreme femme fatale of the eighties .
As always Roeg surprises us with his challenging handle camera and shot angles .
Terrific cast and a well elaborated script make of that bizarre story a very hard to watch movie .

Of course, anything Dennis Potter writes is brilliant, and - Anything - anything at ALL - which stars the MAGNIFICENT Gary Oldman is worth 5 stars off the top... This is an off-beat drama concerning a lonely, beautiful house-wife, approaching madness, who believes the baby son she was forced to give up as a teenager has now come back to her. Oldman plays the boy, and gives the role such a plethora of emotions, his performance is VIRTUALLY startling.... This CAN be a BIT difficult to understand, and it is NOT for the viewer who wants mindless entertainment....this is a thinker's movie, and it is wonderful. Co-starring are Christopher Lloyd, who is ALWAYS an asset to a movie, and the delightful Sandra Berhard, who contributes wonderfully.

Don't buy the popcorn for this one, but DO sit back and enjoy it....!

When you buy a used VHS video, you never know what kind of shape it is in. The one I received was in as good condition as I could ever expect. No drop outs and crisp clear images and sound throughout. Delivery was quick and efficient.

I was glad to have the chance to view this movie. I regret that I had to get a VHS copy as that was the only type available and hope it will come to DVD soon. This was an unusual story about a drifter who comes to town to find his mother and meets a lady that is a bored housewife with an unusual past. I thought that considering the story and the character, Teresa Russell did a good job in her role. Gary Oldman who is my favorite actor was excellent as Martin the drifter. A lot of times he was over the top but not enough for the movie to not be enjoyable. It was easy to see how he became the actor that we know of today. This movie doesn't follow the standard Hollywood type of movie and plays more as an indendent film. It is not for everyone but is very entertaining and a must see for any Gary Oldman fan.

This film is kind of fantastic and original. Gary Oldman is very very amazing.
I recommand it for the people are in love Gary Oldman.

I have only been able to sit through this film once. I picked it up because I saw that Gary Oldman was in it, but I couldn't make heads or tails of the characters or plot. Apparantly, there's an unhappily married woman (Theresa Russell) who keeps fantasizing that the son she gave up for adoption has come looking for her. He appears in the form of Oldman, but he acts like a bratty three year old, and the sequences involving him and Russell are just too odd to explain. And then there's her husband (Christopher Lloyd), who has this weird fascination with trains and masochism...but that's a different story. The ending makes no sense, but then, the whole movie makes no sense so I guess it doesn't matter.

no i am not see the movi