Ricardo Daly The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

Bumpy Chip It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Nicole I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Geraldine The story, direction, characters, and writing/dialogue is akin to taking a tranquilizer shot to the neck, but everything else was so well done.

bkoganbing Based on the true events of CEO Ross Johnson trying to take over his company Nabisco, watching Barbarians At The Gate all I could think of is had this film come out while the actual events were going on the real Ross Johnson would have had a great propaganda machine at his disposal.Barbarians At The Gate will never take the place of such classic films based on big business like The Power And The Prize, B.F.'s Daughter, Executive Suite or even Cash McCall which James Garner also starred in. I like Garner, but I don't think he ever got into what really made Ross Johnson tick.Garner's rival in the takeover process is Jonathan Pryce who's a Gordon Gekko type, but a real bloodless one. In fact Garner is the only one who seems like flesh and blood. I did learn that these folks who start out in corporate management really haven't a clue as to how the working man deals with things nor do they care to find out.A good effort, but Barbarians At The Gate falls way short of the mark.

Lee Eisenberg "Barbarians at the Gate" focuses on KKR's leveraged buyout of RJR-Nabisco in 1988-89. The movie does everything to a tee. James Garner plays Ross Johnson, the smooth-talking RJR executive. His affable demeanor and joke-telling affinity hides Machiavellian schemes, and all the while he really just likes his company's perks. Jonathan Pryce was practically born to play Henry Kravis: Pryce's devilish physiognomy perfectly represents what sort of a person this is.A particularly effective scene is when the executives are flying in their corporate jets side by side, conversing with each other on their cell phones while servants prepare them drinks. It's the ultimate display of greed.All in all, the whole thing captures what the '80s were all about, all the while managing to be humorous. It should come as no surprise that the first decade of the 21st century (The Aughts? The Noughts?) saw things like Enron. Perfect.Also starring Joanna Cassidy (Dolores in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and Brenda's mom on "Six Feet Under"), former presidential candidate Fred Thompson, Jeffrey DeMunn and Peter Riegert (Boone in "Animal House").

ezlidblue-1 I don't know if there's been a more perfect made-for-TV movie than this one! If you've ever been involved in a corporate takeover, and I have, you know how perfect this film is. This was the largest corporate takeover in history at the time and the personalities involved are no different today than they were back then. In fact, many of them, particularly Henry Kravis, are still involved in this sort of thing. (I wouldn't want to have to go up against Kravis in a takeover, as few have ever won when KKR was in the mix.) One other reviewer said this film was the "zenith of greed" and it was in the '80s but this sort of greed is exactly what has led to the downfall of Wall Street here in the late-'2000s too! James Garner is perfect in this film, as he is in most anything he acts in, and he truly steals this film from the other actors. Jonathan Pryce is exactly what Henry Kravis is, conniving, brilliant and evil. What really makes this worth watching is the writing skill of Larry Gelbart - a real genius at verbal machinations of all sorts. My favorite line from the film is about the "healthy" cigarette and James Garner delivers! "This cigarette tastes like a turd!" - still cracks me up! If you haven't seen this film, please do sit back and enjoy a priceless bit of entertainment. If you haven't read the book, please find it and read it. Both the film and the book are worth every minute you will spend!

rc223 I was delighted to stumble on this excellent TV movie late one night. Garner is great as the mega-rich company exec who comes unstuck when he tries to buy his own company. The financial shenanigans are well explained and there's genuine tension in the result. Based on a true story. It's like WALL STREET with laughs. [rating 9