Wordiezett So much average

Greenes Please don't spend money on this.

Micransix Crappy film

Tymon Sutton The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

atlasmb I urge viewers not to read any summary of this story that reveals details of the plot or its premises. I will only say that the story is mystical and quixotic. Some will like it, some will not, but as you can see on these pages, this film has many admirers.The story starts with a narration by Young Fisk, who is visiting the elder Fisk at his home. Their relationship is strained and combative. They decide to spend the day together in a rather unusual way. It is the beginning of a journey by Young Fisk that will culminate in some discoveries and some wondrous understandings.Set circa 1910, as the motorcar becomes a symbol for the declining past and the nascent future, one of the best elements of this film, in my opinion, is its richness of tone. Scenes are shot lovingly, with an emphasis on art, and its beauty, as it occurs in architecture, painting, literature, language, music, and the enrichment of the senses."Dean Spanley" reminds one of the joys of the well-written tale, where language enthralls. As a film, it celebrates the well-read line, the poignancy in pauses, the synergy between image and music.And it gives us some performances to be cherished. Though no performance is dissonant in this film, I particularly enjoyed the performances of Peter O'Toole as the elder Fisk and Sam Neill as Dean Spanley. Do yourself a favor and bask in their prodigiousness.

The_late_Buddy_Ryan Despite its lofty pedigree (it's based on a novel by Lord Dunsany), formidable cast and handsome period locations, this 100-minute shaggy dog story long overstays its welcome and left us feeling disappointed. The premise is that Horatio Fisk (Peter O'Toole), a cranky old gentleman in Edwardian London, is unable to mourn the death of his wife and son, the latter killed in the Boer War, or to make any emotional connection with his surviving son, a subdued Jeremy Northam, who supplies the voice-over narration. The problem turns out to be that the old man's never recovered from the loss of his beloved dog, a spaniel called Wag, when he was a boy. The younger Fisk discovers, through a lengthy investigation that takes up the first and much more involving half of the film, that an otherwise sober and uninteresting clergyman, W.A.G. Spanley (Sam Neill), when plied with a glass or three of vintage tokay, can hold an audience spellbound with his reminiscences of a previous life as a dog… I'm guessing the original tale has been brushed up a bit by veteran screenwriter Alan Sharp in accordance with contemporary notions of closure and father-son bonding, and Neill does a great job with his big scene as Wag the dog, but the film had lost momentum by that point and the attempted feel-good ending totally failed to connect with us. Neill, a part-time Kiwi, seems to have attracted some NZ Film Board funds to this admirable-in-principle but unsuccessful venture.

wjw0126 What at first I thought would be a "light comedy" turned into an engaging and enjoyable film. The theme of "companionship" seems to resonate throughout the film. Seen through the eyes of Fisk the younger (Jeremy Northam)we are taken on a journey of understanding: what causes a person to emotionally "shut-down"? Fisk the younger's conversations with his father (Peter O'Toole) are emotionally strained and at best, simply "dutiful". As the only surviving family member, he visits his father each Thursday to fulfill his role as loving son. The father - "Fisk senior" - is crotchety, opinionated and without even enough love to call his son by his first name - Henslowe. Instead, he refers to his son as a headmaster would refer to a student: Fisk junior. (Made me think of O'Toole in "Goodbye Mr. Chips"!)But Henslowe is looking for a way to breakthrough with his relationship with his father and is given the chance by meeting Dean Spanley (Sam Neill) when Henslowe, his father, and Spanley all attend a discussion on "The Transmigration of Souls". There begins a regular meeting between Spanley and Henslowe - helped along by Henslowe agreeing to provide a drink called "Tokay" to Spanley, in exchange for Spanley relating his views on Re-incarnation. What follows is not what you think, but allows Henslowe to possibly understand why his father acts as he does. Without going into more detail and possibly spoiling it, I found this film to be superb in its acting. Northam is the anti-thesis of his father. O'Toole is stern and unloving, yet you still sense he misses those who have died. Northam is loving, yet not "whimpy" - he has a backbone. You sense at one point that the relationship is going to explode, but it doesn't. Neill is wonderful as the slightly eccentric Spanley. Brian Brown adds the touch of whimsy as the "soldier of fortune", who provides Henslowe with his needed "Tokay". I am always amazed to find these films and wonder why I never heard of them before. It is a wonderful study in human emotion and the longing for companionship - whether in dogs or humans. And, it is a triumph when we breakthrough and understand another persons pain and help them overcome. There is so much going on in this film: the study of how each one deals with loss. How we each deal with grief. The theme of companionship seen by the viewing of pictures or "Wrather" in his two-seater. The conversations of Spanley as "wags". All explore the theme of companionship which is the most basic of longings that we all have. I only gave it a 9 instead of 10, simply because I found the first half hour to be rather slow-moving. That may just be my own impression. The best part of the film is certainly the last 45 minutes. It was one of those films that when it ended, you wished it hadn't!

txmoviegoer This is a hard-to-pin-down, eccentric, wonderful little movie about...a man who turns out to be the reincarnation of a dog (the beloved, lost childhood pet of a bitter old man). It sounds sentimental and soppy, but it's not - it's quirky, well-written and beautifully acted by Peter O'Toole (as the old man), Sam Neill (as the slightly strange church official who turns out to be the reincarnated dog), and others. It's set in Edwardian times and the period atmosphere is great - and whoever wrote this has a highly engaging and convincing imagination for what it would be like to be a dog. Memorable movie, never predictable, well worth seeking out.