SnoReptilePlenty Memorable, crazy movie

Ceticultsot Beautiful, moving film.

Maleeha Vincent It's funny, it's tense, it features two great performances from two actors and the director expertly creates a web of odd tension where you actually don't know what is happening for the majority of the run time.

Scarlet The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

Tweekums Clark Kellogg is a student from Vermont about to start university in New York. Things don't get off to a good start; the man who gives him a ride from the station steals his money and his luggage then his main lecturer says he must by $700 worth of books. He sees the thief again and chases him; he catches the man but he tells Clark the money is gone… but he can get him a job. The job turns out to be working for Carmine Sabatini, a man who strongly resembles 'The Godfather'. The job sounds suspicious $500 to pick up a package at the airport and deliver it to a specified address. The package turns out to be a Komodo dragon. The job doesn't quite go to plan but it is ultimately delivered. Later he learns that the dragon is due to be the main course at the 'Gourmet Club' an illegal restaurant where people pay a fortune to dine on the most endangered species. Soon government agents are putting pressure on him after being tipped off by his step-father and Carmine's daughter Tina is convinced that Clark will marry her! Clark is clearly out of his depth.I first saw this film in the cinema while on holiday then forgot about it till recently when I picked up the DVD… I must say I really enjoyed it. The story is obviously silly but it is played relatively straight and provides plenty of laughs. Matthew Broderick is on fine form as Clark and Marlon Brando is great fun as he sends up his character from 'The Godfather'; as this is directly referenced it could easily have broken the suspension of disbelief but actually it worked amazingly well. The rest of the cast are solid too; most notably Bruno Kirby who is a lot of fun as Victor, the thief who introduces Clark to Carmine. The scenes between Broderick and Brando are one highlight of the film; another is the scene where the Komodo dragon escapes and causes havoc in a shopping mall… even if the film doesn't actually feature a real Komodo dragon; that would have been far too dangerous and impractical! The ending feature a nice twist that doesn't feel out of place with what happened before. Overall this is a fun film that I'd certainly recommend to anybody wanting good inoffensive entertainment.

classicsoncall The whole film rests on the Vito Corleone parody perpetrated here by Marlon Brando, close enough to give Clark Kellogg (Matthew Broderick) fits, but just off kilter enough so that the viewer sees something just a bit different and refreshing in Brando's take on 'The Godfather'. In fact, there's a few times if you watch closely that it seems like Brando is throwing a little bit of Rod Steiger into the characterization. You just have to laugh every time he's on screen with that underlying threat of hostility that never really emerges, while the whole time you wonder when it's coming.For his part, and as the story progresses, Broderick's character begins to take on the frustration of Michael Corleone in "The Godfather: Part III" - "Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in." I didn't know what to make of the Komodo dragon bit as Clark and Bushak (Frank Whaley) chase it through the mall, but it all ties in, even if rather ridiculously, to the gimmick of the endangered species dinner.And then there's Bert Parks. Doing his Miss America bit with the Komodo was just the right touch of inspired to lunacy to get this thing over the top. You have to give the writers credit for the imaginatively disparate elements they brought to this story while still making it believable. Well, as believable as the movie allows. You know, I was waiting the whole picture for Brando to grab an orange at some point and ad lib his way through a scene but instead he used walnuts. Still, he brought us back to The Godfather one last time with that little hand flick to the chin near the end of the story, making this a picture you can't refuse.

david-sarkies A young boy (Matthew Broderick) travels from his home in Vermont to attend a film school in New York. When he arrives, he is cautious, especially when he is approached by a man offering him a ride, but he ends up being convinced by him, and is duly ripped off. As such he is stuck in New York with no clothes and no money to buy his required texts, and no way of getting any more as his step father is not really all that concerned about him.Then he sees the guy who ripped him off walking down and road, and he chases him and catches up with him. The guy offers him a job with his uncle who turns out to be a godfather figure (Marlon Brando). Brando immediately take Broderick on board as his own son, but Broderick becomes more suspicious and cautious when he learns that he has helped Brando import an endangered Komodo Dragon into New York. This concern escalates when he is confronted by two FBI agents who want Brando for running meals in which endangered animals are served as the main course.There are a lot of twists in this movie though, and there is an elaborate plan running throughout. At times it seems as if this is unrealistic, but the movie did manage to suspend my disbelief, and brought me into the interactions between Brando and Broderick, which is the keystone of this film. It is not a crime thriller or an action movie, but rather a movie that explores the nature of fatherhood, and I think this does it well.Broderick's stepfather does not treat him as a son, and thus Broderick has no respect for him. After Broderick gets out of the situation, his stepfather offers him a hand of friendship to which Broderick refuses. Instead he takes Brando's hand for Brando is his true father figure and Broderick looked up to him as such. This created the main conflict in the movie: it was not between Broderick and the FBI or against Brando, but rather within himself. Broderick is torn between honouring his new found father, or betraying him and turning him into the FBI.The Freshman is a very well made movie. It has some good themes, ones that arise form within the movie rather than the movie being tied around them. It acknowledges one of the desires in our hearts to find a true father, a father that will not turn our back on us, and will be willing to provide everything, including a wife.To me I have found that father, and that father is God, for God is our Father in heaven. He is a father that will never betray us of hit us, and is willing to discipline us when we do wrong. He loves us so much that he is willing to sacrifice himself to forgive us for turning away from us. God is not an earthly father, he is a heavenly and is perfect in everyway, and he promises that he will always provide for us and will always be there for us. He understands everything we go through and more, and to see this we need to look at the life of Jesus, for Jesus is God.

vasarik I remember being disappointed the first time I saw this film, I'm not sure if it was just not something I expected. Not even think it made much of an impact the second time. It now rates in one of my top films of all time.It's hard to think of a film in 1990 like this, and I can't really compare it to many others I've seen either. Matthew Broderick plays Clark wonderfully and Marlon Brando does an amazing job of generating this wholly charming character that really only reflects Vito Corleone in status and looks.The poem scene in the dorm is both warm, touching and its very rare to get an exposition of characters relations done in this way, especially on the back of the 80's! The film actually has many scenes like this, where a generally fast moving comedy farce hits the brakes softly to capture a vision of the beauty of the world and the wonder of life through the eyes of a young freshman.The plot is probably a bit involved to fully appreciate this film on the first showing, but when you know what is going to happen, concentrating on the dialogue and the wonderful colourful, and rapturous, characters throughout.There are not enough films like this.