Karry Best movie of this year hands down!

Acensbart Excellent but underrated film

Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

Mathster The movie runs out of plot and jokes well before the end of a two-hour running time, long for a light comedy.

SnoopyStyle In post war Europe, writer Pete Verrill (Jeff Fahey) joins director John Wilson (Clint Eastwood) to work on his next movie to be filmed in Africa. John wants to do a safari to hunt big game. Producer Paul Landers (George Dzundza) is concerned of many issues including the new technology of colored photography, locations, and money. While he deals with various people and issues surrounding the film, John is more interested in taking down a big tusker elephant with the help of local guide Kivu.This is a thinly-veiled fictionalization of legendary director John Huston and his filming of 'The African Queen (1951)'. It's probably more meaningful for fans of the old classic. Clint delivers. The most compelling scene is probably him taking down the racist Mrs. MacGregor. The story can be meandering at times. The drama isn't that high since the film isn't threaten much. The elephant hunt has a poignant power and delivers a meaningful commentary on the character. Jeff Fahey is much less impressive. He takes up space without giving much in return. He is too reserved and too willing to be secondary. He needs to be a better foil for Eastwood.

bigverybadtom Clint Eastwood tries acting out of his normal character in this movie, being as verbose as possible. Not knowing how director John Huston looked or sounded like, I cannot say how well Eastwood portrayed him, but Eastwood simply looked like Eastwood doing a lot of talking for a change.The plot has Huston in Britain, talking some backers into having a movie set in Africa actually located in Africa, rather than on unconvincing studio backdrops as had been done in the past. Then Huston is in Africa, having a run-in with a hotel manager and several other people, and worse yet, showing little interest in actually making the movie, but strongly desiring to shoot an elephant instead. As the title implies, the attempt to shoot the elephant winds up going badly.So what went wrong? Basically, the story moves slowly, and we don't really understand Huston or his motives. Why fight to have a movie set in an exotic location, and then show little interest in making this movie once there? There seems to be no real point to the story, and we feel dissatisfied in the end.

bkoganbing If what I saw in this film was a sample of John Huston's behavior than I don't know how he lasted as long as he did in the film industry. This film based on a novel by Peter Viertel purports to show some of the difficulties in getting Huston to settle down and make the African Queen.White Hunter, Black Heart will never go down as one of Clint Eastwood's better projects. According to the film, protagonist John Wilson is having a touch of Hemingway, he's in Africa and what do they do in Africa, but go on safari. Eastwood's made his mind up that he's got to go toe to toe with a bull elephant before shooting it.All this is chronicled by Jeff Fahey playing the author who narrates the film and from whose eyes we see all the action. And studio boss George Dzundza is about to tear the hair from his head with all the delays and Eastwood's procrastination. Dzundza is almost a caricature of the Jewish studio moguls of the time, but frankly my sympathies were with him. In real life he'd have canned Eastwood and brought in another director to get the film made.This was an important step for the American film industry. 20 years earlier with Trader Horn MGM shot that one with all kinds of problems shooting there in the tropics by people who weren't used to it. The African Queen and King Solomon's Mines set a new standard because the public did not want to see cheap back lot jungle sets any longer. So Dzundza has a lot riding on it.I have to say that this particular Clint Eastwood project did not please me.

cliodhna2 White Hunter Black Heart is loosely based the true story of the making of The African Queen (1951). The screenplay is based on the book by Peter Viertel who worked with director John Huston during the making of the film.Clint Eastwood directs himself as an actor, playing the director John Wilson (a.k.a John Huston). With me so far? The story starts in the United Kingdom, where the irascible Wilson/Huston is trying to get funding for a film set in Africa. Sidekick Pete Verrill is drafted in to work on the script and eventually the whole shebang makes it to Entebbe (Uganda). However, it rapidly becomes apparent that Wilson/Huston has little interest in making a film, and his real reason for being there is to shoot and kill the biggest elephant he can find. Suffice to say, it all ends in tears. And that's about it for the plot.It's pretty feeble stuff. And sadly, the lack of a plot isn't made up for by fantastic performances from the cast. The main problem is Eastwood himself. Wilson is written as a complex, egotistical, inconsistent, selfish character, and Eastwood just doesn't have the depth or weight to carry it off. The performance isn't helped by the fact that in places he looks physically frail. Eastwood's performance borders on an impersonation of John Hughes - a caricature more than a characterisation. Because of this, the film takes on a cartoonish, somewhat comedic air at times (but it's far from a comedy).Eastwood isn't helped by the script. Given the whole thing revolves around a man who wants to kill an elephant, we never really understand why. Halfway through, there is a lengthy monologue where Wilson/Huston takes a moral stand against a woman who declares that Hitler was right to try to kill the Jews. It's followed by another long scene where he ends up in a bare knuckle brawl with the hotel manager who he sees mistreating his (black) staff. Wilson/Hudson explains his behaviour with 'We fought the preliminary for the k*kes; now we'll fight the main event for the n*ggers' This valiant supporter of human rights is the same man who harbours an obsessive need to kill an elephant? It seems the inconsistency doesn't make sense to the cast either. When challenged to explain his bloodlust, Wilson/Huston's answer is: 'It's not a crime... it's bigger than that... it's a SIN'. And that's all we get. It just doesn't add up.What does make White Hunter worth watching is the beautiful photography of the African landscape. Also good is the unexpected appearance of Timothy Spall (of Auf Wiedersehen Lads fame) as Hodkins, the eccentric Bush pilot. He's not great either, but he does his best. Finally, Marisa Berenson, in the minor role of Kay Gibson (a.k.a. Katherine Hepburn) doesn't show up very often, but when she does, she's somehow riveting . Oh, and there's a really, really cute baby elephant.Clint Eastwood directed this film two years after he directed the excellent Bird (1988). Watch Bird instead.