Barry Levinson

A money-obsessed jackass takes his autistic brother on a roadtrip.

It feels a lot longer than it is, but even as an overly-long movie it's never quite boring. And the music is terrible. But otherwise, it's a great movie, the sort that can really effect you. I kept thinking about it for a while after watching it.

One thing that struck me re-watching this is occasional shots that give you a sort of alien sense of the world, especially the snap-shots that run over the credits. They somehow twist show more ordinary and easily-identifiable images to look like abstract shapes. show less

A solid, entertaining film about two prison escapees' bank robbing spree, and the bored housewife they both fall head over heels in love with. The pacing could have been improved a good bit, especially with the many music interludes often going rather long, but it was otherwise a fun ride with no complaints.

Murray and Willis; great. And wish there'd been more of Zooey, though it was impressive how her absence made the story, & the rest of the characterization, edgier.

This was basically the book version of his movie “Diner”. Each of the characters feels that real life begins when they are in the diner. Bobby is a normal kid, struggling with identity. He quits law school and takes a training job at a local TV station. Soon, he has worked his way up through the ranks and the station manager wants to promote him to a director for the nightly news. Even though this is what he’s worked for for the better part of a year, he turns it down. He is engaged to show more be married to Neil’s sister Ann but she breaks it off because he is too unpredictable and unstable. He leaves for California in his car with no idea what he’ll do when he gets there.

Neil has always been kind of a nut and somewhat mystical in his approach to life. He gets thrown out of law school for refusing to wear shoes. His parents despair of him. When he is drafted, he waits until the day before he has to report for duty to tell anyone. In a frenzy they try to work the same trick that succeeded for another friend of theirs. A local doctor will write a bogus note reporting some physical malady that will prevent the guy from being taken. Amaziningly, Neil gets the letter in time and brings it with him to the headquarters. Just as he’s about to walk in the door, he turns and looks at all his friends in the parking lot, and tears up the letter unread and unopenend. They could kill him but it’s just the sort of thing he would do. After boot camp, he returns and is as solitary and mysterious as ever. His nightly sojourns around a local historical statue draw great silent crowds to watch. Finally, he is in a restaurant the night before he is to report for duty again. An anti-war nut confronts him and the head injury he receives puts him in the hospital. During the night, a blood clot forms and kills him.

There are some other characters but the story is basically about Bobby and Neil. It was interesting, but the whole thing seemed forced and unreal. Did people really think that way? Did they just go along with everything all the time and to step outside of that was a big deal and a huge undertaking? I guess it was, but it seems to stupid to me.

The whole thing with the diner though, made me envious. I’ve never had a crowd with a hangout before and I was just a tiny bit jealous of these people and their history and their comfortable camaraderie. They knew everything about each other, could stay up all night reminiscing about their adventures and they would do anything for each other. Must be nice. show less