An old fashioned, uncomplicated adventure film from John Huston that never manages to become fully engaging.
Sean Connery and Michael Caine play a couple of shysters who want to establish themselves as leaders of some obscure foreign country and then rob it of its riches. The plot never made a whole lot of sense to me, even though the screenplay had the clear blueprint of Rudyard Kipling's original story to follow. Huston is pretty high on my list of overrated directors; a few of his films from the film noir years are excellent, but most everything else falls flat for me. His direction in this film is too leaden to bring it alive. It's supposed to have a bit of rollicking adventure about it, but it instead feels like a slog.
Nominated for four Oscars in 1975, including Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, and Best Film Editing.
Grade: B-
Sean Connery and Michael Caine play a couple of shysters who want to establish themselves as leaders of some obscure foreign country and then rob it of its riches. The plot never made a whole lot of sense to me, even though the screenplay had the clear blueprint of Rudyard Kipling's original story to follow. Huston is pretty high on my list of overrated directors; a few of his films from the film noir years are excellent, but most everything else falls flat for me. His direction in this film is too leaden to bring it alive. It's supposed to have a bit of rollicking adventure about it, but it instead feels like a slog.
Nominated for four Oscars in 1975, including Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design, and Best Film Editing.
Grade: B-