Siskel & Ebert (TV Series)

The Cowboy Way/Beverly Hills Cop III/Renaissance Man/The Flintstones/Little Buddha (1994)

Gene Siskel: Self - Host

Quotes 

• Gene Siskel - Host : And that, of course, is John Goodman as Fred Flintstone in "The Flintstones", and boy, I really didn't like this picture. I mean, it looks great, but these characters and this story, what a crushing bore. Reportedly, there were thirty-two writers assigned over the years to this script; I've got news for ya: They needed at least thirty-THREE.

  [...] 

  Gene Siskel - Host : All of the invention went into the film's production design and to its omnipresent marketing campaign. In fact, I'd rather have seven of those McDonald's souvenir glasses than pay the $7

  [Roger laughs] 

  Gene Siskel - Host : to see "The Flintstones".

  Roger Ebert - Host : Well, I was disappointed in it too, and I agree with you, it's a great looking production.

  Gene Siskel - Host : Yes.

  Roger Ebert - Host : But why, y'know, sure, it's a family movie, but in particular, I think it's a movie that kids might go to. And what do kids care about office politics...

  Gene Siskel - Host : Right.

  Roger Ebert - Host : ...Hanky-panky with the secretary...

  Gene Siskel - Host : Yes!

  Roger Ebert - Host : ...Adoption problems.

  Gene Siskel - Host : Yes.

  Roger Ebert - Host : Uh, mother-in-law problems, embezzlement, kids don't know what embezzlement is. This entire plot is like, uh, some kind of a grown-up office politics movie that has nothing to do with "The Flintstones".

  Gene Siskel - Host : You could tell that it started in the '80s, the late '80s, y'know, the evil businessman, but who is this picture intended for? You're absolutely right. Make it young, make it charming, or make it smart, y'know, like they did with "Wayne's World", a goofy- the "Wayne's World" adaption from TV to film is one of the classics...

  Roger Ebert - Host : Yeah, uh-huh.

  Gene Siskel - Host : ...of this new big genre.

  Roger Ebert - Host : And this is one of the, one of the dogs.

• Roger Ebert - Host : The elements in "Renaissance Man" are all painfully sincere, but the movie is amazingly bad. Not a single moment rings true. The screenplay was obviously made by cross-pollinating "Dead Poets Society", which was about an inspirational teacher, and "Private Benjamin", which was about a fish-out-of-water in basic training. The result is an embarrassment from beginning to end, a labored, contrived, unconvincing movie that never even manages to answer such questions as: Even if they DO like "Hamlet", what does that have to do with basic training? "Renaissance Man" is a terrible example of what happens when formulas are recycled without any understanding of why they worked in the first place.

  Gene Siskel - Host : Well, this is gonna shock you, uh, but I enjoyed some of it. I did.

  Roger Ebert - Host : [exasperated sigh]  I'm shocked.

  Gene Siskel - Host : Good. Uh, what I liked was that DeVito seemed to be enjoying- if you watch this picture closely, I know you'll never see it again, but if you watched it closely, you would see how much he was enjoying being with those young recruits. And there were times when I was watching him where he almost cracked up, and I realized there were a lot of good feeling in that classroom with them as they went on this ridiculous enterprise; you're right, what does "Hamlet" have to do with basic training, except to give these kids self-confidence in their minds, I suppose. That's the same thing with the tower in his mind, self-confidence. And on that basis, on the good will when they're all together, I liked the picture.

  Roger Ebert - Host : Well, you've mentioned the only part of the film that I did like.

  Gene Siskel - Host : They have a lot of fun in that classroom.

  Roger Ebert - Host : Danny DeVito is one of the most likable actors...

  Gene Siskel - Host : Yes he is.

  Roger Ebert - Host : ...That we have in the movies. It's almost impossible for him to inhabit a character that you don't like and that you don't identify with. What I objected to was just one logical impossibility and consistency after another, right down to the end where they have all that stuff about the final exam. Y'know, if they, they don't have to take an exam, but if they DO, and they flunk it, then they drop out of basic training! I'm trying to figure that out.

  Gene Siskel - Host : Okay, that's not the best part of the picture. The best part of the picture is that young cast of recruits- I think there are some fresh, good faces in that picture. They have boys from the hood and boys from the hills, and I think there is an interesting group of young actors, and some good stars will come out of it.