In this odd, uneven period piece, Wyatt Earp comes to Hollywood as a technical advisor in a silent film about his life. While he's in town, and just before the first Academy Awards ceremony in 1929, he gets drawn into a murder involving old friends and new enemies. If that premise sounds good to you, be aware that there are so many flaws, it might disappoint.
Let's start at the beginning: If you look up your history, you'll find out that Wyatt Earp was eighty years old in 1929, but James Garner, who portrayed him in Sunset, was only sixty and looked even younger. Not only does he participate in action scenes and operate a gun with a remarkably steady hand, but he also has an intimate romance with Mariel Hemingway, stated in the film to be twenty-six. If Wyatt Earp was going to be portrayed as a virile middle-aged man, and Blake Edwards really wanted his setting to involve silent movies, why wasn't the year bumped up? Instead of 1929, it could have been 1914. Silent westerns were still made, and Wyatt Earp would have been sixty-five. The only reason for the film to be set in 1929 was to include the first Academy Awards ceremony. You'd think that a movie deliberately set at that event would have more of a focus on the movie stars of the time, or at least show the ceremony. There are cameos of Douglas Fairbanks, John Gilbert, Oliver Hardy, and James Cagney, but they were so brief I only knew they were represented because of the closing credits. James Cagney didn't make a movie until 1930, so I don't know why he was included. The ceremony itself wasn't even shown; studio producer Malcom McDowell leaves after his opening speech, and the camera follows him.
With Bruce Willis still in his "too cool for school" phase, his attitude as a dumb, cocky movie star gets old really quickly. James Garner doesn't really do much either, and Malcom McDowell is just a regular ol' bad guy. The women don't bring anything to the table, either, so the audience is left with a rather empty party. If you like movies about old Hollywood, you've got plenty of others to choose from. The only good part about this movie is Henry Mancini's music.
Let's start at the beginning: If you look up your history, you'll find out that Wyatt Earp was eighty years old in 1929, but James Garner, who portrayed him in Sunset, was only sixty and looked even younger. Not only does he participate in action scenes and operate a gun with a remarkably steady hand, but he also has an intimate romance with Mariel Hemingway, stated in the film to be twenty-six. If Wyatt Earp was going to be portrayed as a virile middle-aged man, and Blake Edwards really wanted his setting to involve silent movies, why wasn't the year bumped up? Instead of 1929, it could have been 1914. Silent westerns were still made, and Wyatt Earp would have been sixty-five. The only reason for the film to be set in 1929 was to include the first Academy Awards ceremony. You'd think that a movie deliberately set at that event would have more of a focus on the movie stars of the time, or at least show the ceremony. There are cameos of Douglas Fairbanks, John Gilbert, Oliver Hardy, and James Cagney, but they were so brief I only knew they were represented because of the closing credits. James Cagney didn't make a movie until 1930, so I don't know why he was included. The ceremony itself wasn't even shown; studio producer Malcom McDowell leaves after his opening speech, and the camera follows him.
With Bruce Willis still in his "too cool for school" phase, his attitude as a dumb, cocky movie star gets old really quickly. James Garner doesn't really do much either, and Malcom McDowell is just a regular ol' bad guy. The women don't bring anything to the table, either, so the audience is left with a rather empty party. If you like movies about old Hollywood, you've got plenty of others to choose from. The only good part about this movie is Henry Mancini's music.