Fantastic!

Dreadfully Boring

A Disappointing Continuation

Through painfully honest and emotional moments, the movie becomes irresistibly relatable

. . . on U.S. military bases will laud and attest to the accuracy of how these "home-sweet-homes" are depicted during REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDEN EYE. Prompted by a book from a whistleblower commonly code-named as "Citizen Carson," this movie adaptation faithfully depicts the fact that few if any of these lodgings for "the brass" boast window shades, blinds, or curtains. To boost base morale, officers' spouses take turns as exhibitionist-of-the-evening, parading in the buff through brightly-lit rooms near the unadorned windows. When they are not on such "T.A." duty, these ladies are at the beck and call of any officer superior to their husband's rank, Citizen Carson reveals. Though U.S. colleges have long been mislabeled as the hedonistic epicenter of American debauchery due to their wild faculty parties and swinger culture, REFLECTIONS IN A GOLDEN EYE discloses that military service is the place to go for the best in bedroom kinkiness. This was especially true prior to the "Don't ask, don't tell" days, when the closeted or latent types made EQUUS look like a carousel ride in the park by way of contrast. FORREST GUMP's famous box of chocolates was probably a metaphor referencing the surprises afforded by Southern Belle military wives as they're unwrapped, given their penchant for body modification by garden shears, Citizen Carson unveils in her REFLECTIONS.

This is a film that sort of sneaks up on a period of time when this subject was still pretty taboo. The biggest thing is Brando harboring sexual tension for a young naked man on a horse. Competing with Elizabeth Taylor for his affections. The idea is good and a bit ahead of the 1967 audience.This film has a lot more, including an excellent cast. This film might be one of Brian Keith's (Family Affair -TV) best most complete roles. It seems to me Keith never got a lot of great film roles and is often over looked during his career but this role is a challenge and he is more than up to it.The ending makes sense as it completes the main plot, but there are a lot of good sub-plots in between. The subject matter at the time caused limited release of an excellent film. That is too bad for Keith since he is so good in it, but great for viewers who have rarely seen him in a strong role like he gets here.Brando is fine though this is nowhere near his strongest screen role. Still he does fine without having a great role. This is an interesting one for film fans.

Overbaked Southern Gothic takes place at a military base. A homosexually repressed major (Marlon Brando) is unhappily married to his fun-loving wife (Elizabeth Taylor). She's cheating on him with a lieutenant (Brian Keith) who is married to an unstable woman (Julie Harris). Then there's a hunky young private (Robert Forster) who loves to ride horses in the nude.As you can see this is one strange movie. It's also shot (in certain prints) in desaturated color and given a golden hue over everything. It gives the movie a unique visual look and fits the mood and atmosphere perfectly. It LOOKS great and is well-directed...but that's basically about it. The plot is overly familiar and you can see the ending coming from a mile away. Brando gives a rare bad performance and his attempt at a Southern accent is laughable. Taylor, Keith and Harris are good and Foster is excellent. The sequences of him nude (back view only) are eerily beautiful. So it gets an 8 for visuals and some good acting but, all in all, doesn't completely work.

The constant yellow tint to the film is VERY annoying. Brando is almost incomprehensible - mumbling his way thru his lines with a bad southern accent. The story is absurd. Brando is an Army Major married to Liz Taylor who is having an affair with Brian Keith whose wife cut off her nipples with garden shears after her baby died. No-nipples has an effeminate Asian houseboy who sings and dances for no apparent reason. Meanwhile, there's a PFC who like to ride horses in the buff, spend his evenings lurking in the shadows, and breaking into Liz's bedroom to fondle her underwear. Brando is attracted to the PFC and winds up shooting him in Liz's bedroom in the final scene. If this strikes you a dreadful bilge,you are 100% correct. Had it been played for laughs, it might have been slightly bearable but unfortunately it's played straight.