Surprisingly incoherent and boring

Let's be realistic.

Brilliant and touching

One of the best movies of the year! Incredible from the beginning to the end.

This script is quirky, but logical, though the emotions are sort of detached here. It is definitely in the era of casual relationships. Goals are more than a little muddled here.Jeff Bridges plays a young Mogul, Craig Blake who has inherited a fortune from his parents who were both killed in a tragic plane crash. He has a mansion with 50 year butler (Catman Scruthers) who does not understand the young mans goals. Eventually he decides to quit and take what is rightfully his from the mansion he has served for so long.Bridges meanwhile is involved by his parents connections into a real estate scheme in which he must get a health club/spa closed so he can use the property in a different venture. This leads him to a club with a weight lifter Joe Santo (Arnold Schwarzenegger in his first role), a talented woman karate instructor, Anita, and Mary Tate Farnsworth (Sally Field) who is Santos (Arnolds) girlfriend. In an unusual twist Santos does not seem to mind that she has a torrid fling with Blake.The R-Rating back when this was made has plenty to do with Fields major and attractive show of skin including some bedroom scenes and a sequence on a stairway with Bridges where her young firm body is definitely a hot item. Fannie Flagg plays Amy, an older more mature and less luscious item. Joanna Cassidy is Zoe, another woman whose interested in the happenings. Ed Begley Jr. is Lester who is also interested in Mary Tate (Field).While the main plot is straightforward, there are times in which the events and the characters become muddled and the real goals of the other folks in this sometimes seem to have been aimlessly thrown into the mix. Of course, I think that I have enough spoilers here though now that IMDb no longer answers to it's contributors via message boards, well I'd rather play it safe.This movie has a unique set of credits in that there is always action in the back ground of them. Whether or not I am happy with the conclusion, well it is less clear. Arnold's accent is not real big in the first role as his dialogue in this one is very limited.

Interesting because of Schwarzenegger's breakthrough performance here which he received a Golden Globe for, the film has sadly little else of interest. The storyline is rather slim and jumps crazily between comedy and drama. While having comedy and drama together is not a bad thing per se, it jars the film because the comedy is so silly compared to the drama, which is serious. The characters are rather poorly introduced too, and the technical aspects of the film are forgettable. One could say that the film is watchable, however is anything actually great in it? The narration through letters is poor, the scenes in the street towards the end are dumb, and when the film is amusing, it too often feels like it is so for the wrong reasons. The acting is decent though - and that is one thing that can be said here - all the performers are adequate for their parts, except for R. G. Armstrong, who tends to go over-the-top.

The only saving grace of this movie is the bodybuilding, and those scenes are few and far between. If you are an Arnold fan, you will be greatly disappointed in the portrayal of your hero, if not, you may appreciate the way that he is taken out of his usual bad ass roles to show a more "sensitive side." The problem is that this portrayal is ridiculous, to the point where there is a scene with Arnie in the woods playing fiddle in a country jam. If you desperately wan to see this film to see all the films he is in do it. Otherwise, this movie should be prescribed to insomniacs, as i have fallen asleep to it on numerous occasions and suffer from the occasional bout myself.

A somewhat slow-moving film. But that's okay. Jeff bridges played a lot of these quirky characters in the Seventies, and this is a good example. His character (Craig Blake) has little family, but comes into a sort of surrogate one. Arnold Schwarzenegger begins his acting career in this one, and does OK. There is little indication that he would become a huge action star. (or governor) He plays a body-builder (surprise!). This was kind of below the radar screen in those days, so it was an odd subject. Sally Field was so young and cute here, especially since she showed off that nice round bottom. Yes, we really liked you, Sally! Overall, this one is worth a rental, or catching on cable. Grade: C