i must have seen a different film!!

good back-story, and good acting

Absolutely Fantastic

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

The Big Brass Ring apparently never made it to a movie theater, and doesn't get anywhere else, either. The script, credited posthumously to Orson Welles, takes a number of twists and turns, but they are neither clever or clear. William Hurt portrays Missouri gubernatorial candidate Blake Pellarin, an independent running against another independent, which is unlikely enough. The fact that both candidates sport Southern accents even though it is set in Missouri is another peculiarity that is never explained. Miss it and you'll be better off.

If you want to see the short that inspired the feature,take a look at a DVD called SHORT 2: Dreams. Apparently it's the only place where the short can be seen. There's also an exclusive interview with filmmaker George Hickenlooper. Fun name, no? And there's also alternate video tracks with clips from the feature. Check it out. I bought it at Amazon.com. Enjoy...

It might seem hard to imagine that a movie based on an Orson Welles script, starring William Hurt, Nigel Hawthorne, Natasha Richardson and Irene Jacob couldn't get a theatrical release. Get a snootful of ten or fifteen minutes of this flatliner and you'll understand why. The movie does make one contribution to Welles scholarship: it proves once and for all that in the case of the superhuman Welles, the words of the page were not the main event.

This is a movie that someday will be remade so that it can be understood by those who haven't read the script. The premise of the movie is that a guy switches identity with his brother (I think) and proceeds to live their lives as one another.It is not convincing as to the reason why both would want to do so or how this would be pulled off for those who knew them. Overall most viewers should find this something to avoid.