The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

This movie tries so hard to be funny, yet it falls flat every time. Just another example of recycled ideas repackaged with women in an attempt to appeal to a certain audience.

The Rat Pack chronicles the period from 1959 to 1963, when Frank and the Boys were king, baby! And before Las Vegas became Disneyland! I must say, 20 minutes into this movie, and it's very easy to get caught up in its tabloid sense of fun. Some of the performances stand out, while others lapse into caricature. Ray Liotta plays Frank Sinatra (a favorite crooner of mine) as a volatile, charismatic hot-head. And aside from the jarring fact that he looks NOTHING like Sinatra, it's an intense performance. Joe Mantegna is enigmatic as Dean Martin, at times inscrutable, at other times lapsing into sketch impression. Don Cheadle, as Sammy Davis Jr. walks the fine line much more nimbly than the others in the cast. His Sammy Davis is a three-dimensional character; full of pain, pathos and courage. Never lapsing into the Billy Crystal-variety, "you're beautiful, babe"-type of portrayal. Barbara Nivens as Marilyn Monroe is a bit overdone (a little bit drag-queenish), fitting in with the caricature-level of some of the other performances. William Peterson as JFK is somewhat better, but still wading in the shallow end of the performance pool. Angus MacFayden as Peter Lawford, is another standout. Like Cheadle, there is some nuance to his Peter Lawford. But the writing paints Lawford as a Sinatra punching bag/panty-waist; a comic relief, of sorts. One of the many saving graces of the film is that it wallows in its own sense of yellow journalism fun, never taking itself too seriously. I suppose if you wanted the facts, you could watch a Biography channel documentary (and they've done some great Rat Pack specials). This film, however, is made in the spirit of fun, glitz and sleaze, with a healthy dose of tribute thrown in (somewhat akin to, but not as silly as GREAT BALLS OF FIRE). PAT PACK shows you the reasons why this team so owned this unique period of history (on the cusp between the dull '50s and the swinging '60s). In the talent phase of the movie, Cheadle is (again) simply amazing; bringing Davis' multi-level abilities to vivid life. Throughout the film, though, it is Ray Liotta as Frank who holds the group together through sheer force of his (considerable) will. In one of the final scenes, depicting a furious Frank lashing out at Lawford for a post-election snub by Peter's new brother-in-law JFK, you see the full wrath of Sinatra (and it ain't pretty!). Afterward, you can almost feel the cold chill of Peter's subsequent banishment from the warm, crazy heat of the RAT PACK. Despite its manic energy, the movie (accurately or not; at this point, who cares?) invites you into the fold, and like Peter, you hate to leave.

I enjoyed watching it quite a bit. Best actor there-Don Cheadle, was prob the most miscast though it was fun to watch him play Sammy. Deano was done alright by Montengna, while Lawford was shown to be a real wuss. Joey Bishop well he was just a cameo so who can say? Now Sinatra-Liotta has the attitude and manner down, but sure doesn't look like him. He's also over 6 foot while Ol' Blue Eyes was 5-9 maybe and skinny. But as Sinatra, Liotta wasn't a bad choice.You get a crash course in familiar faces/big names here: Sam Giancana, JFK, Joseph Kennedy, RFK, Marilyn, Joltin Joe, Johnny Rosselli, Ava Gardner, hmmmmm I am sure I'm leaving someone out but you get the idea. All this and some Hoover eavesdropping too! You even have allusions to J. Edgar and that infamous blackmail pic of him and Clyde Tolson, Mickey Cohen, a ludicrous scene of Sinatra trying to phone Nixon to concede the election(!) and of course, Dan O'Herlihy(from Robocop etc etc) running everything too. And yes the Klan shows. O and don't forget May Britt...Oh the buying of West Virgina primary votes and the Chicago votes by the mob too. That we all heard of as well.So was this any good?! Sure. Did I buy into it? Well...mostly. I got a kick outta Sinatra's tantrum when he found out that BING of all people was getting to host JFK instead of himself in California, and he starts to bash apart the half-finished additions to his Palm Springs mansion. Quite funny.The woman playing Ava was beautiful though Marilyn wasn't so convincing. Judith Campbell/Exner well that came off okay. Momo was shown w/ Rosselli tossing around the idea of 'whacking Frank', which hadda be a twist on things if ever there was one. This I did actually buy.Overall you will enjoy it though it did need some more of JFK's time in office, the CSI guy as JFK was a hoot. I liked their sailing scene together him and Sinatra.You won't go wrong with this if you just sit back and take it with a grain of salt.*** outta ****

I've given a lot of thought to this movie and, in all honesty, I can't think of anything in particular to critique about it. Revolving around the relationship between the famous "Rat Pack" of the 1960's (Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, Sammy Davis, Jr., Peter Lawford and Joey Bishop) and focusing heavily on their relationship with the Kennedy's, this is a very entertaining, well-done film that provided a peek at the lives of the 1960's Hollywood jet-set. In addition to the Rat Pack and the Kennedy's we get glimpses of Marilyn Monroe (Barbara Niven) and Joe DiMaggio (John Diehl,) and a look at the involvement of organized crime.The performances are strong. Ray Liotta was a standout as Sinatra, but no less compelling were Joe Mantegna as Martin and Angus MacFadyen as Lawford. Bobby Slayton as Joey Bishop was less central to the story, but pulled off the character well. Only Don Cheadle (as Davis) seemed to not quite grasp his character, but he still managed a good performance. The intricacies of the relationship between the five (particularly between Sinatra and Lawford) are detailed and everything seems very natural. Is this really the way it was? I don't know. Only these five would know for sure, but the movie seemed plausible and was an entertaining evening - another success for HBO in my opinion.10/10. Really. I found it fascinating stuff.

The movie "The Rat Pack" is definitely unexpected and that is not necessarilly a good thing.I saw the movie soon after hearing that the surviving rat pack members did not want any part of cameo appearences in the Ocean's Eleven remake because "their Rat Pack was able having fun (and making movies in the process and that the "new" Rat Pack for the movie is just a bunch of "non-friend guys" to make a buck)". Maybe this was just rumor and I'm sure the quote is a bit off, but still THEY WERE ABOUT FUN.Therefore, I was really surprised to see a movie that was anything but fun. If anything this is a political biopic. It focuses on an older/aging Sinatra and how he loses his friends my not playing with the rules. This is an interesting twist and I could see it being interesting if you are looking for it.In all I guess the movie shows that (and how) it could be said that Sinatra played big and won big (in Casino logic), but he kept playing big and eventually the house took him.Aside from being a "non-fun" movie (I mean I can deal with educational or mind-provoking, but) the actors or at least the make-up is just off. Half of the rat pack does not appear to look like the Rat Pack. I just cannot buy that Dean Martin is in the movie and Frank Sinatra is even a Stretch. Don Cheadle on the other hand does a great Sammy Davis Jr. and the true bits about his life are at least interesting.I must have missed something at the beginning of the film though as I could not tell if the movie was a flashback or just during the turbulent period of the Rat Pack's life.I guess I'd recommend the parts of this movie that deal with the fun aspects of the Pack (the movies and the singing). The "Ocean's 11 (1960)" snipits are great, but I would not take a gamble on the rest.Rating: 5