Save your money for something good and enjoyable

A lot of fun.

How wonderful it is to see this fine actress carry a film and carry it so beautifully.

If you like to be scared, if you like to laugh, and if you like to learn a thing or two at the movies, this absolutely cannot be missed.

Simply the best movie I have seen! Richard, Robert, Sandra and Shirley ALL give the best performances of anything I have seen... LONG live Sir Richard Harris we all miss and love you! People think Star Wars VVI is The best movie.. Lucus did OK on version 1 the others are not so good... Richard Harris in my opinion give me the most joy as an actor can give ... Man called Horse.... Camelot….. English Bob…. Robert Duval …. Shirley … Not to mention Sandra… what a joy to see them give selfless performances to the question all us baby boomer's will face … no respect… loneliness and lack of a fond family.. Go ahead Francis.. Take down Ernest Hemingway…… who by the way ended his life early out of what I might say was a kind of sorrow….

Moved to Miami in 1971. Duvall was excellent. Gave me chills. A comment by someone called his accent more Mexican than Cuban. Not so. Have lived in California and Florida. Duvall's character could sit down at any checker board in Little Havana and be taken as a "native."The "South Beach" setting reminded me of the early days of the revival of the area. There was time for those days.An excellent movie. It captured me by its reality and simplicity just like when I turned on "Blade Runner" …and didn't move from the edge of the bed until it was over. Of course, the subject matter was wildly divergent. The attraction was not.Everyone seemed to know they were making a gem. I think the over-all rating is too low for this film, which is more like walking into a part of life, then taking your leave to move on to a different place, across the street, down the road.You want to go back the next day for another cup of coffee.

I saw this film by chance, was working at home with the TV humming, and it caught my attention. Didn't do much work! It's a great piece of acting, Duvall is amazing as an old Cuban bachelor, and Harris is very touching as a lonely retired sailor (oops sorry... captain!). MacLaine has a smaller part, but acts it perfectly, with a classy economy of emotions. They all fit their characters like gloves.The whole film is a quite little masterpiece, and extremely emotional. Couldn't stop the tear flow ;o) I'm rushing to see what else that director did, Randa Haines. Not surprised this film was directed by a woman, it's got that light yet deep emotional quality...Another excellent aspect of this film is the way the atmosphere is depicted. You can feel the heat, and laid back lifestyle of... wherever it's taking place... Miami? A superb sound track, Cuban Son, helps a lot too.Great film to see if you're in a thoughtful mood, and if you're looking for something else than action blockbusters.

Even though Duvall's fake, middle class Cuban accent was not right on the money all the time, he portrayed his obsessive/compulsive, retired gentleman character's odd and gentle affectations to the letter and was totally believable and the best thing in this movie, along with Shirley Maclaine in her tough/nice landlady role as Cooney. Duvall played his character Walt as an intensely honorable man raised in the strictest form of old Spanish "gentilhombre" tradition prevalent in pre-Castro Cuba. He left Cuba for America to see the Yankees in the 1958 World Series, and never returned as the Communist revolution occurred at the same time, preventing his return. As he was a true gentleman, when there was such a thing, he was not to be personally insulted or touched in anger by any man or be at all discourteous to women or tolerate such behavior by other men, and any such coarse behavior in his presence was sure to cause an altercation, and perhaps even a physical one. To him, true gentlemen were protectors of the innocence and dignity of women in his well-defined world of gentility and respect.Harris' sloppy and crude character Frank, who was achingly lonely but showed good reason for his alone-ness in his selfishness and eccentricity, was sure to aggravate Walt in short order with his cursing and coarse behavior. Harris' role was really not too much of an acting stretch for this famous rounder in real life, but he was still very effective in conveying the angst of loss of a meaningful life and family love.Their short friendship leading to the inevitable conflict was so touching and sad in its honesty and spot-on emotional accuracy when men of a very different style finally clash and part. The same or similar thing has happened to many of us at one time or another in life, so most viewers will connect with its truth and emotional impact. It was nice to see them reconnect after Frank essentially apologized to Walt in the only way he could, obliquely.The film had a relaxed and almost "retired" pacing, never boring to me but perfectly in tune with day to day retired living in the Miami area, or anywhere. Three scenes of the men together were particularly memorable for their sensitivity and insight.... the fireworks scene, the haircut/shave scene, and the scene where Frank "apologized" to Walt after their argument and afterward they both danced with little girls in a park. Watch for these scenes as they come up as they are crucial to story development. Just great film-making.This film was one of the best I have seen in depicting how differing people retire from useful professions and then fade from being productive social contributors into their respective, more or less useless retired ways, with some fighting and struggling the whole way and others accepting their fate with gentleness and realization of the inevitability of life. We are all like these film characters in some ways, or will be, and seeing in the film what awaits us all in an older age was not always a pretty sight, but it was always very engaging and touching. We truly cared for the characters in this film....the primary mark of a successful story.A wonderful film not to be missed by anyone over 50.