It only gets a 5.7 in IMDB, and I won't quibble over that, but I really enjoy watching this movie. Richard D is great as he transitions into the role of the dictator and then slowly transitions the role of the dictator into him. It's a lot like Dave where Kevin K is picked to double for the president.
my god its full of stars
It's still holding at 5.7, two years after your post! Very rare for films to hold such a steady rating.
I think the casting in certain parts may explain the reason some people dislike this film. Of the principals, Sonia Braga dissapoints the most, her acting is WAY over the top. She's really good is just about everything she does in her native Portugues, but her roles in which she speaks English leave much to be desired.
Ha! Now six years later and still stuck at 5.7{:
I wish I'd noted THEN how many voters there were because I'm guessing the number isn't changing...much. So, maybe the reason it holds there is because no one else is voting. There's less than 4000 and that's pretty rare on IMDB. So, I imagine it doesn't get widely watched and those who watch it are just happy to enjoy it w/o voting and/or have already voted and those who don't care for it aren't watching it (hopefully) and have moved on.
I agree, one of those movies you can enjoy watching on a lazy Saturday afternoon to give you a good laugh! SIMMS! SIMMS! SIMMS!
shareI think RD's work here is easily the equal of what he did in "Goodbye Girl." The puckishness & toss-offs are almost the same. Granted the two flicks are only a few years apart, so acting style could be expected to be similar within the same light-comedy genre, but *why* this movie didn't do better than it did, I have no idea. I think people expect the wrong things of it. '88 had flicks like Big, Roger Rabbit, Die Hard, Beetlejuice, Rain Man.... Against the standard of movies like that it's hard for a "little movie" to measure up. :/
shareI'm a fan of this movie, and if I were to pair it with another RD movie that is great to just sit back and enjoy it'd be Let it Ride. Both have a lot of great stars who make an appearance but don't weigh down the movie.
It's not terribly deep but it doesn't need to be, it's one of those movies you watch because it's entertaining - light and enjoyable. And what is great about this flick is it has quite a bit of replay value, you can watch it more than once and still enjoy it. And to me at the very least it's always a kick to see Raul Julia as a blond :P
A rating of 5.8 seems a bit low to me, I gave it an 8 but I would think for most people it'd fall around seven or so.