Reviews

This nautical adventure full of historical detail keeps you well engrossed and wanting more when the movie abruptly comes to an end. If any criticism, the lack of denouement and the deliberate setup for the next movie gave the film a TV miniseries feel not warranted for a production of its caliber. Russell Crowe and Paul Bettany are outstanding as the lead characters.

This is a truly touching film that spotlights the sadness, humor, and possibilities of getting old in America. Jack Nicholson portrays Warren Schmidt so subtly and accurately, you feel you have met and want to cry and hope for him. The use of Ndugu as a device was brilliant -- it gives Schmidt voice without breaking the quiet sadness of the man portrayed. Great underplayed performances are often missed or ignored, certainly when they come from actors known for more boisterous ones. Marlon Brando's quieter acting roles are some of his best, and this could be one of Nicholson's.

I ran across this movie by chance and then ran to IMBD to learn more about it. I was amazed by how the film enlightened me on the era and actually how similar corporations and people in them still behave today.. William Warren is excellent in the role of the tyrannical boss with the hots for the married sales girl (Loretta Young). I was surprised by the the openness of the film (for the time), but apparently after reading some of the other comments, this is typical of the pre-code era of films. Too bad things had to change. You can pick up a lot of social history from this kind of film despite it being a bit one dimensional.

Gripping film with amazing twists and turns and visual impact -- the only points that bothered me were choices made regarding the look of the future, that is, why the very 20th century wardrobe on most of the characters, why the assumption that so many commercial brands would still survive to 2054 given our business history. These seeming anachronisms put me off in the beginning of the film but then the plot and powerful visuals took hold and whirled me along.

The only other disappointment was the director's insistence on over explaining everything -- the temple/god/priests bit with the cops, in particular. Give you audience some credit -- if its worth getting, they'll get it and isn't that half the fun -- why spoil it.

That said, the film was otherwise simply awesome and not to be missed.

Although the movie is slow-moving at times and crying out for tighter editing, Gary Cooper's Dr. Wassell is appealing and the story line compelling enough to make watching this film time well spent. The story of a Doctor, who after being second to discover the source of a major epidemic in China, joins the Navy and ends up caring for a group of injured American sailors stranded on JAVA during WWII. I learned a lot from this film that I didn't know about the war in the Pacific and the Dutch involvement. This and the quiet heroics of Wassell and other characters makes for a fascinating watch. "The Story of Dr. Wassell" is a solid period film with a number of surprisingly good actors.