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Rating:  -
Who else to play the part of an older peter pan, robin williams was the best choice for that part and dustin hoffman was excellent at his role of Captain James Hook. this movie is funny and a good adventure for everyone. i recommend this movie to everyone
Rating:  -
Get the hook! Get the hook! When "Hook" came out the buzz was that is was a sub par performance from director Steven Spielberg--an epic flop--but my niece said it was really good, so I gave it a spin. My verdict was that it was pretty good and I enjoyed it. Why did the public stay home in droves?
Spielberg's appeal has been and continues to be that he maintains his connection to his inner child. Kids like dinosaurs. So he makes a movie about dinosaurs. Huge blockbuster. Sometimes he manipulates his audience--and the audience is only too happy to be manipulated--until they become aware that the director is manipulating them, and he knows he is manipulating them, and he might also be laughing at them, and how easy they can be manipulated. How dare he? Backlash.
Hook, and the whole Neverland, Peter Pan, franchise is all about getting in touch with your inner child. If you believe and think your happy thought, then you can fly! It would seem to be a perfect fit for Spielberg, but it exposes his method. Even Hook knows that he is just a character in a story. During a fight he tells Peter Pan that he is going to wake up and realize that it was all a dream. While watching "Hook" the audience realizes that they are being Spielberged, making it harder and harder to hold on to that happy thought. I just made up that word, "Spielberged" by the way, but I am sure you know exactly what I am talking about.
There was also a backlash against Robin Williams underway at that time that may have contributed to the film's cold reception. Perhaps it was Patch Adams that drove people over the edge, but Williams had taken on too many cute roles and his appeal was starting to grow thin. Since that time he has declared Death to Smoochy and tried for edgier roles. If anyone saw him in "What Dreams May Come" they might notice that it bears a lot of similarity with "Hook" in that it is rumination on the power of dreams and the imagination, but it is balanced with a darker side. One Hour Photo is perhaps his edgiest role to date, but take August Rush for an example. He plays a Fagin-like character who tries to exploit the musical talent of the lost boys he finds. He has a bit of the Robin Williams whimsy we've all seen in him since the days of Mork and Mindy, but it is balanced by his sinister side, so his character never becomes cloying and overly sentimental. Williams has been trying to find that blend of dark and light with varying degrees of success. I think he got it in "Hook" but at the time people were either sick of the too-cute Robin, or not ready for the dark side to be revealed.
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Peter Banning: You're not old enough to shave! What are you doing with a sword? I've been flying around - This is an insurance nightmare! What is this? Some sort of the "Lord of the Flies" pre-school? Where are your parents? Who's in charge here?
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Once the backlash started, it only picked up momentum with rumors that Julia Roberts--who does she think she is?--as Tinkerbelle was nicknamed 'Tinkerhell' because she was so difficult on the set. Since she spent so much of her screen time hoisted aloft on wires she had a person whose sole job it was to make sure her feet were always clean. Tinkerbelle had a sublet apartment in an empty cuckoo clock and there was a gold MasterCard (or was it Visa?) sitting behind her on an easel. It was kind of cute, in a Spielbergian way, showing how tiny she was, but it was like putting a commercial right smack dab in the movie. Product placement gone amuck. And some people might not want to see a full-sized Tinkerbelle smooching Robin Williams, even if this was a movie about what happens when Peter Pan grows up.
Bottom line is "Hook" is a very entertaining film with great performances by Dustin Hoffman, as title character Captain James Hook; Robin Williams, as Peter Pan/Banning; Bob Hoskins as First Mate Smee; Maggie Smith, Charlie Korsmo, and the lovely Julia Roberts as Tinkerbelle. It stays true to the original J.M. Barrie material while asking the question: what would happen if Peter did grow up? It was unjustly maligned, but if you keep an open mind perhaps you'll find that you do believe in fairies after all. Kids will enjoy it but there is something for grown ups to think about, too. Watch for cameo performances by Glenn Close, Carrie Fisher, Gwyneth Paltrow, David Crosby, Jimmy Buffet, George Lucas, Phil Collins, and also from the band called Genesis: Mike Rutherford, and Tony Banks. The cast and crew all seemed to be having a great time, even bringing their kids, some of whom also appear in Hook. At one point a complicated scene had to be cut, but Bob Hoskins bought a round of beer for 300 + extras out of his own pocket. With all the fun that went into this film, you can't help but have a little fun watching it.
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Smee: I've just had an apostrophe.
Captain Hook: I think you mean an epiphany.
Smee: [gestures his fingers to his head] Lightning has just struck my brain.
Captain Hook: Well, that must hurt.
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August Rush (2007) Robin Williams was Maxwell 'Wizard' Wallace
Closer (Superbit Edition) (2004) Julia Roberts was Anna
The Chumscrubber (2005) Caroline Goodall was Mrs. Parker
Mona Lisa Smile (2003) Julia Roberts was Katherine Ann Watson
Can't Hardly Wait (1998) Charlie Korsmo was William
Dick Tracy (1990) Dustin Hoffman was Mumbles and Charlie Korsmo was Kid
Mona Lisa (1986) Bob Hoskins was George
Midnight Cowboy (1969) Dustin Hoffman was Ratso
The Prime of Miss Jean Brodie (1969) Maggie Smith was Jean Brodie
The Graduate (1967) Dustin Hoffman was Ben Braddock
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Tinkerbelle: That's right, Peter, second star to the right and straight on till morning.
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Rating: -
All star cast giving fantasy performances. Clever update of an old classic which has become somewhat of a cult classic. As enjoyable for adults as it is for kids. Received poor reviews from professional critics when it first came out which seems to be what's required to give a movie lasting value in the eyes of the general public.
Rating: -
This is such a great movie. It's one of my son's favorites. I like the imagination and good message. My son claims to be Peter Pan somedays and other days Hook.
Rating: -
This was a great way to get a movie that I looked for for months.Then som one told me to try here and now i'm hooked lol no pon intended
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