What a difference two decades make! When I saw this in the theater as a kid, it was the best movie in the world. Fighter jets! Test pilots! Rockets! Astronauts! I just saw it again for the first time, and I know you can't relive that boyhood wonder, but there's nothing much in the movie to take its place. The acting by such a great cast, especially Fred Ward, Sam Shepard, Ed Harris, Harry Shearer, etc., keeps the movie from sinking like a swamped space capsule in the ocean. So much of the dialogue that's boiled down to the essence by Tom Wolfe in his book comes across as hammy and staged, even taking into consideration the squareness and the optimism of the time period. Only the sincerity of the actors' perfomances make you even try to swallow it. But the main disappointment is how low the humor is--all that's missing are snare shots and wolf whistles with the gags that only distract from the excitement of the subject matter. Shearer and Jeff Goldblum are great in their smaller roles, but what are their characters even doing in the movie? I was plain embarrassed by the goofy stuff. I 'm thankful, though, that the movie wasn't made now, otherwise in addition there'd be fart gags and scatological humor to boot.
Review of The Right Stuff
