Sweet Liberty

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Alan Alda's follow-up to the hit comedy The Four Seasons, Sweet Liberty is an intermittently successful and lighthearted comedy that imagined what would happen if the past and present collided via Hollywood. It also provided a blueprint for David Mamet's State & Main, which took a similar premise and satirically ran amok with it. A local history professor who writes a surprise bestseller about the Revolutionary War, Alda is a man contending with a fairly mundane life until a Hollywood film crew shows up in his hometown to turn his book into a movie--one that's filled with loads of sex and violence, unlike the scholarly tome it's based on. And the drama that's being filmed soon spills over to real-life, as Alda falls in love with the actress playing his book's heroine, and his fiancée (Lise Hilboldt) becomes enamored of the movie's leading man. Alda and Hilboldt may be the film's central couple, but it's the movie stars they're fascinated with who will catch your eye: Michael Caine, right before he embarked on his career renaissance, and a young Michelle Pfeiffer, who for the first time got to show off her beguiling comic side. As the lothario leading man with eyes for any woman who crosses his path, Caine is the kind of charming cad you can never really hate for too long. And Pfeiffer, who gets the benefit of playing both the innocent maiden of the movie-within-the-movie and her neurotic, real-life counterpart, neatly tucks the movie into her bodice and saunters off with it. --Mark Englehart

Customer Reviews:

How Hollywood Distorts History!.......2006-02-07

While perhaps somewhat exaggerated, this amusing film is not far off the mark. Hollywood takes considerable license with how it portrays history in all its films. Today, with all their hi-tech wizardry, films seduce audiences into thinking that the events being shown are accurate. Mel Gibson films in particular are guilty of this fault. A comparison of this film and "The Patriot" would make for a good example.

Viewers must always take any Hollywood film today with a grain of salt. If a good movie inspires someone to go and learn more about a subject then at least some good comes from the expereince. Most viewers do not bother however. The result is movie adiences come away from a film thinking "wow, thats how it really was"!

This film eagerly shows the egos involved in most film production. The ego of the director is often matched by the leading actors. After these supreme egos get down with a film, there is often little left of real history! I love to see historical drama, but I always check out a book after the movie. You should too! And this cute little movie should reinforce that habbit. I liked most things about this film except Alan Alda. I have never been a fan of his. He wines and complains too much! Otherwise, the cast are good in this cute film.

Sweet Liberty.......2006-02-01

This is a delightful and charming comedy with a strong cast about what a small northeastern college town experiences when a hollywood film crew arrives to film a movie there.

Watch this movie when you feel down, It's a warm, sweet comedy!.......2006-01-11

First of all, I must tell you, Alan Alda is one of my favorites and I first remember watching this movie several times when it was running on cable in the 80's. That being said, as soon as I saw it on DVD, I got it. The movie totally worked and every actor complemented the film in their own way which made the film so endearing. Alda has proven once again that he CAN direct and create a film that can stand the test of time. My only criticism is not with the film but with the DVD format. IT would of been nice to have a theatrical trailer an some nice tit bits from the cast on the film but my main complaint is there are NO scene selections on the DVD. The thing is on a loop which has to play from beginning to end, then after the credits, it loops to the beginning of the film again. I never had that happen before on DVDs. That really cheapens a really good film like this. On the cover of the film it says Universal, with a name like that you would think your getting at least, the very minimum, a scene selection menu. Well anyway, I loved the film and I do recommend it for die-heart romantics and lovers of films that leave you with a great feeeling inside after the film is over. Also, the finale is a gas! So apropo with the American revolution!

UMVD..........2005-03-23

...must stand for "Useless Marred & Vandalized Dvd". Botching studios who are mistaking 'Fool Screen' for 'Full release' should get some attention from those who like to be regarded as the protectors for the Intellecual & Artistic Property. Full Screen without any other option should be treated as a violation of this Property!!!!!

Of course, the '1 star' (should be less than 0) is only for the studio's crap, not for the movie itself.

Patiently waiting ... and waiting ... and waiting.......2005-02-13

I am a fan of most of the Alan Alda films, Sweet Liberty included. (A clue of this might be found in my sign-on name - "Hawkeye".)

Unfortunately, apparently this DVD is only the pan/scan version - modified to fit the soon-to-be-obsolete 3x4 TV screens.

My wait goes on for widescreen DVD's of some of the best of the ALAN ALDA films, including Sweet Liberty, A New Life, and especially The Seduction of Joe Tynan (my favorite of these three yet to be released)!

Come on studios - It's way past time to release these and many other classic (and still very popular) films of the 70's and 80's in WIDESCREEN!

Incidentally - I do not necessarily agree with all of Alan Alda's politics - but I find his expression of them to be sincere, honest, and intelligent. I do not agree with the reviewer that found a hidden guilt as the subconscious motive for Sweet Liberty. Yes, there were some "liberties" taken on M*A*S*H - however, I never found them to be insulting to the audience as would be the liberties taken in the movie-within-a-movie in Sweet Liberty. I believe that SL is more of a commentary on Hollywood's apparent inclination to twist facts to their own liking (and profit taking). M*A*S*H on the other hand, from what I have read and understand about the show, particularly after the first couple seasons, made a very real and concerted effort to research actual M*A*S*H units, interview patients and doctors, etc - in order to present the stories as authentically as possible. I may not have always agreed with the message, but I do not have any criticism for the way the message was delivered. This was not intended to be a review of M*A*S*H, but, since I consider it to be the best television show of all time, and a show which just gets better with time, and that got better with each subsequent season, I just wanted to reply to the reviewer that seemed to be criticising it.

Average customer rating:

questing for the other reviews
Beware..This not what you probably think it is!
Go Alice!

Alice Through the Looking Glass
Starring: Alice-Through Looking Glass
Manufacturer: Liberty Int'l
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

Animation | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Adventure | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Adapted from Books | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Fantasy | Kids & Family | Genres | DVD | Video

Feature Films | Animation | Genres | DVD | Video

( A ) | Titles | Features | DVD | Video

All Deals | Today's Deals in DVD | Special Features | DVD | Video

Customer Reviews:

questing for the other reviews.......2004-12-25

is this the same movie that harry harris put out on vhs? if so i will buy this dvd. please let me knoe.
amanda

Beware..This not what you probably think it is!.......2001-12-19

If you're thinking this is a companion to the classic Disney film Alice in Wonderland, be advised it is not. It is an extremely juvenile bit of animation which probably only a small child will find appealing. It is too bad that a picture of the box is not presented here for customers to judge if it is, indeed, the version that they are looking for.

Go Alice!.......2001-12-07

This is a well-done DVD, great for all "Alice" fans! My seven year old really enjoyed the feature - - I heard her laugh often at the show, which featured colorful and wacky characters. She stayed with the program for the full 70-plus minutes, a very good indicator of a good program.
I also liked the features built into the DVD, which included moving menus, a special song gallery and three languages, english, spanish and french. Since my daughter is taking Spanish in school, this was particularly useful.
Overall, this version provides great entertainment and great value.

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