Wednesday, July 6, 2011

EITHER A LOVING CELEBRATION OF THE SQUIRMY HUMANITY OF THE GREAT BUT FLAWED MEN WHO CREATED A NATION OUT OF HUNGER, IDEALISM, AND A DESPERATE YEARNING TO BREATHE FREE, OR IT’S A SECRETLY SUBVERSIVE CRITIQUE OF NATIONALISM THAT DEPICTS THE BIRTH OF A NATION AS A SERIES OF COMPROMISES FROM MEN IMPROVISING MADLY IN THE MOMENT: Nathan Rabin reviews the "surprisingly smutty" 1776 for his My Year of Flops series. He's right, of course: it's a loooong movie, but one saved by the performances of its leads and the triumphant nature of its finish. We, of course, are fans here.

5 comments:

  1. Joseph J. Finn1:36 AM

    I think it's both, for what it's worth (and as many times as I've seen the movie, I did learn one thing from that article; I didn't know Blythe Danner was five months pregnant with Gwyneth Paltrow when she filmed her scenes).

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  2. That's correct: Gwyneth Paltrow plays Jefferson's daughter Patsy in both this film and 1995's Jefferson in Paris.

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  3. KCosmo8:35 AM

    That, my friend, has the makings of an excellent trivia question.

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  4. Except, if we have to get technical about it, Blythe Danner was pregnant during the filming; her character was not. So wording the question will be tricky.

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  5. The Pathetic Earthling2:48 PM

    This played quite a bit on the local PBS station when I was a kid and my dad had the soundtrack in heavy rotation around the house.  My stuffed lion was named Richard Henry Leo specifically because of my early fandom of 1776.

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