The Last of Robin Hood (2014)

Kevin Kline is perfect as Errol Flynn, so much so that I cannot imagine anyone else doing this better.Not only does he look like Flynn, but he captures his charm and almost childlike attitude to life. OK he was an alcoholic who probably wasted his life and died too early, but those who knew him always say he was a charmer who could light up the room. Mr Kline carries this perfectly.Much has been made of his attraction to younger women but what so many fail to realise is how common this was back then, and not just in Hollywood. Chaplin to Elvis it was just how things were. Not excusing it in anyway but we cannot re-write history because we find it distasteful.Many of those chorus girls we see in those old musicals were very young girls and sadly it is the case that most married or had relationships with much older men. Flynn was one of those men but he was not alone by any means.Back to the movie. Susan Sarandon did a great job as the manipulating mother who wanted fame and fortune for her child regardless of the cost to her emotionally.Dakota Fanning plays her part brilliantly and seems to have captured this young girl who knew what she wanted even though she also knew how wrong it all was. It does seem she genuinely loved Flynn and him her, but it is hard to know the real truth of their relationship.I think it is a shame that we didn't see more of Flynn the movie star, but I guess the time line for this film means he was past his best by then? If you like old Hollywood stars or just like good biopics then you should enjoy this movie.

Review: I quite enjoyed this movie because it delves into a world of the unknown, when Errol Flynn's popularity was on a decline because of the various rumours that surrounded this flamboyant actor. The only problem that I found with the film was Dakota Fanning, who didn't seem to show any emotion from the beginning to end. Susan Sarandon and Kevin Kline were great but the script was quite glum and one toned. The movie is based on the relationship between Errol Flynn (Kevin Kline) and Beverly Aadland (Dakota Fanning), who meet at Warner Brothers studios while Beverly is auditioning for a role in a film. Beverly, whose only 15 but uses fake documents to say that she is 17, is swept of her feet by the dashing Errol Flynn and they soon begin a relationship and fall deeply in love with each other. When Errol finds out about her age from his driver, who went to the same school as Beverly, he strikes a deal with her mum Florence Aadland (Susan Sarandon) by promising her a career in Hollywood if she stays by Beverly's side, we're ever they go. Because Beverly is a minor, Florence isn't too happy when she finds out about there sexual relationship but she's adamant about her daughter making it in Hollywood after her dancing career is cut short because of a car accident which took her leg. When Errol Flynn's health starts to decline after years of drug and alcohol abuse, he dictates a will to Beverly which guarantees her wealth when Flynn passes away but as there isn't a signature on the will, it becomes void and Beverly and Florence are left with nothing. As Beverly lied about her age, she is put in a institute, away from her mother because she helped her with faking her age. After spending some time in jail, Florence writes a book which explains what happened between Errol Flynn and her daughter but Beverly isn't interested in fame and money anymore and she is drove to the edge of insanity because of the media attention which tarnishes her name. I found the story quite interesting and I liked Kevin Kline as Errol Flynn, which he played in Chaplin with Robert Downey Jr. but the storyline was just about a brief period in Flynn's life and I was left feeling that I wanted to know more about the man who lived life on the edge. Susan Sarandon was obviously living her life through her daughter and she even sacrificed her marriage to be with Beverly while she travelling with Flynn, which proved that she was craving the fame that she thought was taken from her due to the car accident. The chemistry between Florence and Flynn was great but Beverly just seemed to be following Flynn's lead most of the time. Anyway, it's a watchable movie, mainly because of Flynn and Florence but it lacked true emotion from Dakota, who played a major role in this project. Watchable!Round-Up: Kevin Kline, 68, is known for picking his roles with much thought and he's always been highly rated since his first role in Sophie's Choice and the Big Chill, which I thought was a great film with some top actors. He then became a household name with films like Silverado, Cry Freedom, A Fish Called Wanda, January Man, I Love You To Death, Grand Canyon, Soapdish, Chaplin, Consenting Adults, Dave, French Kiss, In & Out, Fierce Creatures, the terrible Wild Wild West, Orange County, The Pink Panther and the Conspirator starring James McCavoy. He recently starred in Darling Companion with Diane Keaton, Last Vegas, My Old Lady and the upcoming Ricki and the Flash with Meryl Streep and he won an academy award for his outrageous role in A Fish Called Wanda in 1989. I've always thought that he was an under rated actor who has always put in top performances and is able to cover many genres. His performance in this movie was brilliant but the script was a bit bland and unemotional in parts. This movie was directed by Richard Glatzer, 63, who brought you the highly acclaimed, Still Alice with Julianne Moore and a few small movies called Grief, the Fluffer and Echo Park L.A. He sadly passed away, March of this year, due to complications of als so Still Alice was his last movie in the directing chair, which he also wrote. Julianne Moore won an Oscar for her role in Still Alice along with a Golden Globe and a BAFTA so she owes a lot to Richard, who didn't receive any awards for the movie before he passed away. Anyway, I personally thought that this movie could have done with another actress in the lead alongside Kline and it needed to be a bit longer so the audience could get some depth about the characters. I recommend this movie to people who are into their drama/biography/romance movies starring Kevin Kline, Susan Sarandon, Dakota Fanning, Ric Reitz and Matt Kane. 4/10

Kevin Kline and Susan Sarandon give fine performances in this movie, as they so often have done. That doesn't make this movie better, however. The script has lots of holes, unfortunately.The clearest, best-developed character is the mother, a sad version of Mama Rose from Gypsy. She had dreamed of being a dancer, but when that was denied her by an accident, she undertook to raise her daughter to be in show business, and thus to live through her. That explains most of her actions in the movie.Flynn's character is less well-developed. Why his fascination with this particular young girl? Why does he become involved with heroin? Kline makes him a fascinating, charismatic character, as Flynn evidently was in life even to the end, but the script never lets us really see behind the charming facade.The daughter, Beverly, remains the most enigmatic. Does she really want a career in show business? What does she see in Flynn? She is the last person we see in the movie, but we never really see inside her.Once Flynn dies, the other two characters aren't interesting enough to hold our attention for the last 15-20 minutes of the movie.It's worth watching once for Kline as Flynn, but I wouldn't watch it again.---------------------------After seeing this movie I happened to catch *My Favorite Year* on TCM. It's an infinitely better movie, because it approaches Erol Flynn in his last years in a different way. Rather than attempting to be a docudrama, *My Favorite Year* is a fantasy on how Flynn might have been in his last years. The script is not shackled to history. Rather, it is free to soar. And soar it does. Peter O'Toole creates a bigger-than-life Flynn, not tied down by any effort to be faithful to reality. Nor does he try to imitate Flynn. Rather, he creates a character who faces the issue that *The Last of Robin Hood* never really confronts: the conflict Flynn must have felt between the image of him that the studio created, largely through his adventure films, and the real Erol Flynn. The whole movie is wonderful, but the greatest moment comes at the end, during the crazy live TV show, when O'Toole's character gets caught up in his own legend and becomes the swash-buckler he had played so many times on screen. It's magic, a magic we never see, alas, in *The Last of Robin Hood.*If you're a fan of Kevin Kline, a great actor, see *The Last of Robin Hood* once to see his fine performance as Flynn. But if you're a fan of Erol Flynn, pass on *The Last of Robin Hood* and see *My Favorite Year.* You will love it.

Errol Flynn was one of my favorite actors and one of the most popular actors from the mid 30s through the 50s. Even today, "Robin Hood" (1938), "Light Brigade" (1936), "Dawn Patrol"(1938), "Sea Hawk" (1940), "They Died with their Boots On" (1941), and "Roots of Heaven" (1958) – to name just a few - stand the test of time. How disappointing then such a bland film as "Last of Robin Hood" seeks to capture his final years. I kept hoping that this film would do for Flynn what "Chaplin" (1992) did for Chaplin (curiously enough Kevin Kline gives excellent performances in both: he played Douglas Fairbanks in the Chaplain biopic).Putting aside Kline's strong performance and his ability to look like Flynn, the rest of the film is torturous, more like a docudrama than a biography. The film fails to capture the 50s in spirit, despite the extensive use of 50s cars. And the references to Hollywood insiders like Melvin Belli will be lost on almost everyone.If you're a big Errol Flynn fan you want to give this one a miss.