A Bunch of Amateurs (2008)

The film A Bunch of Amateurs, directed by Andy Cadiff, and staring Burt Reynolds was filmed in 2007 when Mr. Reynolds was 71 years old. The basic concept of using an aging action star to play an aging action star who steps outside of his formulaic career path to play Shakespeare's King Lear is the first clever idea in a series of clever ideas. Actually, Reynolds' character, Jefferson Steel is more than an aging star. He is a burned-out star, a has-been. He is tricked by his even more aged and broken down agent, played with gusto by Charles Durning, into thinking he will be playing in an important venue in England in the hometown of William Shakespeare surrounded by mobs of adoring fans. Instead he is in a small town community theater production being put on by a dedicated group of amateurs who are just trying to keep their theater from sinking into oblivion. Steel is the only big name they can afford, but if they can draw in a decent crowd, and with the support of a local brewer, they hope they just might make it. There are many parallels between the story of Lear and the story of Jefferson Steel. The character of Lear is old and delusional, Steel is fast approaching that same state, and the theater in which it all takes place is old and decrepit. Lear has daughter problems, and so does Steel. Steel has a hard time shifting from being a Hollywood star to doing legitimate theater in the middle of "a bunch of amateurs." He expects to be catered to and treated like royalty, just as Lear does after he has given up the throne. At one point he says he doesn't think he will be able to do the mad scene on the heath, and ultimately he winds up doing the scene for real as his world collapses around him. It's a fairly low budget production and the seams tend to show a bit, but it does have a lot of good stuff in it, and it has an excellent supporting cast. Anything with Imelda Staunton, Derek Jacobi, Samantha Bond and Charles Durning in it has got to be worth watching. The final resolution of the difficulties with the theater and Steel's relationship with his daughter is kind of easy to see coming, but as I said, it's worth watching. The biggest weakness is Burt Reynolds' performance. The character he plays is supposed to be aging and out of touch, but I could not help but wonder at times how much of it was acting and how much real. Maybe Reynolds is that good of an actor, but there were parts of the film where I felt uncomfortable watching him stumble around not seeming to be quite in touch with the camera. He does ultimately deliver a good Lear although I was reminded of when Lawrence Olivier did Othello. He asked Orson Welles if he had any advice on how to do the part. Welles said, don't do it. Othello is a natural baritone while Olivier was a natural tenor. With an incredible amount of hard work, Olivier transformed himself into a baritone. It's the same thing here. Lear is a baritone, and Reynolds is a tenor, but he never makes the transformation. If you like this film, you might also like a film called A Midwinter's Tale (1995). It's the same idea, a group of actors trying to put on a Shakespeare play against seemingly insurmountable odds.

At one point in Shakespeare's King Lear the eponymous character is moved to address the deities thus: you see me hear, you Gods, a poor old man, as full of grief as age, wretched in both. This isn't that far off the mark in describing the film a sort of Midsomer Murders as in I died in Midsomer (Stratford, Suffolk) the age would describe the plot which was pushing seventy when Beowulf was a hot ticket, the grief, the misguided decision to fund something like this. It's watchable and it will pass the time if there isn't a Frank Randle retrospective you could be at instead. Just as in what passes for a plot the name of Burt Reynolds will attract a certain percentage of die-hard fans and because they are die-hard fans they'll go away happy. Anyone else will go away looking for a new Bruce Willis entry.

I saw this twice today on DVD and loved it. Of course, it's pure fantasy and I wish it had really been shot in one of Suffolk's Stratfords, though the Isle of Man serves well enough. Burt Reynolds does grumpy very well and, as ever, isn't afraid to send himself up - and nor is the great Derek Jacobi as his bitchy rival. I thought Imelda Staunton's turn as his adoring, then disillusioned fan overdone, but Samantha Bond is a tour de force as his less enchanted director. The build-up to the storm scene is ingenious and when he gets out of his vehicle Reynolds shows that he can cut the mustard as Lear. Of course, the other members of the Stratford Theatre Company are improbably good actors, but I shan't complain. The final twist is an extra treat. What a shame only Her Majesty seems to have seen the film in the cinema

A Bunch Of Amateurs is an understated little gem. I do not suppose it will gain a wide release, but it deserves wider circulation than it will achieve.Burt Reynolds is Jefferson Steel, a fading star of big-budget but increasingly awful action movies. When the offers dry up he presses his agent (an ill-looking Charles Durning) to find him work. And when the offer comes to play King Lear on stage at Stratford, Steel is on the first trans-Atlantic flight. However, due to imperfect communication, he is appalled to discover that the production in question is taking place in a converted barn in the little village of Stratford (not -on-Avon) to save the local amateur theatre group from going under. Steel tries to escape but can't, and the initial culture clash between privileged, pampered Hollywood superstar on the one hand, and low key, frugal, rural England on the other, slowly begins to have its effect.Reynolds is fine, if a little unemotional, but the fun in this film comes from the rest of the cast, particularly from Imelda Staunton who is note-perfect playing the besotted landlady of the B&B where Steel stays.The story is slight, but the situation is inherently funny and the script ticks all the right boxes. There is an interesting plot development just past the halfway mark which runs in a slightly unexpected direction before the movie finishes up on course at the end. Thankfully it avoids moving into the romance which is threatened from time to time, although this can be read into what happens after the closing credits if you so wish.If I have one criticism - and it is a very mild one - it is that a village drama society featuring Derek Jacobi and Samantha Bond is hardly A Bunch Of Amateurs!