The Great Santini (1979)

Lt. Colonel Wilbur "Bull" Meecham(Robert Duvall,well-cast and brilliant)is one of the best Marine pilots in the Corps and would be perfectly at home at any war(and were guessing he saw some action,either or both in Korea and WWII),gutsy,smart,determined and brave as all get out. Unfortunately for him,the years is 1962,and other than a VERY chilly Cold War(strange,incidentally,that the Cuban Missile crisis,to my recollect,never came up in this film. Not once!),there is no real battle for him to ply his well-honed skills.This does not bode particularly well for his large,loving and recessive family. His wife Lillian(Blythe Danner,lilting beauty),a head-strong Catholic Southern belle,adores her husband but is all-too aware of his temper and ego;his oldest son Ben(Michael O'Keefe in a truly underrated performance),is equal parts his own,thoughtful,sensitive young man coming into his own and yet very much like his father in more basic ways;the oldest daughter Mary Ann(Lisa Jane Persky,not wasting ANY of her scenes) feels like the red-headed stepchild,literally AND figuratively,and the two youngest(Julie Anne Haddock and Brian Andrews),who seem lost in the shuffle. They love their husband/father,but seem to be completely powerless against his unrelenting competitive persona and gruff persona. Bull saves his strongest lessons and,in his mind,greatest spoils for Ben,and this is where the movie is at its strongest.A side story where Ben befriends Toomer(Stan Shaw),the gentle,stuttering son of their housekeeper is well-meant and touching in and of itself,but seems somewhat misplaced here.As a whole movie,it feels like a bit of a mash-up;I suspect that screenwriter and director Lewis John Carlino figured that he had to "boil down" Pat Conroy's novel to make a neat,two-hour-fitting narrative,but it feels a bit forced. I'd also be lying if I said that I didn't think that some elements(the music,editing,pacing come to mind)age badly,because they seem to have done just that. With all that said,however,the actors from Duvall,himself a Navy vet to Shaw's Toomer are so heartfelt,intense and memorable that this movie is able to hold up with ANY vibrancy some thirty years after its release. Worth a look,particularly for military families and/or fans of the actors involved.

This movie is not heavily reviewed on this site. Thought I would contribute one more in case some movie fans don't know this film is one of the top 20 films ever made. Not technically brilliant. There are all sorts of audio and sound looping mistakes. There is some deft camera work. During the big game, the camera dollies up and down the court for good capture of action. There are some long composed shots of the beauty of South Carolina. It is mostly medium shots and two shots of dialog. There are no long continuous shots, and it is quite choppy. Kinda like television. The dialog and the story are outstanding. Bull Meechum's speeches are pure military gold. " You are flying with Bull Meecham now. I s**t you not, gentlemen, this is the eye of the storm!" I try to work that into my own speeches to this day. Another one that gets me, when racist Red Petus is shouting at (black) Toomer's back, "Look at me!" It captures his frustration and self-loathing perfectly. The entire scene of Ben's mother explaining the behavior of his father, after the harrowing basketball game, in the dark bedroom is worth watching again and again. Speaking of which, the scene where Bull tortures his son by bouncing the ball off his head is legendary in sports fan's and coaching circles. "One, two, three... Cry!"Great writing makes a great movie- but the acting positively makes this a high point of cinema. In my opinion, Robert Duvall is just as good as Robert DeNiro. His career is littered with high points and classics, but this one is my favorite. Most reviewers here say the character is unsympathetic. Duvall shows much of his tenderness when he wakes up his son at 4AM to describe the day 18 years before when he was born. The entire first 20 minutes show his sense of humor and his playfulness. When I first saw this in 1980 I loved the guy from the get go- and then the abusive basketball game riveted me to my seat. Duvall (and the script) show all sides of The Great Santini- the gift of fury, the love, the pride, the lust, the frustration, the anger, the ignorance,... everything in a father's heart. Maybe it's just something women don't get.Micheal O'Keefe captures high school youth, too. He cries a few times, and it really wrenches your heart. This is Blythe Danner's greatest achievement. I really felt Lillian loved Bull Meechum, and there was a back story there. Of course, we don't get the back story, just like the kids don't. Her scenes with her son Ben had the subtle gritty ring of realism. She says a lot with her hands and her eyes. The rest of the supporting cast is excellent. There are many stories and events in this plot. I wish it could have been longer to explore the younger sister, Mary Jane, and maybe the children's experiences in school with their peers.In conclusion, I would like to say that people who review the film and don't like Bull Meechum tend to not like the movie. That is unfair.(if you watch Taxi Driver over and over you must come to the same conclusion: Travis Bickle is a scumbag, a loser, and a psychopath, but the acting and the movie are extraordinary, nonetheless) Also, I suppose that these people who react strongly never had a tough parent.I appreciated the rougher aspects of this character, and understood how he was missed by his family. His death is symbolic, because his son is now grown and is his own person within the story line. My own father was a tough, old, dinosaur. He didn't die when I was 18. But when I moved out and became a man, he turned into a hell of a guy. Kind, funny, patient... You could say that my 'old father' died. He just felt the best way to prepare your children for the world was through obedience, motivation, respect, and, yes, confrontation.

Imagine a man who considers winning to be absolutely everything. He is like the coach of a sports team, yet he encompasses a far greater reach of authority. And yet, he wants even more authority and always seems to be getting it, because of his natural air of authority and others' natural air of backing down in the fright of his presence. He is a coach, a military man, a patriot, abusive, and to make things even more shocking: a father who just doesn't really know how to be one except his own way. And you have a picture of the type of character that Academy Award-winning actor Robert Duvall plays in this film. He got another nomination for the Academy Award in this film, although he unfortunately did not win it."The Great Santini" is a dramatic film near to perfection and one of the finest great movies of the 70s. Majority of the screen time is devoted to the relationship between Robert Duvall and his screen son, portrayed by Michael O'Keefe, also in an Oscar-nominated performance. The whole point of this is that O'Keefe is the oldest out of four children who have spent their whole life being raised, bullied, and commanded by Duvall. He runs their lives like a boot camp. There is no mercy, no generosity, and all you get for a good job, is a slap on the back. Duvall is trying to raise them in the best way he knows. He wants them to succeed in life, but the only method he knows that is effective is to be rough. And O'Keefe's character has decided he's had enough of being treated like a soldier in war.Every aspect in "The Great Santini" is developed and executed perfectly to a magnificent entertaining level. The varsity basketball game depicted in the film is just like watching a real high school ball game. It's not full of tough, imaginative lines. Nothing remarkable happens during it, and yet it is a powerful sequence and highly entertaining, almost as if you were sitting with the cheering and jeering friends and family members of the characters. There are also powerful messages about racism and violence in the film, performed through a friendship between the characters portrayed by Michael O'Keefe, Stan Shaw, and David Keith. It is an excellent subplot that is the next-to-most-important aspect of the story and it involves pretty much all of the characters in some way, shape, or form. It's not just an in-the-background tragedy."The Great Santini" plays out as a magnificent story, mostly revolving around the character played by Robert Duvall. As we see him, he goes on an off with his temper and general-like behavior, and we come to like and dislike him over the course of the film, respecting him as if he were a real person before us. While he's really nothing more than a fictional character being portrayed by a magnificent and talented actor, he is in his own way, one of the greatest heroes of film history. And he just wants everybody to see things his way.Recommended.

If you are ever pining for a film that espouses wholesome family values but most of what you find is syrup-y, The Great Santini is the film for you.The theme of this movie is that love is a force of almost limitless, even frightening power, and life is all about the search for qualities to temper this force so that we can do it (love) with more ease, regularity and goodness. That we may get good at it, learn to live in it and speak it.The characters all have a lust for life, act unself-consciously and unapologetically. This is a portrait of a truly loving family.