When someone tells me that they know little about the Rat Pack era and that they would like to know if there is a good movie that will let them know what all the fuss is about, this is the movie I recommend. This movie is far better than any other that I have seen on the Rat Pack in respects to both the script and acting.
The Rat Pack stars Ray Liotta as Frank Sinatra, Joe Mantegna as Dean Martin, Don Cheadle as Sammy Davis Jr., Angus Macfayden as Peter Lawford, and Bobby Slayton as Joey Bishop. Shot in just 33 days for a mere 9.6 million dollars, the film far exceeds expectations.
The film is shot against the political backdrop of the 1960's and
does an excellent job of exploring both the internal relationships within the pack as well as the external factors that contributed to its rise and eventual demise. The movie adequately covers nearly all the important issues, from the Sinatra-Kennedy fiasco to Sammy Davis Jr.'s scandalous relationship with May Britt.
However, as strong as the script is, it is the acting that truly shines. Don Cheadle is excellent as Sammy davis Jr. and together with Ray Liotta, they manage to give a glimpse into the true love and friendship between these two men that survived even the most difficult tests in an era in which such an interracial friendship was rare. Bobby Slayton is also amazing as Joey Bishop, and he even looks very much like him. Perhaps the most moving acting of all however, comes from Angus Macfayden as Peter Lawford. Macfayden manages to capture the uneasy relationship between Frank and Peter following Peter's affair with Ava Gardner (whom Frank had been married to) and the fallout following the Kennedy fiasco. There is one scene in which we see Peter (Angus Macfayden) staring out upon the ocean after his last ever meeting with Frank, and we sense his sadness and it becomes our own when we realize that we know how things will turn out for the Rat
Pack, and Peter in particular.
In conclusion, The Rat Pack is a movie not to be missed by anyone who is a fan of the Rat Pack, or anyone who wants to know what they were all about.
Sinatra (1992)
Developed by Tina Sinatra
and approved by Frank himself, Sinatra is a made-for-television
mini-series that chronicles the life and times of Frank Sinatra. The
film begins with Frank’s childhood in Hoboken, New Jersey, and follows
Sinatra's (Philip Casnoff) rise to the top in the '40s, through his
darkest days of the early '50s and his triumphant re-emergence in the
mid-'50s, to his status as pop culture icon in the '60s, '70s and '80s.
The film does an admirable job of covering all of the main events,
including his three marriages, his connections with the Mafia and his
friendship with the Rat Pack.
Philip
Casnoff portrays Sinatra quite well, and even has a reasonable
physical resemblance to the Voice. Bob Gunton is a believable
Tommy Dorsey, but the Dean Martin role is played by a terribly miscast
Danny Gans. Yet, perhaps the hardest casting choice to accept is
that Marcia Gay Harden is chosen to play Ava Gardner, while Nancy
Sinatra is portrayed by the sultry Gina Gershon. This could be
what happens when you cast your own mother in a film, but anyone who
knows the deal knows that those two actors should have been played
vice versa, and the choice seems inconceivable.
While
the four-hour series pays little attention to Sinatra’s movie career
(only his Oscar-winning performance in the film From Here to Eternity
is dealt with in detail), his music career, especially during the 1940’s,
receives significant screen time. The movie’s coverage of
Sinatra’s early career and his relationship with his parents is a
welcome inclusion in the film, as most movies about Frank do not
venture into these areas.
