tom-clearwood there's the feeling that this film was designed and constructed by a committee out of focus-group friendly but disconnected components; they then seemingly accidentally hired some great talent to do some of the work. The script is often funny and sharp, but frequently slumps into sentimentality. A lot of the acting is very good, but Burt Reynolds is mostly helpless: he can't act the part he has been given except for some of the calmer domestic comedy. Acting the part of an actor acting King Lear? No, he's lost. Most things are done very well, the photography and direction are fine and the music only really grates during the prolonged sentimental guff that spoils the flow of the film particularly in the middle and at the end. It's worth watching for some fine comic acting from the English part of the cast, and for some very professional filmmaking too. It's worth fast forwarding through some of the sentiment, and some of the American acting too.

rightwingisevil there were moments that i couldn't help smiled or laughed lightly. the screenplay was quite dramatic, the casting did a very nice job except signed up burt reynolds who actually performed quite poorly when he was doing the rehearsals and played king lear on the stage. he actually became the weakest part of this comedy. fooled him to stradford to play the role was a disastrous arrangement just like chosen him as that character. he performed so poorly on those stage scenes, this was his worst performance ever! and i have to discredit one of the viewers who claimed it's his best performance. it's watchable but not too good just because reynolds' lukewarm, absent-minded and out-of-placed poor performance; if this role recruited michael caine to play, it would be much better. i rest my case.

RealBohemian After a pointed opening, first showing an almost empty theater complete with someyoungchick euuuuing "Gross! He could be her grandfather!" at the end scene (Reynald's actor character kissing someotheryoungchick) of Steele's last film, then going to a brokendown slummy playhouse to show Steele's daughter dressed in modern clothing sucking a cigarette while delivering woodenly lifeless lines from Austin's Pride and Prejudice before removing her shirt in order to show her breasts to an actor of another race (note the male audience member clearly there just to see that), the film moves into an understatedly amusing exploration of what it means to be an older actor in a realm that attempts to deny aging exists. Along the way we get some brilliantly funny moments (as when a passerby mistakes Steele for Sean Connery) and a nice sprinkling of other thematic analyses on a light hearted note (eg class, pretension, the changes wrought in character by fame and/or fortune, eccentricity and acceptance of it). As mentioned in other reviews, this is not a gutbuster laffaminit production; it's far too realistic for that. I personally dislike most of the comedy genre because, as a friend put it, (most of) what is considered funny involves a total lack of reality and/or utter stupidity. Those enjoying that sort of humor will probably like this for its comedic value, but we laughed aloud several times. On the whole, a very good movie, and much better than the majority of modern fare in its ability to tell a story without relying on utterly gratuitous sexual/gore splattering/vicious-and-malicious/physical violence scenes.

Neil Welch 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!