Geoffrey DeLeons Another "family get-together" movie. Just what we needed, right? I couldn't determine if this movie had a point to make, because if it did, I never got it.Who is Levi? Why are we supposed to feel empathy for him? We know nothing about him other than that he was a writer, his work possibly having had political over-tones. Okay. Great. Is he really "dying"? No one seems to know, and if the doctor knows, he's not telling.The doctor comes to the house after Levi falls out of a hammock onto the lawn. The doctor expresses jealousy and anger for Levi marrying the then-deceased woman he was presently involved with, many years prior. Aha. That sews the story up nicely. That explains the strawberry blonde hottie and the depressed stand-up comic.A very odd scene occurs where Levi describes the Viking (sea raider) funeral to the kids, and they all jump up and say they want that kind of funeral. Come on. I was waiting for one to say, "Yes, grandpa. I'd love to be set adrift and burned into nothingness!"After the extremely embarrassing "pee in the ocean" scene, nothing could have been worse than.., wait for it...The kids pretending to be in a rock band and we are forced to watch them play air guitar to a P.A. system that they set up? Rented? Concealed? I turned the movie off at that point.The strawberry blonde hottie should have jumped Levi's (her father's) bones one day (possibly in the very same hammock), and gave him the long-awaited heart attack, and then taken boughs in front of the rest of the family: At least that would have been funny.I gave Rocket Gibraltar six stars, anyway. I didn't hate it. It's just that I think everyone has a story to tell, and the movie would not allow Levi to tell his.

MartinHafer I wanted to like this movie more a lot more than I did, but it did have a lot going for it in the first 80% of the film--and most of that was the pleasant acting of veteran star Burt Lancaster. The acting, plus the music and direction, made this a film that is worth seeing--even if the story itself was a bit dopey towards the end. No...it got a LOT dopey.Lancaster plays the patriarch of the family. He's obviously older and nearing death when he invites all his kids and grandkids to come and celebrate his birthday. During most of the film, not a lot happens--just lots of nice, subdued little vignettes. I liked this and Lancaster's laid back performance. Unfortunately, late in the film, it got dopey and seemed like a combination of a Disney film and a remake of the Kirk Douglas classic "The Vikings"....if directed by Dr. Kevorkian!! I mean, it really, really got weird when all the grandkids found dead grandpa and decided to honor his last request (probably a joke) and give him a Viking funeral!! It's done in such a way, that it's like the Spielberg or Disney-type film where the kids know best and the parents, begrudgingly, agree when all is said and done. However, common sense says you don't barbecue grandpa on the beach!! Remind me now to go swimming at Westhampton Beach, Long Island!

byronr The film challenges credulity but has a certain charm. Macaulay Culkin steals the show and one suspects that without him the flick would fail totally. The setting is reminiscent of Cape Cod or Pawley's Island and the child actors have a pleasant romp. The plot hinges on their ingenuity in designing and implementing their ends to complete the story.The ladies are attractive and believable while a few of the subplots involving the men contribute to the incredulous sense. This is a very light, not very full movie carried by Macaulay. For some reason, at some point in the film, he expresses himself through his sister. At others he is capable of providing hid own commentary. He does, however, manage to carry off the whole thing remarkably on those small shoulders.

BrianPatrix This movie invoked in me a funny kind of feeling. What feeling exactly, or why I don't know, but it was with a definite contentment that I watched it. Just go and rent it, you'll see. Maybe it was the time that I watched it, Sunday afternoon, or the fact that I felt good for other reasons, but the interaction between Lancaster and Culkin is so nice and touching ('cuse the sappy language) that it makes you feel good with the world. The movie just has the right atmosphere and incomparable good acting by Culkin (8 years at the time) especially.I don't want to go into the story line or that kind of crap, just go and see it.