TxMike The title of this movie derives from the fact that so many of us associate Errol Flynn, the actor, with his swashbuckling role in "Robin Hood." In fact I have the restored DVD of that movie and I've never taken the time to see it all the way through. Now I need to do that!Kevin Kline has always been one of my favorite actors and here he is very appropriate as Errol Flynn, and especially considering the physical resemblance. This is not a biography of the actor, in fact it covers only the last two years of his life, 1957 through 1959.I never knew this about the man but he had a long history of affairs with underage girls, and was even prosecuted for statutory rape. In his later life represented by this movie he didn't seem to have any guilt about it and assumed those around him knew what was going on.His last "love" was 15 when they met, Dakota Fanning in a very appropriate role as Beverly Aadland, with ambitions as a singer, dancer, and actress. Flynn met her quite by accident and he was immediately smitten. He invited her out "to discuss her career" but ended up seducing her, much to her surprise. In time it seems she actually learned to love this guy who was 33 years older than she.Enter the mother, Susan Sarandon in a good performance as Florence Aadland. She was quite stricken with the idea that Flynn would befriend her little girl and help her career, and only when the three traveled to New York together, and she learned that Flynn and her daughter would be sharing a hotel room, and bed, did she realize what was going on.Flynn was not healthy and at one point he mentions that 10 years earlier a doctor told him that with his lifestyle he had maybe 6 months left to live, so he made the best of it and he is still around. But in 1959, at the age of 50, he died of a heart attack in Canada where he had gone to sell his yacht, he needed money. While they were shooting a movie out of the country Flynn dictated a revision to his will, to give Beverly 1/3 of his estate, but it was never signed and witnessed so it was invalid. Beverly went on to a quiet life and her mother was convicted and jailed for a time for child neglect.Good movie to illuminate part of the life history of Errol Flynn. DVD from my public library.

leonblackwood Review: I quite enjoyed this movie because it delves into a world of the unknown, when Errol Flynn's popularity was on a decline because of the various rumours that surrounded this flamboyant actor. The only problem that I found with the film was Dakota Fanning, who didn't seem to show any emotion from the beginning to end. Susan Sarandon and Kevin Kline were great but the script was quite glum and one toned. The movie is based on the relationship between Errol Flynn (Kevin Kline) and Beverly Aadland (Dakota Fanning), who meet at Warner Brothers studios while Beverly is auditioning for a role in a film. Beverly, whose only 15 but uses fake documents to say that she is 17, is swept of her feet by the dashing Errol Flynn and they soon begin a relationship and fall deeply in love with each other. When Errol finds out about her age from his driver, who went to the same school as Beverly, he strikes a deal with her mum Florence Aadland (Susan Sarandon) by promising her a career in Hollywood if she stays by Beverly's side, we're ever they go. Because Beverly is a minor, Florence isn't too happy when she finds out about there sexual relationship but she's adamant about her daughter making it in Hollywood after her dancing career is cut short because of a car accident which took her leg. When Errol Flynn's health starts to decline after years of drug and alcohol abuse, he dictates a will to Beverly which guarantees her wealth when Flynn passes away but as there isn't a signature on the will, it becomes void and Beverly and Florence are left with nothing. As Beverly lied about her age, she is put in a institute, away from her mother because she helped her with faking her age. After spending some time in jail, Florence writes a book which explains what happened between Errol Flynn and her daughter but Beverly isn't interested in fame and money anymore and she is drove to the edge of insanity because of the media attention which tarnishes her name. I found the story quite interesting and I liked Kevin Kline as Errol Flynn, which he played in Chaplin with Robert Downey Jr. but the storyline was just about a brief period in Flynn's life and I was left feeling that I wanted to know more about the man who lived life on the edge. Susan Sarandon was obviously living her life through her daughter and she even sacrificed her marriage to be with Beverly while she travelling with Flynn, which proved that she was craving the fame that she thought was taken from her due to the car accident. The chemistry between Florence and Flynn was great but Beverly just seemed to be following Flynn's lead most of the time. Anyway, it's a watchable movie, mainly because of Flynn and Florence but it lacked true emotion from Dakota, who played a major role in this project. Watchable!Round-Up: Kevin Kline, 68, is known for picking his roles with much thought and he's always been highly rated since his first role in Sophie's Choice and the Big Chill, which I thought was a great film with some top actors. He then became a household name with films like Silverado, Cry Freedom, A Fish Called Wanda, January Man, I Love You To Death, Grand Canyon, Soapdish, Chaplin, Consenting Adults, Dave, French Kiss, In & Out, Fierce Creatures, the terrible Wild Wild West, Orange County, The Pink Panther and the Conspirator starring James McCavoy. He recently starred in Darling Companion with Diane Keaton, Last Vegas, My Old Lady and the upcoming Ricki and the Flash with Meryl Streep and he won an academy award for his outrageous role in A Fish Called Wanda in 1989. I've always thought that he was an under rated actor who has always put in top performances and is able to cover many genres. His performance in this movie was brilliant but the script was a bit bland and unemotional in parts. This movie was directed by Richard Glatzer, 63, who brought you the highly acclaimed, Still Alice with Julianne Moore and a few small movies called Grief, the Fluffer and Echo Park L.A. He sadly passed away, March of this year, due to complications of als so Still Alice was his last movie in the directing chair, which he also wrote. Julianne Moore won an Oscar for her role in Still Alice along with a Golden Globe and a BAFTA so she owes a lot to Richard, who didn't receive any awards for the movie before he passed away. Anyway, I personally thought that this movie could have done with another actress in the lead alongside Kline and it needed to be a bit longer so the audience could get some depth about the characters. I recommend this movie to people who are into their drama/biography/romance movies starring Kevin Kline, Susan Sarandon, Dakota Fanning, Ric Reitz and Matt Kane. 4/10

Larry Silverstein After reading the poor reviews of this film I was expecting very little, but ended up surprised that it was better than I expected. I would say that this was mainly due to the superb acting of the 3 stars here, Kevin Kline, Susan Sarandon, and Dakota Fanning. I also had to take my own personal "moral police meter" and put it aside , to review the movie on it's merits and not my moral judgments, something perhaps some viewers will not want to do.Set in the latter years of the 1950's, the tale focuses on the 2 year relationship between the world famous actor Errol Flynn and the 15 year old Beverly Aadland. Kline is excellent as Flynn, known for his lecherous and playboy ways, and who spots the chorus girl and aspiring actress Aadland on a movie set and immediately takes steps to seduce her.However, Beverly, also superbly portrayed by Fanning, does not appear to be your typical teen looking to bask in the fame and fortune of Flynn. She actually appears to like him and his company, I guess you could say as much as a 15 year old is able to.Then there's Florence, Beverly's mother, and Sarandon just "nails it" here with her portrayal of the super ambitious "stage mother", who even has groomed her daughter to look and act older than her years ( having a fake birth certificate handy showing she's 18 years old). Florence seems to be pushing Beverly to succeed because her own career as a dancer was cut short when she lost a leg in an auto accident, and now wears a prosthetic device.Thus the remainder of the film will focus on the enmeshed lives of the three personalities, and how they will try and hide what's going on from the public and the media. However, there will come a time after the death of Flynn, in 1959, when most serious repercussions will have to be faced.I read that the filmmakers Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland (Still Alice) tried to focus on the story rather than the morality of it all, and, as mentioned, that's what I tried to do as well. The movie itself I thought was quite absorbing, led by the strong acting of the three leads plus the fine supporting cast, and was enhanced by actual photos, at the end, of the real characters portrayed and some of what happened to them in future years.

jdesando "In like Flynn," a colloquial expression based on the dissolute life of Errol Flynn.Because Kevin Kline looks like an aging Errol Flynn (he died at 50), it's easy to believe Kline's depiction of the swashbuckling roué from early 20th Century American film in The Last of Robin Hood. Yet, if you want really to experience the bad boy who gave Robin life, read his autobiography, My Wicked, Wicked Ways. Sadly this film is a dull, soporific take on the last years of Flynn.Not that Kevin Kline doesn't have the ability to be roguish like Flynn, it's just that he appears to have been directed to underplay the famous rake, a letdown for those of us hoping to experience the wild wicked one. Instead, this Flynn is pursuing a much younger woman, Beverly Aadland (Dakota Fanning), with a feeling of entitlement and an ennui-subtle sense of "been there." More interesting than the moribund Flynn is Beverly's mom, Florence (Susan Sarandon) -- a stage mom if there ever was one. Her machinations to get her daughter into films are almost unbelievable. When she realizes her underage daughter is sleeping with Flynn, the other side of her ambition, the love of a mother, rings true as a contrast. However, she allows the affair. To their credit, Fanning and Kline seem to care about each other to the extent that any moral outrage about statutory rape is slightly mitigated.Although the script doesn't allow for the dramatic energy that should accompany his shenanigans, brightening the dim movie is Sarandon's ambitious mom with dorky glasses and fat—she steals whatever show there is to take.So if you want to witness the quiet decline of a glamorous pedophile, the coda to Flynn's checkered life is gently carried out by Kevin Kline as if in hospice. It's the last of an outrageous actor. R.I.P.