Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #193977 in DVD
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Number of discs: 1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Running time: 107 minutes

Amazon.com
Exuding the charm and grace for which he seems to hold the patent, Peter O'Toole plays Doctor Harry Wolper, a renowned research biologist whose pet project is to clone his sorely missed wife, dead now for 30 years. Assisting him in fine fashion are Meli (Mariel Hemingway), a self-proclaimed 19-year-old nymphomaniac bent on capturing the affections of Dr. Wolper, and a research assistant (Vincent Spano), whose love interest is fellow student Virgina Madsen. This sweet and enjoyable romantic comedy is brought to a head when the Madsen character drops suddenly into a coma. Then Wolper's nemesis, played almost lovably by David Ogden Stiers, thwarts his cloning attempts by reclaiming the stolen equipment he's using to do so. While Dr. Wolper preaches the beauty of The Big Picture as a way of apprehending life, this one is decidedly a small picture, but in the sense of being attuned to small details, probably owing to the foreign sensibilities of Czech director Ivan Passer (Cutter's Way). The many disparate plot threads are eventually brought into harmony, though the sheer number of them may seem a jumble to many viewers. Better to let the big picture take care of itself, and content oneself with the many smaller pleasures this delightful film affords. --Jim Gay

Customer Reviews

Creative genius
I must first start out saying that this is one of the few movies that has actually brought me to tears.
Boris and Barbara's relationship struck me as the most sincere and heart wrenching love affair that I have ever witnessed. Peter O'Toole is captivating as the eccentric scientist and David Ogden-Stiers has perpetuated his typecasting with his role as the arrogant intellectual.
This is the first major movie role for Ms Hemmingway and she shows flashes of the talent that made her so famous on TV a few years later.
This is a love story with a cast of suporting characters that make it shine. It also asks some very serious questions about the medical establishment and how terminally ill patients are treated. Your hopes will be raised and your heart be broken by this movie. It is well worth the cost.

An overlooked gem
This is one of the most obscure movies ever made by Peter O'Toole, undeservedly so. It's by turns whimsical, dramatic, romantic, and heartrending, with a cast that makes the most of a rather peculiar story. Nobody does the absent-minded professor bit better than O'Toole, David Odgen Steirs is sanctimonious and self-centered as usual, and Hemingway was an outstanding choice for the flaky Mellie. Even the theme (String Trio Rock, which has, sadly, never been released) will reverberate in your head for days afterward.

The biggest disappointments about this disc are the pan-and-scan presentation, which was poorly executed, and the lack of extras on the disc; no background, commentary, soundtrack information, discographies, or featurettes were included.

epalfreyman
This will be short. The movie is one of my favorites, ever. The romance is moving and both realistic and idealistic at the same time. Hemingway and O'Toole take a relationship that should be a joke and make it touching and believable. O'Toole is excellent as the eccentric professor. The theme of love is what holds the movie elements together and it deals with love in many manifestations. I'm not Catholic, but it was one of the few films that didn't turn Catholics into jerks, and I really enjoyed that here was a young couple trying to find love without having to disparage their faith to do it. The movie is charming, witty and touching. If you're a cynic, it won't be for you; but if you believe in love, believe in the big picture, and believe in redemption; this is a film for you.