The Great Santini
Cast
Robert Duvall .... Bull Meechum
Blythe Danner .... Lillian Meechum
Michael O'Keefe .... Ben Meechum
Lisa Jane Persky .... Mary Anne Meechum
Julie Anne Haddock .... Karen Meechum
Brian Andrews .... Matthew Meechum
Directed by
Lewis John Carlino
Rater #1 has description and review.
Rater #1
7/10. Step into the powerhouse life of Bull Meecham. He's all Marine-fighter pilot, king of the clouds, and absolute ruler of his family. Lillian is his wife-beautiful, southern-bred, with a core of velvet steel. Without her cool head, her kids would be in real trouble. Ben is the oldest, a born athlete whose best never satisfies the big man. Ben's got to stand up, even fight back, against a father who doesn't give in-not to his men, not to his wife, and certainly not to his son. Bull Meecham is undoubtedly Pay Conroy's most explosive character-a man you should hate, but a man you will love.
Under normal circumstances, I would never have seen this movie because I hadn't read the book, but because I had to read the book, I decided to see the movie. The problem with this movie was that it didn't go as in depth and explain things that well to make people understand what was going on. They took at some of the funny side plots and characters to deliver a shorter presentation. Though it was missing a lot of the charm from the book. I missed Sammy Wertzberger, who made funny comments and the such. He really helped the story along. Though he was cut out for time purposes.
The characters were fine in this movie but didn't seem to live up to what they were in the book. Robert Duvall, who playeed Bull Meecham, made it seem that Bull was a softie or something. He didn't have that punch that made Bull scary. I don't blame him, I blame the script. Whoever played Toomer did a fine job, but his stuttering really wasn't there. It was more of a stop and start type of thing. Michael O'Keefe, who played Ben, did a fine job, and so did the rest of the cast.
Once again, this movie only scraped the surface of the book, so here's some advice. Watch the movie first then read the book. You won't be as dissapointed. Also, check out my book review by clicking on this sentence.
Rater #2
Has Not seen movie.
Rater #3
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rater #4
Has Not Seen Movie.
Rated PG.
Running time: 115 minutes
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