They Might Be Giants

source: They Might Be Giants

Trailer—They Might Be Giants

They Might Be Giants

This movie sports many moments of pure magic. This film was my first introduction to George C. Scott, and to my mind, this was his best role ever, even surpassing the work he did in Dr. Strangelove and The Hospital. And that soundtrack! An excellent score, indeed!

Sadly, i saw this film only once, back in the early eighties;it remains unforgettable.An earlier reviewer said that it echoes Don Quixote as well as Holmes;they were right. Scott was one of the greatest actors, and this is one of his finest films. It is rich in humor and fantasy, and it boasts a very good performance by Ms. Woodward to compliment the one by Scott.

This is a really great movie that was a huge flop when it came out and this should be a cult hit but isn't for some reason. George C. Scott plays a man who thinks he is Sherlock Holmes and his brother tries to have him committed so he can receive his money. Joanne Woodward is the psychiatrist who tries to help him but things don't go as planned and Woodward winds up helping Scott with his case. Woodward's name also happens to be Watson and Scott drags her along to find Moriarity. Woodward has no life outside her work and they wind up falling in love. Scott's brother really wants his money and hires a hit man to kill Scott but he doesn't realize that.

James Goldman's most beautiful and literary script, a fragile and delicate fantasy/comedy that delivers on its initial promise. Beautifully acted by Scott, Woodward and Gilford, and with a dozen or more cameos that are truly memorable, this is truly a feel-good movie for the literate and the intelligencia. I would rank it among my top half-dozen.

This is one of those films that is so quirky that you love watching it. Certainly not a big budget film despite having two great actors in George C. Scott and Joanne Woodward but it is a fun film. Director Anthony Harvey had an odd career. He only directed nine theatrical feature films and in only his second film he hit a home run with 1968's The Lion in Winter getting seven Academy Award nominations including Best Picture and Best Director for himself. He didn't win in those two categories but that film did win three Oscars. He didn't direct another film for three years until he came out with They Might be Giants which was such a small film and such a departure from his previous big historical epic. George C. Scott turns in an excellent performance here as does Woodward. This isn't a great film but it's fun and interesting and the supermarket scene is a riot. I've seen this a couple of times and would definitely like to see it again sometime. I would give this a 7.5 on a scale of 10.

If you look for flaws in this film you will find plenty. Still, I gave this film a 10 vote because it has overriding qualities which are extremely rare. It is a magical film, full of poetry, it touches you where other films cannot reach. It creates a fantasy world of its own in the midst of modern society, a fantasy world which is utterly implausible and yet so compellingly persuasive. The cast of this gem is mesmerisingly excellent, all parts I can think of are cast with character actors who on their own have stolen entire films from the stars. The central performance by George C. Scott is majestic, and so is John Barry's wonderful score. The film contains many memorable scenes, but outstanding amongst the lot is the supermarket scene. If I had to compile a list of the ten best scenes ever put to celluloid, this would be included. Unique.