"The Last of Robin Hood" is a film about the final year of Errol Flynn's life and his relationship with an under-aged girl (Dakota Fanning). The story, interestingly, is told much from the point of view of the girl's mother Susan Sarandon), a 'stage mother' who did nothing to stop her relationship with Flynn when the girl was only 15! In fact, she tried to capitalize on this as much as she possibly could and the story is about her, in essence, selling her daughter to the dissipated actor.
Errol Flynn was played very well by Kevin Kline. He did a nice job imitating the great actor, though in some ways Kline was too youthful and healthy looking...even though in real life he was 18 years older than Flynn when Flynn died. At 50, Flynn looked awful...much older, puffy and bleary-eyed....and the only way to really achieve this would be to get Kline hooked on drugs and alcohol for many, many years! You certainly can't blame Kline for this!! And, at times, he really had me believing him, playing Flynn very well.
Dakota Fanning was an excellent choice to play the girl, Beverly Aadland. This is because although Fanning was of age, she really looked 15-17 like she was supposed to be in the film. Sarandon was also very, very good...which, considering her other film work isn't much of a surprise.
The film begins with the death of Flynn and then consists of flashbacks going back about a year when he met Aadland. It seems they were both in the same film, "Too Much, Too Soon"...which is pretty ironic, as the film is about the dissipated final days of Flynn's drinking buddy, John Barrymore. Flynn played the severe alcoholic and his own life (with and without Aadland) mirrored that of Barrymore.
In these opening scenes, there is a media circus, with tons of reporters approaching Aadland and her mother for interviews. Beverly, not surprisingly, ignored these vultures. Her mother, ever the stage mother, secretly met with a writer in order to tell her inside story about her daughter and Flynn. The rest of the film is about how the mother allowed her underaged daughter to have a sexual relationship with the actor as well as the aftermath of it all.
This is a really, really good film. Much of it is because the acting was so good. Much of it also is because the film stuck pretty close to the facts...something that cant' be said that often about Hollywood bio-pics! All in all, a fascinating film...one that surprised me and left me with profound respect for those who made this film. With an overall score of 5.7, this film is woefully underrated.
Errol Flynn was played very well by Kevin Kline. He did a nice job imitating the great actor, though in some ways Kline was too youthful and healthy looking...even though in real life he was 18 years older than Flynn when Flynn died. At 50, Flynn looked awful...much older, puffy and bleary-eyed....and the only way to really achieve this would be to get Kline hooked on drugs and alcohol for many, many years! You certainly can't blame Kline for this!! And, at times, he really had me believing him, playing Flynn very well.
Dakota Fanning was an excellent choice to play the girl, Beverly Aadland. This is because although Fanning was of age, she really looked 15-17 like she was supposed to be in the film. Sarandon was also very, very good...which, considering her other film work isn't much of a surprise.
The film begins with the death of Flynn and then consists of flashbacks going back about a year when he met Aadland. It seems they were both in the same film, "Too Much, Too Soon"...which is pretty ironic, as the film is about the dissipated final days of Flynn's drinking buddy, John Barrymore. Flynn played the severe alcoholic and his own life (with and without Aadland) mirrored that of Barrymore.
In these opening scenes, there is a media circus, with tons of reporters approaching Aadland and her mother for interviews. Beverly, not surprisingly, ignored these vultures. Her mother, ever the stage mother, secretly met with a writer in order to tell her inside story about her daughter and Flynn. The rest of the film is about how the mother allowed her underaged daughter to have a sexual relationship with the actor as well as the aftermath of it all.
This is a really, really good film. Much of it is because the acting was so good. Much of it also is because the film stuck pretty close to the facts...something that cant' be said that often about Hollywood bio-pics! All in all, a fascinating film...one that surprised me and left me with profound respect for those who made this film. With an overall score of 5.7, this film is woefully underrated.