The Rat Pack (1998) (TV)

User Rating:

6.7/10   

Director:

Rob Cohen

Writer (WGA):

Kario Salem (written by)

Release Date:

22 August 1998 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

It was their world. We just lived in it.

Plot:

A look at the famous "Rat Pack" of the '60s, and how their glamorous alliances and carefree sophistication created a mythical lifestyle.

Plot Keywords:

Rat Pack | President | 1960s | Organized Crime | Racism

Awards:

Won Golden Globe. Another 5 wins & 16 nominations

Cast

Ray Liotta	...	Frank Sinatra
Joe Mantegna	...	Dean Martin
Don Cheadle	...	Sammy Davis Jr.
Angus Macfadyen	...	Peter Lawford
William Petersen	...	John F. Kennedy
Zeljko Ivanek	...	Bobby Kennedy
Bobby Slayton	...	Joey Bishop
Megan Dodds	...	May Britt
Deborah Kara Unger	...	Ava Gardner
Veronica Cartwright	...	Rocky Cooper
Dan O'Herlihy	...	Joe Kennedy
Robert Miranda	...	Momo Giancana
Barbara Niven	...	Marilyn Monroe
Michelle Grace	...	Judy Campbell
Tyrees Allen	...	George Jacobs

MPAA:

Rated R for sexuality and strong language.

Runtime:

120 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

USA:R (video rating) | USA:TV-MA | Iceland:12 | Australia:M | Germany:12 | UK:15

Filming Locations:

Ambassador Hotel - 3400 Wilshire Boulevard, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Home Box Office (HBO)

Trivia:

Chazz Palminteri was considered for the role of Dean Martin.

Goofs:

Anachronisms: The Sands hotel tower is seen, yet this was not built until 1966-67, and this film is set in 1960. The Sands Hotel sign which is shown a few times in the film is a mock-up with the new modern Sands logotype that was used before its closure, not the famous script design which actually stood on the Sands property during the 1960s.

Quotes:

Frank Sinatra: If power doesn't mean that you have the opportunity to work with the people that you love , then you haven't really got any.

Movie Connections:

References The Young Lions (1958)

Soundtrack:

The Song is You

Not deep, but strangely hypnotic

Y'know, I really liked this film which recalls a year or two in the life of the Rat Pack, but I can't tell you why. I've watched the DVD four times in the last three days.

On the one hand, it is just a rehashing of some old cliches and an extended display of celebrity impersonations. (When Sinatra performs, for example, it is Ray Liotta's body and the voice of a fellow named Michael Dees)

Forget about the rest of the players ... they do OK, but this anonymous guy named Michael Dees is the real star ... a flawless recreation of Sinatra's phrasing on the Kennedy campaign song, the best-ever rendition of "One More for the Road", and more. This guy is so good it is eerie.

I guess what I liked about the movie is that it was just so much damned fun to live in those days again for a couple of hours. The movie did a decent job of showing what it was like to be hung up in the ring-a-ding, koo-koo life of the guys who had "the world on a string" for a couple of decades.

Forget the deep insights. There aren't any but, as Dino said, "you can't share your deepest feelings when you don't have any". The film did make an effort to show Sammy's inner conflict between his own sense of self-worth and the second class citizenship he was accorded by his country and even his buddies, but it was a clumsy attempt to be serious, like a drunken guy telling you how much he loves you, and frankly it provided some of the slowest moments in the movie.

But you'll marvel again at Dino's centered calm, Sammy's dazzling talent, Frank's complex and godlike power, JFK's charisma, and Frank's incomparable phrasing of a song ... even when it's actually sung by Michael Dees.