Rocket Gibraltar

This movie invoked in me a funny kind of feeling. What feeling exactly, or why I don't know, but it was with a definite contentment that I watched it. Just go and rent it, you'll see. Maybe it was the time that I watched it, Sunday afternoon, or the fact that I felt good for other reasons, but the interaction between Lancaster and Culkin is so nice and touching ('cuse the sappy language) that it makes you feel good with the world. The movie just has the right atmosphere and incomparable good acting by Culkin (8 years at the time) especially.

I don't want to go into the story line or that kind of crap, just go and see it.

I think someone was a big fan of Beau Geste to have written Rocket Gibraltar. If you'll remember Beau Geste the two surviving Geste brothers give their gallant brother Beau a Viking funeral just like they talked about when they were kids.

According to a recent biography of Burt Lancaster this was to be his On Golden Pond or The Shootist, but it did not win the critical reception that those other two films got. In time though it found its audience and I'm part of that audience. Burt was 75 when he made this film and he was playing a part of a man who was going into his 77 birthday and his family has come out to Westhampton Beach out in Suffolk County to celebrate his birthday.

Burt has three daughters and a son and has led an interesting life. He was a writer of sorts who survived the McCarthy/blacklist era and has brought the kids up with certain values. The kids have gone out on their own however and while none of them is a disgrace, they're far from what he idealized them to be. His wife had died several years earlier.

The daughters are Suzy Amis, Patricia Clarkson, and Frances Conroy and the son is John Glover. Amis is unmarried and truth be told she's one of loose morals. The other daughters are married to Kevin Spacey and Bill Pullman, a hack comedian and a washed up ballplayer.

It's in the grandkids that Burt sees some hope and maybe salvation for his ideals. He likes them all, but his favorite is MacCauley Culkin years before his Home Alone films. He tells them that his ideal would be a Viking funeral, after all the thought of his cadaver being worm food is nothing for a real man to want.

Of course the kids set out to do just that and they do it in a winning manner. These kids truly connected with their grandfather the love really comes through in the scenes with each other and with Lancaster.

Rocket Gibraltar is funny and sad and bittersweet all at once. I'd give it a look, there are worse ways to go out.

I think that some viewers overlook a lot of what the movie is trying to tell its audience. The portrayal of the adults in the film along with that of the children and the dying grandfather is quite accurate. The film chooses to portray the adults of the film as being selfish or "shallow" because it strives to show us the connection between the very young and the very old. It is often thought that there is a wisdom found only in early childhood and lost in later life that is regained with old age. The magical connection between the grandchildren and their grandfather is something both entertaining and touching to view. The film is well done and I do agree that the children really do make the film, with the help of a great veteran actor.

On the 77th birthday of the widow patriarch Levi Rockwell (Burt Lancaster), his son and daughters come to his house by the sea with their families to celebrate his birthday. The promiscuous Aggie Rockwell (Suzy Amis) comes alone but soon finds male company. Rose Black (Patricia Clarkson) comes with her husband Crow Black (Bill Pullman), who is a baseball player with problems, and their children Cy Blue (Macaulay Culkin) and Dawn (Angela Goethals). The workaholic Rolo Rockwell (John Glover) comes with his wife Amanda 'Billi' Rockwell (Sinead Cusack) and their children Orson (John Bell), Kane (Dan Corkill), Flora (Sara Goethals) and Emily (Emily Poe). His daughter Ruby Hanson (Frances Conroy) comes with her husband Dwayne Hanson (Kevin Spacey), who is a comedian, and their children Max (Nicky Bronson) and Jessica (Sara Rue). During the night, the children are on the beach with their grandfather and they ask him what he would like to receive as a birthday gift. Levi tells that he would like to have a Viking Funeral since the worms eat buried corpses. When Blue sees an abandoned boat on the beach, he suggests his cousins to repair the boat to give to their grandfather for his funeral. Levi and his doctor hide from the family that he has an aneurysm and may die in any moment. When their grandchildren find him dead on his bed, they decide to honor his wish and give a Viking Funeral to him.

"Rocket Gibraltar" is one of the most beautiful and sensitive films of reunions ever made. The story and the screenplay are perfect with the combination of death and the innocence of children, showing a sensitive work of the writer Amos Poe. The cast is a constellation with inspired performances, highlighting Burt Lancaster and Macaulay Culkin in his debut in the cinema industry. This film is also the debut of Kevin Spacey. The soundtrack with Billie Holyday and David Bowie among others is classy. Unfortunately this wonderful film is not available on DVD or Blu-Ray in Brazil. My vote is nine.

Title (Brazil): "O Rochedo de Gibraltar" ("The Rocket Gibraltar")

So I have been an avid IMDb fan since, let's say, 1998, when I was in middle school. I wasn't the first to view the site and based on the date, not here from the beginning. I have roughly 2,000 star-click reviews on netflix but never joined here... and never really felt a need to join.

I joined tonight after almost 13 years of viewing this site because of the reviews I saw here and what I think is missing from those reviews.

I am not a movie snob, and respect Independent films to foreign films to old films to actually admitting to liking Norbit, Like Mike, and Blue Crush. No one's opinion means anything against your own judgment, but I hope my opinion makes you want to see this film.

Often we see movies where directors cast multiple children. Many times, people underestimate that a director has the desire to use this as a way to direct children on a higher level than say a "Spy Kids" or "Sky High." They want to create a movie for all levels, to understand at any stage in life.

First, this movie takes place in Sagaponack, NY. if you read the news, this zip code has become the wealthiest zip code in the country and is smack in the middle of the Hamptons. You never really hear of it as a Hampton town because there are no stores, only one post office attached to one Deli. This movie is one of the few media examples that documents what the Hampton's once were: a playground for artists and free spirits that had 'made it' and wanted a retreat. In the 22 years since this film was released, we see not only a change in our culture, but a change in how we spend and show the money we have. Today, the Hamptons is a playground for the wealthy. While artists are still there, it is not to the level it was when real estate wasn't 'the wealthiest zip code in the country.' In the landscape of this film, you can see how much we've changed.

Furthermore, people claim that the adult characters are stereotypes and really characters that don't come alive like some great films can manage to do. I disagree. I think that the film shows characters that can be understood on all levels, whether the person watching is the age of the children or the age of the adults. They are simple enough for children to understand what their purpose and identity is, and complex enough (sexually, maturely, etc.) for adults to see the things that kids will only understand over time. The best example I cam possibly think of is by the same director, Cocoon

I used to watch this as a child with my whole family. The first time I saw it was 1995, our first year living in Sagaponack. As you can now tell, I have a strong bias for this film but I hope my review proves my opinion is beyond bias. Rocket Gibraltar represents so much to me. Viewing it as a child, i loved the innocence of the children's quest to provide the Grandfather's seemingly simple last wish. As I got older, I understood how the reality of the adult real-world sometimes forbids us from listening clearly to our own family's desires- and even forbids us to listening to the innocence and straight-forwardness of a child. As a kid, I also loved Kevin Spacey's character as being 'out there' and sarcastic, Suzy Amis' character for being sexual in a way I knew was taboo but not why, Bill Pullman's character because I knew as a young male what being a sports wash-up would be like, and of course Burt's character for being that Grandfather that was soooo bad a$$ that none of his own kids could ever empathize with the life that he had lived.

I am not getting into depth with the children's performances because I will let you find the own child within you to realize how they each play their own part, and each represent not only a small part of you but on an exaggerated level, each can be linked to one of your own friends growing up.

As I got older, I realized things each and every time I watched the film, but I never forget how the movie represented a different mentality and state of being with each level of maturity I was a viewer.

The story itself, is very strong. Conflict is present. It is not in a truly original way, in which each and every character we've seen time and time again. But, while they all are recycled players, they are placed within a landscape of a story that is truly original and bold in what it was able to pull off. I really believe this movie is trapped in time. It couldn't be made now, for so many reasons.

Regardless of my ramblings, just go check this one out for yourself. Try to be the kid I was, the pubescent young man, the high-schooler, the college kid, and the man I was when I watched this film. If you do that, you really will see that it deserves much higher than a 6.4.