Barbarians at the Gate (1993 TV Movie) User Reviews

Come on, Fellas, cough it up!

[rmax304823 · 7/10 · 21 September 2002]

Can a made-for-TV movie about leveraged buy outs ("LBO"s) be funny? Yup.

I haven't read the book but the teleplay by Gelbart is very amusing and sometimes hilarious. Be prepared for the profanity which generates some of the best laughs. "There should be a warning on every pack: Danger, these cigarettes will tear your b***s off."

But it isn't just the swearing that makes this movie as funny as it is. The set ups are marvelously done. The initial big celebration held by RJR Nabisco features a character who suffers a cruel cough every time he tries to light his cigarette until Garner comes over and flicks open a lighter to help him.

All the characters' roles are well written but I wish Fred Dalton Thompson had an expression other than his default -- as if he were watching his daughter marry a biker with a face tattoo. James Garner gets the palm, not just for his unforced and vulgar wit but for a breezy disregard for everything except his own wealth, exemplified in his fleet of jet airplanes with their private hangar. Garner keeps denigrating the pursuit of wealth for it's own sake -- "After all, how many sets of golf clubs can you be buried with?" -- but acts all the way through as if that were his one and only priority. In his own defense, he says indignantly, "I don't plan to be homeless -- or planeless either for that matter."

There must have been enormous pressure on Gelbart and the others involved to turn this movie "serious" towards the end, to bring in cancer and emphysema, a sobbing victim, a military-industrial conspiracy to undermine the health of the proletariat, to expose big business for the angry, villainous, mean-spirited, duplicitous cretins that they are but, thank Bog, Gelbart resisted any tendency to make the movie "about something." He keeps the ending as ironic as the rest of the film.

Poor Garner. He loses his job, "The first time I've been out of work since I was fourteen," he moans, and retires with a severance package amounting (after taxes) to only $23m. Close on a shot of a mansion in Palm Beach.

I laughed so much I almost sold my Microsoft shares

[rushmore24 · 8/10 · 13 September 2001]

When you look at the dross that Hollywood throws money at and then forces on us at the local multiplex, one wonders why a TV film like this with so much intelligence and wit finds such a limited audience. 'Greed is good' as Gordon Gekko said and so believe just about all the protaganists of this wonderful script. James Garner is such a likeable actor that he makes his behaviour seem almost normal and natural. I'm not a great fan of Jonathan Pryce but he is perfect as the bloodless lizard Henry Travis. Larry Gelbart sustains the humour from beginning to end and the scene in the laboratory must be one of the funniest ever, and in laughing out loud I almost bust a gut as if I had been drawing on one of their new 'healthier' cigarettes.

Creavity does live in Hollywood and this film is testimony to it, so Studio Bosses give it its head and drop the remakes, seqeuls and prequels.

"They make money the hard way -- they steal it."

[blanche-2 · 7/10 · 7 April 2011]

"Barbarians at the Gates" is the insane true story of the leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco. The stars are James Garner, Jonathan Pryce, Peter Riegert, Joanna Cassidy, Fred Dalton Thompson, Jeffrey DeMunn, Tom Aldredge, and David Rasche.

Upset that the stock price for RJR Nabisco isn't rising, and realizing that new item that was to raise it, Premier Cigarettes, taste and smell horrible, F. Ross Johnson (Garner), the CEO, decides to buy the company at $75 a share, which is $4 more than the stock's highest price. He gets the idea after talking to an expert in the LBO field, Henry Kravis (Pryce). When Kravis finds out that he's not involved in this LBO, he becomes upset. Soon, thanks to press releases that come out too soon, and embarrassing information hitting the papers, there are not only many players in the field, but the price being bid has gone up to $112 a share, meaning that the company will be put into billions and billions of dollars in debt.

The battle of egos is outrageous and all too believable in this story of what became a gigantic takeover contest. The film compresses some of the incidents, but the characters and behind the scenes happenings make it an intriguing, entertaining, and ultimately depressing story. Outside the New York office, one is shown countless homeless people while inside, people are talking about billions of dollars. A true '80s story of greed.

James Garner is fantastic and funny as good old boy, F. Ross Johnson, who gets into a game of oneupmanship with the elegant, quietly intense Kravis - Jonathan Pryce gives a tremendous performance as a man seething underneath while speaking very softly. Peter Riegert, as the man trying to put together the deal for Shearson Lehman is wonderful, as are two actors I've had the privilege of seeing on stage, Tom Aldredge as the head of the board of RJR Nabisco, and David Rasche, as a banker trying to get in on the deal. Fred Dalton Thompson and Joanna Cassidy are a married couple - she's the publicist for the LBO, and he's the CEO of American Express.

After seeing the documentary about Enron, I really thought nothing could top it. This does. If you want to be appalled by corporate behavior, don't miss it.

Larry Gelbart is a genius.

[Doctor_Bombay · 10 February 1999]

Most people think Larry Gelbart is a genius, as do I.

The story of H. Ross Johnson and the rise of Nabisco is a historical milestone of the 1980's corporate America. The book, Barbarians at the Gate, from which this film was based lays out in detail, every outrageous, and more outrageous step in what ultimately became the biggest corporate acquisition in US history (to date). THIS IS A TRUE STORY.

The principals include James Garner, great as Johnson, the Canadian door-to-door salesman who's rise through the ranks of the American corporate system provides the centerpiece around which the entire story revolves. Jonathan Pryce at his most prick-like is corporate raider Henry Kravitz, a man who's life is so cold, you'd have to heat his wife with a blow torch just to warm her to frigid-the self-indulgent, self-described fashion designer Carolyn Roehm. (The real-life Roehm can be seen intermittently adding festive bunting to the set of Good Morning America during the holidays). Senator Fred Dalton Thompson's Jim Robinson, then chairman of American Express shows us what its really like when the wife controls the purse-strings, as well as you, and everything else in sight.

Great supporting cast includes Peter Riegert, as the since never heard from Peter Cohen, Joanna Cassidy as the legend in her own mind Linda Gosden Robinson, Leilani Sarelle Ferrer (Sharon Stone's gal-pal in Basic Instinct), Jeffrey DeMunn, and David Rasche

If you don't have time to read the book, do see the movie, where Gelbart's wonderful script provided HBO one of their first hits in the made-for-cable genre. Wall to wall laughs, with a little educative value to boot.

After you've watched the film, you might ask yourself---`who paid for all the corporate excess, the inefficiency, stupidity, the feeding of massive egos, and blatant disregard for the ‘little people'?'

Being not a political person, I leave you to your own resolve.

financial headhunters at work on Wall St.

[helpless_dancer · 7/10 · 8 May 1999]

Entertaining look at the in-fighting involved in the takeover of the Nabisco Co. The CEO of Nabisco wants to buy out the company, but is thwarted by the machinations of a big money rival. A rousing financial war begins leading to a satisfying grand finale. I liked the dialogue, especially the witty quips that James Garner was fond of throwing out. Jonathan Pryce was great as the chilling corporate raider. Thumbs up.

Guilty pleasure of greed

[Masterplan00 · 9/10 · 15 March 2005]

A story of greed, F. Ross Johnson's attempt to rid himself of troublesome shareholders who bug him with cries to curb his excessive management and lifestyle ignites a bidding war for ownership of RJR-Nabisco. Through sessions of number-crunching, men's room meetings, and personal loyalties and competitions, the fate of the company and those involved is decided and standards set for what will be allowed or punished by the captains of industry of the 1980's heyday.

For a movie dealing with such despicable and probably in real life boring characters, the final product is delightful, entertaining, and almost educational. While the level of greed and excess is appalling, you can't help getting caught up in the wheeling and dealing and the competition, rooting for one side or the other while knowing you shouldn't like either one. The greedy CEO or the heartless junk-bond trader (Henry Kravis), take your pick and enjoy. No one is immune to the satire of the film, down to the trophy wives and their manicurists who know more about Wall Street than they do. Still, the comic tone is maintained; as much as you want to hate them, the film avoids moralizing, content just to ridicule and make the audience laugh.

The attention to detail in the movie is simply brilliant. Whenever there is a TV screen or someone lighting a cigarette in the background, pay attention or you may miss a good laugh. It boasts clearly the best costumes of any Wall Street movie, from costume parties to Bush-Quayle hoedowns. Witty and satirical dialogue is accompanied by a well-chosen score. Details and incidents with little to do with the actual plot add to the entertainment value while not distracting from the story. Overall a great movie, funny and cool, makes you think a little: would you really want to be one of them?

solid TV from Garner

[SnoopyStyle · 7/10 · 17 March 2016]

F. Ross Johnson (James Garner) is a born salesman and a self-made millionaire. In 1988, he's the wild-spending high-flying CEO of RJR Nabisco. The stock is stubbornly low. He decides to try to take the company private but he's worried about the debt at first. He is eager to promote the revolutionary new smokeless cigarette Premier but then he's told about its problems. Others become attracted to the deal and it becomes a greedy stampede in the search for a leverage buyout.

This is a solid depiction of 80s Wall Street. It is all James Garner and he drives this movie with glee. It is top notch HBO although I still want a bit more cinematic style. It would be great to have music from the era. There are plenty of great costars but Garner overshadows them all. This is a big time TV movie.

Spot On!

[ezlidblue-1 · 10/10 · 15 October 2009]

I don't know if there's been a more perfect made-for-TV movie than this one! If you've ever been involved in a corporate takeover, and I have, you know how perfect this film is. This was the largest corporate takeover in history at the time and the personalities involved are no different today than they were back then. In fact, many of them, particularly Henry Kravis, are still involved in this sort of thing. (I wouldn't want to have to go up against Kravis in a takeover, as few have ever won when KKR was in the mix.) One other reviewer said this film was the "zenith of greed" and it was in the '80s but this sort of greed is exactly what has led to the downfall of Wall Street here in the late-'2000s too! James Garner is perfect in this film, as he is in most anything he acts in, and he truly steals this film from the other actors. Jonathan Pryce is exactly what Henry Kravis is, conniving, brilliant and evil. What really makes this worth watching is the writing skill of Larry Gelbart - a real genius at verbal machinations of all sorts. My favorite line from the film is about the "healthy" cigarette and James Garner delivers! "This cigarette tastes like a turd!" - still cracks me up! If you haven't seen this film, please do sit back and enjoy a priceless bit of entertainment. If you haven't read the book, please find it and read it. Both the film and the book are worth every minute you will spend!

Good movie because of James G!

[mm-39 · 7/10 · 7 May 2021]

Barbarians at the Gate is just a good movie, but James Garner lead role makes Barbarians at the Gate great. What works Barbarians is a well written story which is a lead character driven story. The viewer sees the humble Winnipeg roots of the C E O up to the flamboyant C E O dinners, events etc. James G charm, humor and slick style pushes the environment of greed in the shark tank. Well there is the H B O nudity, and swearing I never seen James swear ever, but it fits in the H B O/corporate culture. The story is driven by greed as a take over of a public to private corporation when Gardner steals the take over plan as we go into the world of politics, fashion and ego! Funny, this deal is small compared to todays monopolies. The film is a little long at the end, and loses steam. Well written, directed and casted. 7 stars.

Laughing at the Greedy 80's

[lambiepie-2 · 10/10 · 23 September 2006]

This was my first HBO made for TV film and holds a dear place in my film collection. Not only that, "Barbarians at the Gate" holds a dear place among the explanation of greed in the 1980's - right next to my other favorite depiction of greed in the 80's film, Oliver Stone's "Wall Street".

But this isn't too much pulp fiction, it's based on a real tale of the sale of RJR Nabisco where its CEO (played brilliantly by James Garner), his financiers at American Express, the board and all the other barbarians who find out its for sale wanting a piece of it. Doesn't sound funny? Oh, but it is. When you have something as popular as a profitable tobacco company which owns several other family oriented divisions such as cookies and crackers, the fight for ownership becomes very real and very profitable.

And the fight is played out well within the 1980's theme of The Regan/Bush era of greed and is very funny. Sad, true and funny. From the CEO's greed of private jets, several homes, humongous salary and failed product introductions to the CEO's obviously younger, trophy wife who is just about to have her husband buy her a PhD so she can be seen as 'serious' and not be called 'cupcake' all the time; to the public relations expert who wants the account-if not from her neighbor/friend then from the person who will eventually give the winning offer, to the brokers who put together buying plans to usurp his offers, to the board that never liked the CEO's extravagances but if his money deal was big enough, who cares?; to the CEO's family dog who's spoiled rotten while you know during that time there were people starving in the streets -- you'll watch in some shock and awe but can't help but laugh at how all of this comes together. And how everyone will mess over everyone just to get it. All for the top prize: Ownership of RJR Nabisco.

Excellent, excellent film.

You'll have to pay attention

[HotToastyRag · 6/10 · 1 July 2022]

For fans of The Big Short, Too Big to Fail, Margin Call, and Wall Street, Barbarians at the Gate chronicles the huge bidding war on the Nabisco company from 1988. James Garner, stars as the CEO who wants more money and power. He's extremely intelligent and shrewd, and every line out of his mouth is either a bit of strategy or a clever one-liner. He's charming and persuasive, and there's a fabulous scene in the beginning where he demonstrates how to work the room. If you liked him in My Fellow Americans, you'll like him in this.

If you're looking for a mellow tv movie where you can just zone out, this is not the one for you. I had a lot of trouble keeping up, and my dad (who works in finance) had to keep pressing pause to explain the plot to me. With all the bidding, conferencing, and planning between Jimmy, Fred Thompson, Peter Riegert, Matt Clark, Joanna Cassidy, and their competitor Jonathan Pryce, if I hadn't had an interpreter, my head probably would have hurt. It is pretty funny, though, so if you decide to sit through it, you'll be rewarded with lots of laughs and some beautiful '80s dresses that Joanna and Leilani Ferrer get to wear.

A real find!

[rc223 · 9/10 · 20 March 2001]

I was delighted to stumble on this excellent TV movie late one night. Garner is great as the mega-rich company exec who comes unstuck when he tries to buy his own company. The financial shenanigans are well explained and there's genuine tension in the result. Based on a true story. It's like WALL STREET with laughs. [rating 9

BIG egos .... and tremendous greed ............

[merklekranz · 6/10 · 29 August 2010]

There are zero likable characters in this film. Everyone is strictly out for themselves, and how much they stand to gain from a leveraged buyout of RJR Nabisco. The battle for the company between James Garner and Jonathan Pryce is the primary focus of "Barbarians at the Gate". The best attribute of this movie is not the acting, not the story, but the sharp dialog. The outcome is always in doubt, but the greed is always obvious. In the final analysis, this comes across more like a business instructional film than entertainment. The whole thing is rather sterile, because there really are no heroes to root for. ................................... MERK

Repel the invaders

[bkoganbing · 5/10 · 12 August 2014]

Based on the true events of CEO Ross Johnson trying to take over his company Nabisco, watching Barbarians At The Gate all I could think of is had this film come out while the actual events were going on the real Ross Johnson would have had a great propaganda machine at his disposal.

Barbarians At The Gate will never take the place of such classic films based on big business like The Power And The Prize, B.F.'s Daughter, Executive Suite or even Cash McCall which James Garner also starred in. I like Garner, but I don't think he ever got into what really made Ross Johnson tick.

Garner's rival in the takeover process is Jonathan Pryce who's a Gordon Gekko type, but a real bloodless one. In fact Garner is the only one who seems like flesh and blood. I did learn that these folks who start out in corporate management really haven't a clue as to how the working man deals with things nor do they care to find out.

A good effort, but Barbarians At The Gate falls way short of the mark.

A winning satire

[soranno · 26 October 2002]

HBO Films has done it again. This 1993 release is yet another example of why they are one of the greatest producers of telefilms. In this film, James Garner portrays F. Ross Johnson, a crafty CEO who tests the many theories and predictions of the possible success that RJR Nabisco Corporation can have with a "smokeless cigarette" product. A satrical tale that's based on a true story.

corporate governance indeed

[lee_eisenberg · 10/10 · 15 January 2010]

"Barbarians at the Gate" focuses on KKR's leveraged buyout of RJR-Nabisco in 1988-89. The movie does everything to a tee. James Garner plays Ross Johnson, the smooth-talking RJR executive. His affable demeanor and joke-telling affinity hides Machiavellian schemes, and all the while he really just likes his company's perks. Jonathan Pryce was practically born to play Henry Kravis: Pryce's devilish physiognomy perfectly represents what sort of a person this is.

A particularly effective scene is when the executives are flying in their corporate jets side by side, conversing with each other on their cell phones while servants prepare them drinks. It's the ultimate display of greed.

All in all, the whole thing captures what the '80s were all about, all the while managing to be humorous. It should come as no surprise that the first decade of the 21st century (The Aughts? The Noughts?) saw things like Enron. Perfect.

Also starring Joanna Cassidy (Dolores in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and Brenda's mom on "Six Feet Under"), former presidential candidate Fred Thompson, Jeffrey DeMunn and Peter Riegert (Boone in "Animal House").

Greed,Inc

[Dan Briggs · 10/10 · 31 July 1999]

This movie is great!the takeover of RJR Nabisco was the Zenith of Greed in the US,and this movie exemplifies it.the cast is great,but James Garner steals the film.The escalation of the bidding,the greed and the Oreos fly in this movie;Which makes you wanna run out to buy some Oreos and a gallon of milk and laugh at this masterpiece of 80's decadance.Were we really that Greedy in the 80's?

excellent - spoilers

[watcher410 · 10/10 · 9 February 2018]

This was an awesome movie. There was great attention to detail:

-One adviser was dressing for a costume party. He was going as superman. This was great symbolism: He was pretending to be superman as an adviser. -One adviser (Cohen) yelled "take the drive" as a traffic suggestion. This was great symbolism: he was always giving bad advice. (The drive was jammed with traffic.) -A woman tells the cab driver: "Can we take the Parkway?" He responded: "How can you do that?" (It was impossible to magically switch to another road.) Again, this was great symbolism because the characters in the movie were "locked in" and couldn't find a way out.

Anyways, I loved it.

Garner + Gelbart = Greatness

[Coxer99 · 15 March 1999]

The RJR Nabisco company goes on the selling block, triggering chaos as Wall Street scrambles to take control of the $25 billion empire. A sharp, witty script delivered with panache by a perfect cast, most outstanding Garner and Pryce as the giants going head to head for the company. Larry Gelbart wrote the script. The cast also includes Peter Reigert, Joanna Cassidy and Senator Fred Thompson, who are all wonderful.

Windbags at the Gate !

[elshikh4 · 30 June 2010]

I read once, in James Garner's Biography, that he did roles in quality TV like (Barbarians at the Gate). Now whoever wrote this lie will burn in hell forever, because this movie isn't quality TV, unless TV stands for Tormenting Vanity!

It's natural that too much of something is bad enough. Here you are a movie to know that better. The dialogue is just TOO MUCH to unbearable degree. It could destroy the movie and us.

The first 20 minutes are a headache. The characters speak with tons of elegant gibberish. The dialogue has too many very deep information, and most of all, it goes on non-stop too. Plus, it couldn't make any tie-in between us and the main character. I couldn't make any initial viewpoint towards him. They were busy making him talk, talk, and talk for all the time without presenting him appropriately. So, it was exactly like a stock market program, running annoyingly on-screen, without any drama but the tragic one in my brain!

After that, the stock market channel breaks loose. There are more stiff characters in suits. Too many stiff characters, with no true presentation, so with the unbroken mentioning of their names, I couldn't tell who's who?! And the case is that we have them talking in great energy, with more of the same - fully detailed - gibberish, without funny comedy, clear drama, something to understand, or a MOMENT OF SILENCE!

Larry Gelbart, the scriptwriter of this movie, is such a unique person. He proved for someone like me, who watched countless good and bad American movies before, that America has real windbag scripts! It's a lethal flaw that I saw in many not American movies. But who said that anyone or anything is perfect. Actually, Gelbart's dialogue can fill 3 movies and 4 newspapers which I don't buy! The main event, as I desperately understood, is ironic, satirical, and supposedly hot. But this 1000-words-per-minute dealing made it like a sweeping speech torrent where nothing is distinct or intelligible from start till the very end; why they selected the lower offer? The lead is portrayed eventually like a defeated knight, so why he's a knight? Why they wanted to defeat him? And how they did it?!! I'll never know.. from this movie!

To make the matter worse, Glenn Jordan's directing was dead, literally dead. The image doesn't say a thing. I believe there isn't one in the first place, since none was portrayed by it. All what I saw was people talking while walking across closed rooms, and that's it. Without much concentration, you can notice that Jordan intended to wrap it up as fast as he could, even if so many things, if not all the things, died out of heart failure, or we did earlier out of apoplexy. Hence, the outcome was the most long, unfunny and humdrum sitcom's episode in history!

The sets are all the same. Forget the cinematography. The music is primitive electronic thing; aside from being wearisome, it fits more a kid's show. Save Jonathan Pryce, all the actors talked the same tone. The good acting was like a fish in deep black water; hard to hunt, and hard to see. The editing made the movie so crowded without a space to breathe. Sometimes I wanted the cast to speak slower, sometimes I wanted a translation's boards, and sometimes I wanted to just scream!

So, with no smart writing and no directing, this lost its way, being a huge turn-off. Whenever I recall an American movie where its dialogue ruined it, this is the first one to remember. I saw theatricals, but flu hallucination, with more vitality and less talks. (Barbarians at the Gate) isn't a comedy about money. It's a nightmare about something I, with considerable struggle, couldn't totally catch on!

Uninteresting isn't the right word for it. It's SHUT UP!