I've seen it at the movies when it was released - it captured me! I bought the DVD some ten years later and I've watched it about 3x so far - and with every time I've watched it, it got worse. I haven't quite managed to put my finger on it as to the "why?" I mean, the ingredients are there: Great, experienced actors with an impressive track record and delivering great performances, a great location, the material/historic backdrop feels authentic and should make for some additional drama in its own right, music by - come on! That's GOTTA count for something - Dave Grusin, an experienced director and a great book. But something's completely - I mean COMPLETELY! - off about the whole thing... It "feels" like coffee that's been sitting in the pot all day, like veggies that have been simmering for a hair too long, like whipped cream that's been in the sun for a few seconds too long... shall I go on? But why? WHAT exactly is it? Is it the timing? I'm thinking, it must have to do with the timing and pace of the flick, every line of dialog feels just shallow and almost empty and in a way corny, when they deliver it. Maybe Redford tries to hard to be all cool about this, maybe Olin wants to come across as Latina too hard, the entire thing feels as if everyone had overeaten and was tired from that when coming to the set... It's a shame... the material COULD have made for another classic much along the lines of its famous precursor. But in the end, it all feels like wanting to replace Coca Cola by Pepsi - not the real thing and totally dispensable... The box-office failure is totally deserved in my view...
