The Last of Robin Hood (2013) Reviews

• Kevin and Susan at Their Best

  aharmas2014-09-13

  I knew Flynn was an icon and a superstar in the golden age of Hollywood, a dashing figure who knew how to create controversy, was both loved and despised by many, and sort of remains a legend in the world of cinema. This film explores the last part of his life, as he became involved in another questionable relationship, which allowed to depart in the middle of another sensational moment. Kevin Kline does a superb job bringing the star to life. He is at the moment when he has started fading because of financial and health problems. He has managed to hide behind his star facade, but if you get close enough, you can see how vulnerable he really is, and it's at this moment that he finds the "last of his loves", a relationship that we never really understand, but that hints at the possibility that both parties might have at least been fond of each other. In order to create that, we are given the character of Flo, a real life mother who has been living her dreams through her daughter's attempts to break into show business. We learn she has driven her quietly, breaking rules, lying, exposing her to risky situations so she can achieve vicariously what she missed earlier in her youth. She's damaged good both physically and mentally, and later she finds she shares a lot in common with Flynn. It's hard to excuse either, and in the middle is Dakota's Beverly, who is hungry for attention, affection, and maybe fame. The problem is that she lands in the middle of Flynn and Florence, and she is a simple soul, with very little acting or singing talent. The film takes you back to a time when society might have looked different and might have pretended to be different, but we have predators, victims, dreamers, and plenty of nightmares. Flynn and Florence have alcoholic demons in both their existences. Both lives will end as a result of the damages caused by that drug. It's here where both Kline and Sarandon are able to do their best work by showing as much as possible of what lives inside these people's souls. We can't hate them completely, and they try hard to earn our sympathy, but we could never really go along with it, yet we keep watching until the logical resolution. The film is not perfect, but it's a good effort that shows the last part of the lives of three flawed individuals and how their interaction became part of a legend's final act.

• Better Than I Expected

  larrys32015-03-04

  After reading the poor reviews of this film I was expecting very little, but ended up surprised that it was better than I expected. I would say that this was mainly due to the superb acting of the 3 stars here, Kevin Kline, Susan Sarandon, and Dakota Fanning. I also had to take my own personal "moral police meter" and put it aside , to review the movie on its merits and not my moral judgments, something perhaps some viewers will not want to do. Set in the latter years of the 1950's, the tale focuses on the 2 year relationship between the world famous actor Errol Flynn and the 15 year old Beverly Aadland. Kline is excellent as Flynn, known for his lecherous and playboy ways, and who spots the chorus girl and aspiring actress Aadland on a movie set and immediately takes steps to seduce her. However, Beverly, also superbly portrayed by Fanning, does not appear to be your typical teen looking to bask in the fame and fortune of Flynn. She actually appears to like him and his company, I guess you could say as much as a 15 year old is able to. Then there's Florence, Beverly's mother, and Sarandon just "nails it" here with her portrayal of the super ambitious "stage mother", who even has groomed her daughter to look and act older than her years ( having a fake birth certificate handy showing she's 18 years old). Florence seems to be pushing Beverly to succeed because her own career as a dancer was cut short when she lost a leg in an auto accident, and now wears a prosthetic device. Thus the remainder of the film will focus on the enmeshed lives of the three personalities, and how they will try and hide what's going on from the public and the media. However, there will come a time after the death of Flynn, in 1959, when most serious repercussions will have to be faced. I read that the filmmakers Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland (Still Alice) tried to focus on the story rather than the morality of it all, and, as mentioned, that's what I tried to do as well. The movie itself I thought was quite absorbing, led by the strong acting of the three leads plus the fine supporting cast, and was enhanced by actual photos, at the end, of the real characters portrayed and some of what happened to them in future years.

• Soft-Peddled Display of Errol Flynn's Final and Respectful Conquest

  LeonLouisRicci2015-05-11

  Errol Flynn, a "Larger than Life" Movie Star who Shined as Brightly as His On Screen Persona would let Him. An Adventurous and Handsome Man with Agile Abilities and a Killer Smile Who Could and Would Woo Audiences and Young Girls with Equal Ease. His Self-Destructive Lifestyle is Legendary. In this Movie, Kevin Kline States..."I was told by a Doctor that if I didn't stop drinking and doing drugs I would be dead in six months...that was ten years ago and I have lived every day and night since, as if it would be my last." He certainly Did. Considered a Rogue, a Womanizer, and Immature (all true), Flynn was a Likable and Fun Guy to be Around by most Accounts. It seems that Beverly Aadland (Dakota Fanning) was Smitten and this is Their Story. The Last Two Years of Flynn's Life, totally Dedicated to Beverly, are Seen here as a Romantic Tale of Two People that are Devoted. Sure, the Age Difference is Extreme and She is Under Age (15 but posses a birth certificate stating she's 18, acquired by her career controlling Mom played by Susan Sarandon). In the Movie Their Illicit Behavior is Shown as Respectful and Not Salacious. It's a Little Movie about a Big Star and a Chorus Girl, Not an Unfamiliar Situation, and the Film Plays it perfectly Straight and Not Explosive. The Good Cast is Better than the Soft-Peddled Script and Everything is Underwritten, Underplayed, and Undeserving of "My Wicked Wicked Ways" Author and Beverly Aadland. Not an Awful Account of what happened, but perhaps Not as Good as it Might Have Been. Fiction is Stranger than Truth. After Viewing this You Might Not Think that Their Relationship was that Strange after all.

• Fine acting but a problematic script

  richard-17872015-03-03

  Kevin Kline and Susan Sarandon give fine performances in this movie, as they so often have done. That doesn't make this movie better, however. The script has lots of holes, unfortunately. The clearest, best-developed character is the mother, a sad version of Mama Rose from Gypsy. She had dreamed of being a dancer, but when that was denied her by an accident, she undertook to raise her daughter to be in show business, and thus to live through her. That explains most of her actions in the movie. Flynn's character is less well-developed. Why his fascination with this particular young girl? Why does he become involved with heroin? Kline makes him a fascinating, charismatic character, as Flynn evidently was in life even to the end, but the script never lets us really see behind the charming facade. The daughter, Beverly, remains the most enigmatic. Does she really want a career in show business? What does she see in Flynn? She is the last person we see in the movie, but we never really see inside her. Once Flynn dies, the other two characters aren't interesting enough to hold our attention for the last 15-20 minutes of the movie. It's worth watching once for Kline as Flynn, but I wouldn't watch it again. --------------------------- After seeing this movie I happened to catch *My Favorite Year* on TCM. It's an infinitely better movie, because it approaches Erol Flynn in his last years in a different way. Rather than attempting to be a docudrama, *My Favorite Year* is a fantasy on how Flynn might have been in his last years. The script is not shackled to history. Rather, it is free to soar. And soar it does. Peter O'Toole creates a bigger-than-life Flynn, not tied down by any effort to be faithful to reality. Nor does he try to imitate Flynn. Rather, he creates a character who faces the issue that *The Last of Robin Hood* never really confronts: the conflict Flynn must have felt between the image of him that the studio created, largely through his adventure films, and the real Erol Flynn. The whole movie is wonderful, but the greatest moment comes at the end, during the crazy live TV show, when O'Toole's character gets caught up in his own legend and becomes the swash-buckler he had played so many times on screen. It's magic, a magic we never see, alas, in *The Last of Robin Hood.* If you're a fan of Kevin Kline, a great actor, see *The Last of Robin Hood* once to see his fine performance as Flynn. But if you're a fan of Erol Flynn, pass on *The Last of Robin Hood* and see *My Favorite Year.* You will love it.

• The odd couple

  tomsview2015-12-11

  Anthony Hopkins and Toby Jones did amazing work as Alfred Hitchcock; Meryl Streep was incredible as Margaret Thatcher while Helen Mirren was gobsmacking as the Queen, but Kevin Kline's portrayal of the aging Errol Flynn is positively eerie. He looks like him, he speaks like him and he has caught the mannerisms. Kline was 15 years older than Flynn, but Errol's hard-living evened things up; its almost as though he has crossed back from the other side. To modern generations, Errol Flynn, if they have heard of him at all, would have to be of passing interest at best, and this movie about his last love affair with Beverly Aadland must seem an odd little movie. Dakota Fanning may even be of more interest. Possibly they would also be put off by the age difference between Errol and Beverly - he was pushing 50 and she was 15. However for those of us who were alive when Flynn was still making films, and were interested enough to read any of the books about the guy, this movie is close to fascinating. With some knowledge of his life, you have to appreciate all the little touches seeded throughout the film. One was the way the relationship with Beverly starts with Flynn trying his well-practiced technique of seducing women by discussing with a co-conspirator in front of them how perfect they would be for a part in an upcoming production. However, after taking advantage of her in a somewhat disturbing scene, his feelings for her go beyond a quick conquest and they become involved in an oddly-matched and dangerous relationship. Much of the movie is told from the viewpoint of Beverly's mother, Florence, played by Susan Sarandon, who comes across as the stage mother from hell. Rather than being overshadowed by Kline, it's Dakota Fanning's movie too. She underplays while projecting naïveté on the one hand, and worldliness beyond her years on the other. The last part of the movie shows the effect her unwanted celebrity has on her stability, while Florence actually revels in it. The film has been criticised, scathingly by some reviewers, not only for skimpy production values, but also for sanitising the relationship, and for not taking more of a moral stance over the underage aspect. However, I do feel we are made aware of the situation throughout the film, and it doesn't ever really get a seal of approval. Nevertheless, according to Roland Fisher, Beverly Aadland's husband of 40 years, she admitted to loving Errol Flynn until the day she died (in 2010). Knowing a fair bit about the subject probably has a lot to do with whether or not you will appreciate this film - I for one found it totally absorbing.