“The Last of Robin Hood”

My review of “The Last of Robin Hood”

I saw the movie on Friday 13, 2013 at its world premier at the Toronto International Film Festival – TIFF.

It is a great movie and very, very tastefully done and I had a ball! One has to appreciate that this is not a high budget film, we all knew that anyway but for me it was done extremely well. Most likely the directors said afterwards maybe we could have done it this or that way. Hindsight is always 20/20 vision, we all do it and most likely I will do the same with my review. Oh, I forgot to say this and that!

The credits were enormous, I would say more than hundred names came up and of course our very own Robert Florczak was amongst them! Congratulation Robert, a job well done!

The actors are really well chosen!

Kevin Kline portrays Errol extremely well. What a great actor to duplicate Errol so well, which I would say – a most difficult task indeed! Kevin Kline has his gestures, how he applied his charm in various situations and or how he bewilders Florence, his haughtiness or flamboyancy at times or his fun loving nature, Kevin Kline shows it all.
The make-up artists did a great job as he looked quite a lot like Errol.
What a superb acting in his malaria attack and in particular the dying scene just gripping, totally outstanding. Tears came to my eyes!

Susan Sarandon plays Florence very well. Of course, not knowing Florence it is hard to tell how authentic Susan Sarandon was – but she made me believe – yes – this most likely was Florence. As a matter of fact one could feel how disappointed Florence was with her life and her dreams not materializing and as she tries to live her life through her daughter by trying to make her a star. Susan Sarandon reveals in her portrayal, right or wrong, that she tried her best to make a dream come true, if not for herself at least for Beverly. Florence not a well educated woman and therefore thought that Errol is the answer to her prayers. Susan Sarandon’s performance is so genuine of a stage struck mother who would walk on hot coals to get what she wants.

Dakota Fanning plays a very lovely Beverly and again as Beverly is not known to us at that time in her life the judgment of performance how the real Beverly was is very hard. In the movie she plays an obedient daughter and lives her mother’s dream until she meets Errol. She then is much more interested in Errol than in a stage carrier. At least that’s how it comes across in the movie. She plays a passive very nice Beverly not at all like described in Earl Conrad’s “A Memoir”. As a matter of fact, I did not really believe Earl Conrad’s description of Beverly as coarse, ill-mouthed teenager. Maybe he was out for sensational writing to sell his book. It is very sad that in our society writings have to have tainted, grimy and/or scandalous content in order to appeal to the public. And of course anybody who was in the writing business took advantage of Errol making his escapades 10 times worse than they really were. When ever there was a possibility they were over him like vulgers.

Dakota Fanning fits the role very well. She gives Beverly warmth and sensitivity. She had to have some of these qualities as Errol himself was always very well mannered. He would have not put up with bad, ill mannered and swearing behavior.
Dakota Fanning is a very good actress and gives a great performance in portraying Beverly!

The Film shows that Errol and Beverly had a very nice believable relationship. We must here consider what is written by authors that Errol never outlived his youth, judging by his often immature mischievous behavior.  Maybe Beverly gave him a kind of reliving youth or fulfilled a yearning of his soul; we don’t know – only Errol and Beverly know what was what!  I think their love for each other was genuine.

Who are we or anybody for that matter to judge this relationship or any relationship?  Are we Judge and Jury like those scandalous News Mongers who are able to make out of a fly an elephant?  It was the media who blew everything out of context, adding and weaving nasty vicious connotations into this relationship or into anything and with it brainwashing the public to believe these distortions.  In my opinion it is a crime what these reporters and or critics are allowed to do with their vicious reporting and often destroy lives in their quest of sensationalizing news by twisting and turning the truth.

My mother always used to say and very wisely so “Sweep the dirt in front of your own door you will have no time to sweep at somebody else’s door”!

The movie does not show any actual places and leaves out Jamaica altogether. It does not say anything about the writing of MWWW.
But to show it all, most likely the movie would need to be five hours long. Yet it does touch on many of the places they were and it is very well done, considering the budget.
Beverly is seen in a shot on a yacht, representing the Zaca, so maybe there is truth in it that Errol and Beverly visited the Zaca on their way home from Africa. Or when they made a trip to England and went from there to see the Zaca. The trip to England is not mentioned in the movie either but like I said, it is impossible to show it all.

A very nice touch at the end was that they showed a picture of Errol and another one from Beverly.
I think it is a very good movie and everybody should see it. If I have a chance and find it playing some place I most definitely see it again or if a DVD is produced – I buy it.
I am so happy to have had the chance to see it! Maybe not so bad to live in Toronto after all!

I had a great time and I wish you the same when you will see it!

— Tina