The Great Santini (1979)

How sad is this?

Good story, Not enough for a whole film

Don't listen to the negative reviews

A different way of telling a story

It's 1962. Lieutenant Colonel Wilbur "Bull" Meechum (Robert Duvall) is a great Marine pilot also known as "The Great Santini". He returns from Spain to reunite with his loyal wife Lillian (Blythe Danner) and their four children. He's a drunk domineering presence and a stern disciplinarian. He refuses to accept defeat by his son Ben (Michael O'Keefe) at basketball. Ben struggles against his bullying and his drunkenness. Mary Anne is the bespectacled daughter. Everybody suffers under his tyranny. Ben befriends the stuttering son of the cook Toomer (Stan Shaw) who is harassed by racist redneck Red Petus (David Keith).This is great dominating performance from Duvall. I wish it was matched by an equally compelling performance from Michael O'Keefe. Quite frankly, David Keith would make a better son. O'Keefe is simply overpowered and that is not all about his character. It's the difference between an acting legend and a beginner. O'Keefe is a good looking all-American guy but he isn't able to match Duvall's darkness or intensity. Keith would have been able to.

Lt. Col. 'Bull' Meechum (Robert Duvall) is a wildcat Marine Pilot stationed stateside ; at the beginning , he along with his family are living in Spain , then , they return to USA . The family is formed by father , mother (Blythe Danner) and children (Michael O'Keefe as Ben , Lisa Jane Persky as Mary Anne , Julie Anne Haddock as Karen and Brian Andrews as Matthew Meechum) . They are a dysfunctional family , rigidly governed by the father , as he abuses and deals them in military style , because he doesn't allow himself any other way yo show his affection .The motion picture mingles tenderness , warm humor , racism with harsh cruelties inherent with unsettling as well unpleasant main character , including his repressed emotions , frustrated career and family mistreat . According to author Pat Conroy, Lt. Col. Bull Meecham is based entirely on his own father, Donald Conroy, a Marine fighter pilot who referred to himself in the third person as "The Great Santini." Donald Conroy took the nickname from a magician he'd seen as a child ; in fact Pat and Donald Conroy were on the set on the day . Producers gratefully acknowledge the technical assistance of the US Marine Corps , in the production of this picture . The movie was virtually undistributed and originally released directly to cable and airlines, under the title "The Ace" , when the NY Times reviewed it very favorably, it was pulled from cable, and released due to critical acclaim to theaters under the title "The Great Santini" . Very good acting by Robert Duvall as an aggressively competitive, but frustrated marine pilot strictly related to his family with whom he shares a strident and sometimes fun love-hatred relationship . Skillful acting especially from the youngsters with special mention to Miles O'Keefe . And standout performance by Blythe Danner ; despite playing the mummy , Blythe Danner is only 12 years older than children Michael O'Keefe and Lisa Jane Persky . Secondary cast is pretty good such as Stan Shaw , Paul Gleeson , Paul Mantee , Michael Strong and David Keith film debut .Atmospheric cinematography by Ralph Woolsey , filmed on location in South Carolina and in Samuel Goldwyn studios , Hollywood Calif. Cameraman used lenses and Panaflex camera by Panavision , prints by Technicolor . In 1981, the movie got nods for nominated for Academy Awards to actor and supporting actor. Rousing musical score by the master Elmer Bernstein in his particular as well as martial style . The motion picture was professionally written and directed by Lewis Jon Carlino who extracted good performances and well-developed events .He is a writer and director, known for The mechanic , Mafia , Seconds ; having only directed three films : Class , The Sailor Who Fell from Grace with the Sea and this Great Santini .

"The Great Santini" stars Robert Duvall as Bull Meechum, an idle marine pilot without a war. Military indoctrination, boredom, bottled-up aggression, and the stresses of living up to a confused version of masculinity, result in Duvall constantly feuding with, dominating and bullying his small family. Much of the episodic film consists of a series of macho rituals between Duvall and his son, played by Michael O'Keefe.The film is structured as a coming-of-age tale, O'Keefe juggling both hate and an appreciation of his father as he negotiates his own path into manhood. It's a bombastic, explosive melodrama, but the characters are too one-dimensional – Duvall's Colonel Kilgore from "Apocalypse Now", an ogre with no off-switch, and no effort is made to explain why his obviously intelligent family sticks so close to him – and the film missteps with a last act sequence in which Meechum sacrifices his life to prevent an air-plane crashing into a residential area. This moment is designed to rehabilitate Meechum in our eyes, to portray men like him as being "needed" and "necessary" in the "war" against those who "threaten our towns". He's a hard-hearted brute, the film acknowledges, but look at his soft, good and noble side. The film is set in 1962. The Vietnam war arrives with Meechum's death, the audience now ready for a little well-meaning murder, rape and pillaging.The film makes several interesting links between sports and warfare, and gives Meechum's daughter, played by Lisa Jane Persky, a number of good lines. She's constantly taunting her father, weaselling her way under his skin and getting away with it.7.9/10 – Worth one viewing for Duvall's scenery chewing. No alcoholic, abusive man who has faced disciplinary charges would be granted the opportunity to fly a fighter jet today. The air-force likes well mannered killers.

Lt. Colonel Wilbur "Bull" Meecham(Robert Duvall,well-cast and brilliant)is one of the best Marine pilots in the Corps and would be perfectly at home at any war(and were guessing he saw some action,either or both in Korea and WWII),gutsy,smart,determined and brave as all get out. Unfortunately for him,the years is 1962,and other than a VERY chilly Cold War(strange,incidentally,that the Cuban Missile crisis,to my recollect,never came up in this film. Not once!),there is no real battle for him to ply his well-honed skills.This does not bode particularly well for his large,loving and recessive family. His wife Lillian(Blythe Danner,lilting beauty),a head-strong Catholic Southern belle,adores her husband but is all-too aware of his temper and ego;his oldest son Ben(Michael O'Keefe in a truly underrated performance),is equal parts his own,thoughtful,sensitive young man coming into his own and yet very much like his father in more basic ways;the oldest daughter Mary Ann(Lisa Jane Persky,not wasting ANY of her scenes) feels like the red-headed stepchild,literally AND figuratively,and the two youngest(Julie Anne Haddock and Brian Andrews),who seem lost in the shuffle. They love their husband/father,but seem to be completely powerless against his unrelenting competitive persona and gruff persona. Bull saves his strongest lessons and,in his mind,greatest spoils for Ben,and this is where the movie is at its strongest.A side story where Ben befriends Toomer(Stan Shaw),the gentle,stuttering son of their housekeeper is well-meant and touching in and of itself,but seems somewhat misplaced here.As a whole movie,it feels like a bit of a mash-up;I suspect that screenwriter and director Lewis John Carlino figured that he had to "boil down" Pat Conroy's novel to make a neat,two-hour-fitting narrative,but it feels a bit forced. I'd also be lying if I said that I didn't think that some elements(the music,editing,pacing come to mind)age badly,because they seem to have done just that. With all that said,however,the actors from Duvall,himself a Navy vet to Shaw's Toomer are so heartfelt,intense and memorable that this movie is able to hold up with ANY vibrancy some thirty years after its release. Worth a look,particularly for military families and/or fans of the actors involved.