Us (1991)

A very feeble attempt at affirmatie action

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

Although I seem to have had higher expectations than I thought, the movie is super entertaining.

Yes it's a TV-Movie with very sentimental Value.Michael Landon Does another fine faithful role.But Most especially in this one of which as The Narrator in the Prologue to this film even said this is Michael Landon's last gift to us.Yes and suitably because it's entitled "Us."Also Now Knowing that it Was a Pilot to a TV-Series with the same name and just as another reviewer said Just when Michael Landon thought that he was relieved of his cancer and wanted to do a Pilot to serve as a start to a new TV-Series.he then suddenly went and as it would turn out it would be his last gift to us.Also still proving how he was just as faithful in Real Life as he was in many of his roles.Now onward to this TV-movie it's about a man named Jeff Hayes of whom served time in Jail for a Murder that he didn't commit but because of his faith both made the best of it while in jail and like when he did his wait lifting as well as upon release has a forgiving and good attitude to just move on.Faithfully,Stephen "Steve" G. Baer a.k.a."Ste" of Framingham,Ma.USA

Made with most of Michael Landon's usual behind-the-camera crew (except for composer David Rose, who had passed away the year before - Steve Dorff takes musical duties here), "Us," as has been documented elsewhere, was a 1991 pilot movie for a series that had been sold to CBS and which was only prevented from going ahead by Landon's untimely death that year. The pilot itself, though edging into stronger territory than he was associated with (which overlooks the fact that he starred in "I Was A Teenage Werewolf," as well as the darker episodes of "Little House on the Prairie" like the one with a faith healer who's unmasked as a fake when a boy he "cures" ends up dead), is at heart the story of three generations of a family getting to know each other, revolving around our hero (Landon) released from jail after 18 years for a crime he didn't commit, building his relationship with his dad and coming to grips with his own son.Although it opens with a robber in drag being gunned down by the cops and later has a lady of the night who our hero befriends becoming the seventh victim of a serial killer (a plot thread which surprisingly doesn't become a major thrust), for the most part sleaze is kept at bay with character and emotion the real selling points. As usual, it's sentimental (especially the end), but never unwatchable, and it's to Landon's credit as a writer-director that it doesn't scream "pilot" at you the way some others of its ilk do.You can see where this would have gone as a series; another look at people travelling across America and finding themselves, but at least this TV movie is far superior to the late Robert Urich's "Crossroads," which had a similar premise and did become a series. Not Landon's best, but watchable.

Michael Landon was at his full peak of best health at the time he wrote, filmed and assembled the pilot film in November and December of 1990. The story and characters are somewhat more realistic and edgier and Landon himself has elements of the last 3 characters he played ( Bonanza-Joe, Little House-Charles, Highway to Heaven-Jonathan ) in the new character of Jeff Hayes. Landon himself, in his own self is very evident in the character of Jeff. His master technique of acting is certainly very well evoking in this pilot film. His new hairstyles, trimmed-down muscular build and his own clothing ( except the MGM wardrobe prison garb ) and the 90's suburb-settings are more then a sign he did not look back to the past for limitless creativity, but the future. He was working out several weeks at the gym and at MGM, before he filmed this and many assumed this was made when he was sick with cancer, which is a big misconception to many of his fans. Untrue. Filming of the first 12 episodes was set for early June 1991, but tragedy occured some months before that would make this new series impossible. It's a showcase of something that would have been, perhaps his most satisfying role, had he not fell sick some 4 months later in February 1991, with pancreatic cancer, then diagnosed with it in April after sensing he was not well, spanning 5 months through July 1, 1991, to his demise. The US pilot was aired on CBS a few months after he died, in September 1991 and later reran in 1992. Since then on cable television and dish TV. Perhaps a most disturbing scene is in the first act of the film, he is walking down a Los Angeles street at night--and for the first time in his career--he is not accompanied by a sidekick, as with Victor French, Dan Blocker or Merlin Olson. Somewhat detached, seeing him alone in a scene, where most of the time, he's in the presence of another lead actor, as a co-hero. Ten months earlier in January 1990, while on Larry King, he recalled how a "Bonanza" remake would be impossible, since his closet co-stars had all died ( Pernell Roberts excluded, who is still living ), and some of the reality of these tragedies surface in US, in a subtle sense. Michael is there--but he should have his old-co-stars with him at some point of a scene--a modern and somber reminder time has marched on and they have been lost in death. He made an appearance on Entertainment Tonight-the Christmas 1990 edition and sadly the next one would be in April 1991, when he held the press conference at his Malibu home, announcing his grim illness to the world on television. He can never be replaced as the Master of Family Television and a good man, in every sense of the word.

This was the 2-hour pilot episode for a new TV show that Michael Landon began putting together when he was convinced that he was beating the cancer that eventually took his life (the show aired a few months after he died). Landon plays a man released from a long prison term after being cleared of the murder for which he was wrongfully convicted. His teenage son thinks he's dead, and Landon's relationship with his father isn't much better. The show seemed to be headed toward being (at least in part) a character study as the three generations of men re-build their relationships.Although still easily falling in line with Landon's trademark family-friendly dramas, "Us" appeared to be headed in a slightly edgier direction than his previous work -- the protagonists are far from perfect, issues aren't always resolved in an hour, etc. This show had promise; yet another aspect of what we lost when Landon died.