A Fine Madness (1966)

I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

This is one of the few movies I've ever seen where the whole audience broke into spontaneous, loud applause a third of the way in.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

A Fine Madness (1966)Plot In A Paragraph: Samson Shillitoe (Connery) a genius poet, who is irresistible to women but is plagued by writer's block. I hate this movie. I bought a copy from France when I hadn't seen it, but wanted to complete my Connery collection. The collector in me is glad I did, but personally I wish I hadn't wasted my money. If you find Connery using his wife (Joanne Woodward) as a punching bag funny, you may enjoy it, but I don't find anything to laugh about here!! I will applaud Connery for trying something totally different in an attempt to move away from Bond, but I wish this wasn't the movie he chose to do so!! This is only the second time I watched it, and I have turned it off. A Fine Madness tanked at the box office.

When actors look back on their life's work, there will be film that they will wonder why they ever agreed to be part of it.I suspect that this might be the case with this film for two very fine and talented actors. Sean Connery and Joanne Woodward.The central premise of a self centred, self obsessed, wife abusing poet called Samson being chased for various reasons by various people and creating havoc is a limp plot. Even for the 1960's.As usual Sean Connery plays Sean Connery, but without his usual charismatic charm. Joanne Woodward's shrill whine becomes annoying after ten minutes of listening to it, and the supporting actors all look slightly embarrassed, as if the director just said, "Go for it, we've got James Bond, so it should be a hit." Not even a slightly good film, not even slightly a bad film, just an appallingly terrible film.

I saw this film when it was first released. It was a "fish out of water" comedy, a coarse brute running rampant among effete elitists. At that time, I had a lot of contact with numerous psychiatrist/psychoanalysts. This film brilliantly caught the self satisfied pomposity, the self promotional tendencies, and the double standards of this group. The psychoanalysts couldn't cope with this guy! I found this part of the film hilarious, although most of the humor would go unappreciated by those who didn't know any people in the psychoanalytic world.I have seen this film many times since then. Much of it now makes me wince. The field of psychoanalysis has imploded and almost disappeared. Making fun of the pretensions of a now forgotten group of elitists is no longer very funny. Thus, it is a clumsy, sexist mild comedy. Yet, see it as a document of its time, and it is worthwhile.

"A Fine Madness" is a very strange movie. It stars Sean Connery (with a very strange performance, one of his worst - somewhere between Bond and a plain ruffian; frankly, I don't think Connery is apt for any comedy at all) plus a lavish supporting cast consisting of renowned character actors - but, still, the film is horrible.It has an absolutely inane screenplay, and Irvin Kershner's (lack of) direction leaves a most confusing impression, even considering the somewhat strange Sixties style which was "en vogue" then. (John Addison's score, however is quite enjoyable.) You never know what's going to happen, and worse, you're not even interested in any of it. Nothing is truly funny, and some aspects are merely annoying (at least by today's standards), e.g. the jocularity of a man beating up his female companion. Samson Shillitoe is a despicable character, so you don't really convey any empathy for him or his needs. - What a waste of talent.