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Yar, you be here: Cradle Will Rock > Customer Reviews Cradle Will Rock Customer Reviews (1 - 3 of 23 Reviews)Pretty Good Film
Cradle Will Rock is a piece of theater history. It was made during the Great Depression in the 1930s when times were hard and entertainment was escapist. However, Cradle Will Rock was a generic story that made a dramatic statement about the times and how hard life was. It was so strong, it was banned, but the actors believed in the message so much they performed anyway at the risk of their jobs, something scarce and vital in those days. The writing in this film is incredibly well done and the cast is amazing. It is overflowing with notable actors (John Cusack, Hank Azaria, Susan Sarandon, Cary Elwes, Bill Murray, etc) and famous characters (Diego Rivera, William Randolph Hearst, Orson Welles, etc). Most films about this era are disappointing because they don't seem to capture it without being preachy or overly sentimental. This one is not perfect, but it is much closer. Aside from the historical stories, the film is actually interesting to watch and the characters are relatable. The music is done well too. The characters do not just burst into song; they have a reason for singing when they do, which is not too terribly often. The only complaint I have is the historical accuracy of some of the real characters. As a fan of silent films, I was disappointed to see that the few scenes with Marion Davies managed to portray her as a drunk and a dimwit. Even Hearst was portrayed to be rather overbearing and pompous. Still, they were a minor part of the action and did not ruin the film. A True American Film - "We Do Our Part"
I have never seen a more splendid movie, nor splendid play within a movie - which this film is about. The producer, Tim Robbins, is a saint for finally producing this wonderful play of FDR's Federal Theater Project and putting it into a modern wonderful film. The result is awesome. The theme, cast and photography are exquisite. There are no flaws in this film. This great film serves as final justice for a great and wonderful play written for the Federal Theater Project that was never shown, yet deserved the highest accolades as one of the greatest plays ever written, produced or played. The wonder and glory of this great film is not only the initial play's great value, but the conditions of complete oppression and repression under which it was, nevertheless, written, produced, viewed and reviewed. The vision is extraordinary and actually will make other such spectacles, for example, such as the Grand Canyon, seem as they really are, in comparison, such a petty thing. Do you want to see something that makes the Grand Canyon seem petty? See "Cradle Will Rock". It is one of the greatest films and stories and chronicles of all time! Dance of the Dialectics
The time was 1936-the painful apex of the Great Depression. This was the world inhabited by the plethora of characters in this film. Most of them were real people-augmented by fictional counterparts. Composer Marc Blitzstein was real-as was his Brechtian musical. Its opening night is still considered the most extraordinary night in the history of American theatre. Rockefeller, Hearst, Diego Rivera, Orson Welles, and John Houseman were all real-and they did have a struggle with Actor's Equity and Federal Theatre Project (1935-39). Tim Robbins, director, kept the film moving at a frenetic pace-flowing smoothly-overlapping several sub-plots and vignettes-and pulling it all together for the opening night of the landmark Marxist musical play. He cast his lovely lady-Susan Sarandon, in the small part of Mussolini's mistress Margherita. She shined as usual. Hank Azaria was very intense and effective as the composer Blitzstein-who heard "music" while immersed in the strife of the times. Ruben Blades played the artist Diego Rivera quite effectively-but that part will always belong to Alfred Molina after his turn in FRIDA (2002). John Cusack played NY mayor Nelson Rockefeller. Angus MacFadyen hammed it up a bit much as the young tiger-Orson Welles. Carey Elwes played John Houseman with a bit of a limp wrist. Cherry Jones was very good as Hallie Flanagan-head of the FTP. Vanessa Redgrave had a ball playing Countess LaGrange. Philip Baker Hall was the fictitious steel magnate-Gray Mathers. Bill Murray did a grand job playing ventriloquist-Tommy Crickshaw. Joan Cusack was prissy-good as muckraker Hazel Huffman. Emily Watson lifted our spirits playing down-on-her-luck Olive Stanton. John Turturro stood out as the young actor and family man-Aldo Silvano. The supporting cast was huge. It included Bernard Hughes, John Carpenter, Gretchen Mol, Jack Black, Paul Giamatti, Bob Balaban, and Harris Yulin. Robbins has created an epic film with multiple narrative threads-endeavoring to encapsulate an entire world in turmoil-and set it to music. He adopted the point of view of the artist-the prince of players at the head of his troupe of swirling acrobats, jugglers, singers and actors. But when these many plot lines and battalions of characters are thoroughly mixed-and the denouement emerges-he pulled everything together into a precarious balance-performing a kind of performance magic. Based on the film's BO records (modest revenues)-a lot of people out there did not have the patience, education, stamina, or motivation to hold on for the full ride. It is not a film for the faint of focus. It takes a throbbing love of theatre and film to ride it full-tilt to the final buzzer and roll of credits.
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