Love and Death on Long Island (1998)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Strong acting helps the film overcome an uncertain premise and create characters that hold our attention absolutely.

There's a DEATH IN VENICE quality to this low-key story about a British writer's consuming interest in the career of a handsome young man (JASON PRIESTLEY) whom he only knows from his reflection on the silver screen in a bunch of puerile teen flicks. He becomes so obsessed with his fantasy of meeting the lad that he, on the advice of his agent, takes a vacation--all the way to Long Island where the actor is spending time before heading back to his next film in Los Angeles.***POSSIBLE SPOILER***He manages to sneak his way into the lives of the actor and his girlfriend while interesting Priestley with his talk about becoming a more fully-rounded actor in the English tradition of Shakespeare and so forth...and perhaps even writing material for him. But the payoff to the whole story of this pursuit comes during the last ten minutes when he invites Priestley to a diner where they can have a quiet talk about Priestley's future--and more importantly, Hurt's confession of love.It's this final scene in which the two men really show their worth as actors. Hurt is excellent as he slowly gets to the point--a point that Priestley is slow to get--and once made, the look on Priestley's face is priceless as the camera stays on his inscrutable expression before he takes his leave. A very touching scene, extremely well acted.Summing up: Not for everyone, slow to develop its theme but very effective once Hurt actually meets Priestley.

A carefully directed, although too slowly paced drama with a difference, it is not nearly perfect, but some interesting ideas and an effective performance from Jason Priestley are able to keep it afloat. There is too much time dedicated to Hurt alone on screen, as his fish-out-of-water scenes are dry and unoriginal. However, the final third of the film, when Hurt and Priestley meet, is definitely worth watching for, as the film starts to head into some original territory. Hurt is reasonably good, though not nearly as great as Priestley is, and the film has a few interesting things to say. It is hard to call this a good film as such - but it is certainly easy to recommend it for having interesting elements.

We just rented this junker by accident and thank whatever, it was a freebie. If we had paid for this turkey, we would have DEMANDED our money back. The story was telegraphed from the first frame - (SPOILER) - English widower sees hunk in movie, gets obsessed, follows obsession, has adventures, meets obsession, is rejected, starts new life.Hurt phoned in the performance, Priestly did what Priestly does best - NOTHING - except look like a C list porn boy, and everyone else mugged. The best things about this appalling piece of dreck were the dog, Strider, and the vintage Porsche. And oh yes, there were no egregious errors when it came to the scenes shot in London.Don't waste your time, your money, or usage of your DVD. This is movie that ranks up there with 'Battlefield Earth' , 'Ishtar', and 'Gigli'. Despite the comments of others, this is an dreadful piece of rubbish and if someone gave me a copy it would end up as a coaster or in the microwave.

This film turned up late at night on TV in Australia for the first time recently. John Hurt is magnificent as an innocent abroad. An English writer who lives in New York but pretends it's Edwardian London, he suddenly decides to venture into the real world and sees a teen film by mistake, falling in love with a young actor.There are some rather predictable scenes showing humorous incidents where the naive Giles learns about the modern world - vide a million other films like Crocodile Dundee - but the acting is so good that you can mostly ignore the feeling of deja vu.One of the best things about this film is that it never goes over the top. There are no explosions or car chases, the President of the USA doesn't get involved, and nor does the popular press. It's funny, poignant, literate and a joy to watch.