Out of Africa (1985)

Note- I love Howards End, The Enchanted April, etc.

You may find this old thread of interest.

It IS Out of Africa!

I love the score. And Meryl is great as usual. But I thought overall it was boring. Redford was completely miscast.

It kind of SHRIEKS chick flick to me. Never watched it, never will.

It is long but Redford is nice to look at.

It’s boring AF.

Amazing cinematography and costumes, the score was beautiful.

It's the only movie that made me fall asleep in a movie theater. Nice cinematography, though.

It's a little draggy and Redford is dreadfully miscast but it's my favorite Meryl performance. She's breathtaking (MARY!). And the score and the scenery are gorgeous. Klaus Maria Brandauer should have won the Oscar. Also, Iman is very touching in a tiny, silent role.

The book isn't a "classical novel"; it's a memoir.

Redford's acting was flat.

What a dull movie. I've tried to watch it a few times and just can't get through it. It is beautiful looking, though.

Suzanna Hamilton is in it, I liked her. She was in quite a few things in the 1980s including the film version of Orwell's 1984 that was released in 1984 with John Hurt and Richard Burton.

Redford shampoos Streep’s hair. Then they hold hands in a plane built for two as he teaches her the joy of flying. It’s Streep’s head of hair, not her crotch. It was still considered very romantic.

The views from the plane are spectacular, best part of the movie.

what was the redford character supposed to be like?

if the character was supposed to be a noncommittal, standoffish, selfish man, then he was perfect.

Uhh had a fawwwm een Offreeka, at duh fut uff the Nyong Heeels…

It's not as good as "In and Out of Africa", which played at a Times Square XXX theater a couple years later.

R12 not news, as he was a total zero as an actor.

R17 - Babs Brolin

It's a great movie. Had a better actor than Redford been cast, it would be a classic. The acting (except Redford), the music, the cinematography, costumes, everything, is just exceptional. It helps if you know a little about Isak Binesen. It's still one of my favorite movies.

Out of Africans

Even Redford's puzzling flat performance can't ruin this film.

the soundtrack is magnifique!

It’s a masterpiece. Redford is the only thing boring about it.

"Shoo!"

I always have loved this film. Redford struggles to sound like a Brit, but Streep has never been better. One of the all-time great movie epics.

Redford didn’t even attempt an accent because he and Sidney Pollack decided that it would be too distracting. I think it was lazy.

Who would’ve been a better choice than Redford?

Out of Shit

Maybe Julian Sands R30?

On streaming, I would recommend watching it in 30 minute segments, like a miniseries. I loved it on its release in theaters but it’s too much on TV to watch all at once. Great storytelling, cinematography and Meryl is divine.

[quote] Maybe Julian Sands R30?

Julian was iced out of the role.

I really loved Out of Africa

R30 Charles Dance?

R30. Jeremy Irons?

Sam Neill

I second the assessment R10 gives of Meryl, but I’d say that I really enjoy the movie. I think Redford’s flat affect in the movie was a good fit for the character - he was both intensely desirable but persistently distant/unreachable. No matter how desperately she wanted to feel certain that she possessed some part of him, there was always that wall she had to punch through.

I love it. I know it’s a bit overlong but I did care about the story enough to finish it. It’s not a bad re-watch either.

Gene Siskel was never my favorite critic but I did laugh when he said; "My basic problem with this otherwise sumptuous and well-acted film is that I never was able to accept Redford in character ... He seems distant to the point of distraction. He is not convincing in his period outfits. He looks and acts as if he just walked out of the safari fitting room at Abercrombie & Fitch.”

R12, Redford is always flat.

Maybe Bob was intimidated by Meryl. Of course, he got top billing.

Out of Ass

{quote]Maybe Bob was intimidated by Meryl.

He was also intimidated by Dustin, Jane, Streisand, George Segal, Natalie, Dunaway, Newman, Spacek, Mia Farrow, Freeman, Brad Pitt, Hackman, Glenn, Poitier, Tom Cruise... or was Redford simply smug and self-satisfied?

On top of everything, Bob is not accepting the aging process very well. BAD wigs and bad plastic surgery.

He should have tried for an accent in OOA. Get a coach.

I remember when Jack Palance beat Klaus Maria Brandauer that year for Best Supporting Actor and then celebrated his win by doing push ups on stage.

Lots of good alternative suggestions for Finch Hatton. James Fox or Liam Neeson might have been good too. I think they felt they had to have a big box office star because the story itself might be considered a bit esoteric, so they played it safe and had a huge hit.

Don Ameche beat Brandauer.

Redford’s ego is so huge that he thinks that he just has to be there and that’s it. Extremely image conscious.

Peter O'Toole of course

This should be fun

Loved the book and loved the movie. I’m in the minority in that I found Redford’s portrayal a good interpretation of the character. He was attractive to Meryl as an escape from her cheating husband but was not someone who she could possess for long. He was in love with the freedom that Africa provided.

Efrica.

I saw the movie in 1986. Redford’s dull performance ruined what could’ve been a superior film. I thought why couldn’t they have dug up Clark Gable and cast it properly? But then they’d have to dig up Olivia de Havilland to play the Streep part.

OP great choice. Wonderfully filmed, Street terrific, good story and a top class score. With Howard's End, you can't go wrong.

[quote] But then they’d have to dig up Olivia de Havilland to play the Streep part.

I was alive at the time, and others were so young. No need to dig me up then.

[quote] With Howard's End, you can't go wrong.

But we’re discussing Out of Africa.

R56, we need the Olivia in her 30s.

Newman and Redford would have been the perfect Jack and Ennis in Brokeback Mountain.

Redford is too image conscious to play a gay man. It’s why his character in INSIDE DAISY CLOVER was altered. He’s a cipher with blond bangs. Now he’s a cipher with a bad toupee.

R60, correct that to BLEACHED blond bangs. The gay part in Daily Clover was inserted after. Redford was incensed even though he was an unknown in his second movie.

R61 I didn’t know that. I thought he had the screenplay altered to merely hint at him being bisexual as opposed to being gay.

He was merely frau bait. At least Warren Beatty had some personality onscreen.

Both Redford and Beatty are only so-so actors. Ryan O’Neal could have performed every role Beatty did, and in many cases better. Yes Warren is considered the better actor.

That should be a poll; who should have played

Finch Hatton:

Redford? Charles Dance? Timothy Dalton? Jeremy Irons? Julian Sands? Sam Neill? Bob Peck? Jonathan Pryce? etc.

Karen Blixen:

Streep? Helen Mirren? Glenn Close? Candace Bergen?

I seriously doubt that Bergen would have been able to do the Danish accent.

Pia Zadora would've been perfect.

Or Brigitte Nielsen, if you wanted an actual Dane in that role.

Streep was perfect

Frank Langella mentions in his memoir that Jill Clayburgh met with Sidney Pollack but she told Langella that she knew Meryl was going to get it.

R29, that's not quite right; Redford worked on the accent and had it all ready to go and Pollack nixed it last-minute. Redford was PISSED and it contributed to their falling out. But I agree with others, it would have been completely ridiculous and distracting.

In a nutshell, I'm with R4.

[quote] Both Redford and Beatty are only so-so actors. Ryan O’Neal could have performed every role Beatty did, and in many cases better. Yes Warren is considered the better actor.

Ryan O'Neal is pretty one-note, as well. He was gorgeous, when young. He ended up with the face and body he deserved, though.

R65 I think Bergen could, she is a good actress when trying

Oh brother, R72. Candice Bergen when "trying" is a one notch over Ali MacGraw.

Fun fact: I was eating lunch at the restaurant adjacent to the Karen Blixen house/museum (outside Nairobi, Kenya) with my tour group in March of 2020 when we were advised we were going to be "evacuated" that afternoon due to COVID. Our tour was supposed to last three more days, but it was cut short due to the pandemic.

^^^I’ll take “Glamorizing Colonialism” for $500 Alex.^^^^

R69 thank god it wasn’t Clayburgh

What kind of buttfuckery keeps this thread going day after day?

It's a slow moving movie but i loved every minute of it. Meryl is great in it.

[quote] Redford? Charles Dance? Timothy Dalton? Jeremy Irons? Julian Sands? Sam Neill? Bob Peck? Jonathan Pryce? etc.

Of the listed, I’m in favor of Charles Dance or Jeremy Irons.

It’s a great movie to watch if you’re being lazy on New Year’s Day.

Christopher Plummer if it was made in the 1960's

I saw iit years ago and only remember that it was glacial. I napped.

[quote]Ryan O'Neal is pretty one-note

Just like Redford, Beatty, Eastwood and Burt Reynolds. Ryan wasn't that bad as an actor in several roles that neither Redford nor Beatty could play. I can't see either of them in Love Story, What's up Doc or Paper Moon. In fact, he would have been far better than Redford in The Great Gatsby because he does that yearning lovesick shit convincingly. Redford has such a long stick up his ass he wasn't believable at all. I'm giving him points as an actor, not as a person.

WHET Klaus Maria Brandauer?

R84, he’s been acting (as recently as 2021), directing and teaching.

Go ahead, try and name a classic movie I’ve starred in. Not a classic character I’ve portrayed, mind you, but an overall amazing piece of cinema. You can’t. You just can’t.

R86 Sophie's Choice

Ignoring this thread. Not worthy of attention on a daily basis. Being kept alive by a troll.

Thanks R88 for doing your part in keeping it alive!

[quote] In fact, he would have been far better than Redford in The Great Gatsby because he does that yearning lovesick shit convincingly. Redford has such a long stick up his ass he wasn't believable at all.

The first time I saw The Great Gatsby, I was really young and didn't know what the Gatsby character was supposed to symbolize. I agree that Ryan O. would have been better for the part (although I still think he's limited in his acting). Redford could NEVER even act the part of someone who was insecure, vulnerable, yearning, etc.

I just saw the Downton Abbey movie (the first one that came out around 2019) and the actor who plays Barrow is so good at certain emotions, like longing, feeling hurt, etc. He's really a good actor.

Sam Waterston would have been a good choice!