I remember when it first came out

Rating: 4/10 (22 July 2014)

When this film was released in 1984 you literally could not escape from it ads were everywhere, all over the TV and print media. My usual impulse is to refuse to see any film that gets crammed down my throat hundreds of times before it even arrives in theaters, so it can be quite some time before I get around to seeing a movie even if the reviews are generally good. My impression from the numerous trailers for 'Amadeus' was that it was a farcical treatment of a real-life classical composer, starring a man with a stupid grin wearing a fright wig, accompanied by a lot of people in 18th century garb dancing in ballrooms.
Yep, that's what it was. I finally watched it last night, 30 years after Tom Hulce's ventriloquist-dummy grimace first appeared on my TV screen. It was even the ultra-long director's cut which added about 20 minutes to what would have been a long film in the first place. I finished it, but I'm really not sure why. Obviously they spent a lot of money on it, F. Murray Abraham was good, and naturally the music was good, but I don't think it lived up to the hype and accolades. Maybe my taste is all in my mouth, but I don't regret not beating down the theater door to see it 30 years ago.