The Dregs Of The Day

Rating: 3/10 (22 February 2012)

Anthony Hopkins does the repressed Englishman (and "American") so well that I find him a pleasure to watch. I have seen 'Remains of The Day' several times and find it absolutely riveting. Although set in the USA I was hoping for something similar from 'Legends'.
But, Oh-dear. I knew there was trouble from the outset. All those violins going full blast - this was going to be an emotional workout. But not in the understated minutely-observed Merchant Ivory style. Nope; this was Hollywood. Emotions must be in-yer-face.
And so it went. Towering chords of high-string excess, bursting over your eardrums like waves on a flat beach. Endless backdrops of rugged American wilderness - seemingly always filmed in a mellow sunlit evening, a solid all-American family of 3 strapping sons & their father, all pitted against the changing times and star-crossed destiny. And if that were not enough; an American-Indian voice-over, righteously moralising about life and family. After you with the peace-pipe.
But its early 20th century and the lads fancy a bit of adventure in it'll-all-be-over-by-Christmass's famous WW1 mudfest. You know what's coming; high-spirits turned to disillusionment. Adventure dissolved in slaughter. The recreation of WW1 conflict was the most unresearched piece of twaddle I've even seen. Its directors had evidently never explored the effects of mustard gas. The last episode of 'Blackadder Goes Forth' was streets ahead of this in accuracy, poignancy and hilarious too. After watching two Germans busily setting-up a machine gun to shoot just one bloke (a brother) trapped on barbed wire, instead of just popping him with a rifle, whilst another brother went dashing about the battlefield, ranting like a maniac, but apparently immune to gunfire - I gave it up.
The photography of the great American outdoors was splendid. But the rest? Frankly: garbage. Dunno how it ended, couldn't care less.