The Stuff That Dreams Are Made Of

Rating: 8/10 (26 March 2014)

A classy John Huston action yarn that melds high adventure with an abundance of belly laughs, "The Man Who Would Be King" stands high because of the brilliance of its two leads and Huston's undeniable craft.
Peachy Carnehan (Michael Caine) and Danny Dravot (Sean Connery) are former soldiers in Her Majesty's army who dare to dream big on the Indian subcontinent. Making the acquaintance of a newspaper reporter named Rudyard Kipling, they hatch a plan to travel across forbidding mountains and appoint themselves rulers of a distant, fabled land - then rob the place four ways from Sunday. They expect it will be all in a day's work for two enterprising Britishers.
"We're not little men, so we're going away to become kings," Peachy tells Kipling.
"We hear they have two and thirty idols there, so we'll be the 33rd and 34th," adds Danny.
Of course, it's Huston directing, and co-writing the script with Gladys Hill, so they may want to bone up on how "Treasure Of Sierra Madre" turned out before venturing forth.
Watching Connery work here is a revelation. Gone is much of the suavity he made his name with playing James Bond. He presents us with Danny as a bit of a dunce, caught up as Danny is in the role he is playing until he literally plays out his string. Connery sings, he dances, he even forswears women, until meeting a beauty played by Caine's real-life wife who proves his undoing.
You really shouldn't root for these guys, con-men that they are, except for the way they interact. Peachy's the brains of the outfit, the one who says they should "pull stumps and run," but your heart is with Danny, who wanted to be another thieving king but gets caught up with bigger dreams.
Caine's performance is every bit as good as Connery's, though he plays more in tune with his typical screen character. The banter between them, like that of Butch and Sundance in another film, really makes this work, and it's Caine who pushes most of the tension. His reaction shots throughout the film, especially as Danny begins to spin out of his control, are subtle but solid, giving Connery the room to carve out one of his greatest character performances.
There's a wonderful moment, among many, when they find themselves in a treasure trove that's theirs to take away. The look in their eyes tells you this is no happy occasion, but a moment of real fear. Peachy licks one golden bauble and tells Danny, very tentatively, that "it ain't brass."
There ain't much brass to be seen here, with the amazing scenics and compositions on display. Making a film in the fabled age of the auteur, Huston nevertheless works from an older school that prizes storytelling over vision. The result is a film out of time, and one of the best in this great director's career.
It does run long, and the story gets thin as it gets to the end, spun as it is from a Kipling short story. "The Man Who Would Be King" doesn't have the rewatchability of many great films. But it has its own kind of greatness, and may leave you at the end with a lump in your throat.