PlatinumRead Just so...so bad

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Yazmin Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Wuchak "The Freshman" (1990) stars Matthew Broderick as a freshman film school student in New York City. Desperate for money, he's hired by the local Godfather-type who just so happens to look and act exactly like Vito Corleone from the famous '72 Coppola film, probably because the character is played by the inimitable Marlon Brando. Penelope Ann Miller plays the daughter of the Mafia don, Bruno Kirby a fast-talking con and Maximilian Schell a curious chef of exotic foods. This is a unique crime dramedy, which I found okay on my initial viewing, but liked better on my second, probably because I utilized the subtitles and could make out Brando's mumbling dialogue. Broderick was still in his 20s and shines as the wide-eyed protagonist, but Brando naturally steals the show. It's not great, but it's amusing enough and wins points for its peculiarities, like the komodo dragon. The film runs 102 minutes and was shot in New York City and Ontario. GRADE: B

david-sarkies A young boy (Matthew Broderick) travels from his home in Vermont to attend a film school in New York. When he arrives, he is cautious, especially when he is approached by a man offering him a ride, but he ends up being convinced by him, and is duly ripped off. As such he is stuck in New York with no clothes and no money to buy his required texts, and no way of getting any more as his step father is not really all that concerned about him.Then he sees the guy who ripped him off walking down and road, and he chases him and catches up with him. The guy offers him a job with his uncle who turns out to be a godfather figure (Marlon Brando). Brando immediately take Broderick on board as his own son, but Broderick becomes more suspicious and cautious when he learns that he has helped Brando import an endangered Komodo Dragon into New York. This concern escalates when he is confronted by two FBI agents who want Brando for running meals in which endangered animals are served as the main course.There are a lot of twists in this movie though, and there is an elaborate plan running throughout. At times it seems as if this is unrealistic, but the movie did manage to suspend my disbelief, and brought me into the interactions between Brando and Broderick, which is the keystone of this film. It is not a crime thriller or an action movie, but rather a movie that explores the nature of fatherhood, and I think this does it well.Broderick's stepfather does not treat him as a son, and thus Broderick has no respect for him. After Broderick gets out of the situation, his stepfather offers him a hand of friendship to which Broderick refuses. Instead he takes Brando's hand for Brando is his true father figure and Broderick looked up to him as such. This created the main conflict in the movie: it was not between Broderick and the FBI or against Brando, but rather within himself. Broderick is torn between honouring his new found father, or betraying him and turning him into the FBI.The Freshman is a very well made movie. It has some good themes, ones that arise form within the movie rather than the movie being tied around them. It acknowledges one of the desires in our hearts to find a true father, a father that will not turn our back on us, and will be willing to provide everything, including a wife.To me I have found that father, and that father is God, for God is our Father in heaven. He is a father that will never betray us of hit us, and is willing to discipline us when we do wrong. He loves us so much that he is willing to sacrifice himself to forgive us for turning away from us. God is not an earthly father, he is a heavenly and is perfect in everyway, and he promises that he will always provide for us and will always be there for us. He understands everything we go through and more, and to see this we need to look at the life of Jesus, for Jesus is God.

blanche-2 Mstthew Broderick is "The Freshman" in this very clever film written and directed by Andrew Berman. The film also stars Marlon Brando, Penelope Ann Miller, Paul Benedict, and Jon Polito.Broderick plays Clark Kellogg, who leaves his midwest home to attend NYU film school. He's just off the plane when he's approached by a gypsy cab driver who winds up stealing his stuff. The next thing he knows, Clark has taken a job with a mobster, Sabatini (Marlon Brando) as the cab driver's way of making it up to him that he can't pay him back the money he stole. His job is to go to the airport and pick up a package, which turns out to be a Komodo dragon. After that, he becomes engaged to Sabatini's daughter (Miller) who has shown him the real Mona Lisa stolen by her father. He's visited by the FBI. Then someone shows him his new passport - he is to become the moustached Rodolfo Lasparri of Palermo.Some of this film is laugh out loud funny, with terrific dialogue, situations, and performances. Brando, in a reprise of Vito Corleone in "The Godfather" is a scream, and in Clark's film class, we see scenes from "The Godfather" throughout the film. Clark even gets the "baci di tutti baci" from Sabatini, as Freddo got it from his brother Michael. The best scene is Clark and his friend trying to get the dragon from the airport to the designated location.Very, very funny movie. Broderick is terrific as the naive and confused Kellogg. Everyone is excellent. Highly recommended.

Hayes230 The skill of this movie is how well conceived each character is. If you know the movie well, you can rapidly list in your head at least ten characters because each are so memorable; and considering that all these characters shared only 100 minutes of film - that's something. This is a combination of having well written characters suited to their actors - even the shipping stevedore Leo, aka Big Leo (they are synonymous) ranks as a strongly established character. Add to the mix a quick-paced story with a charming ending and what you have here is a comedy that ranks with "The Awful Truth" or "A Night at the Opera", and of course Rodolfo Lassparri would agree with the latter comparison. Back to character development: think of the bit roles and what the actors did with their few moments on film: the Aunt, the Professor, Bert Parks singing "Maggie's Farm" wearing a Tux and a Sombrero? Warped. Brilliant. The Bert Parks element of this movie may go unnoticed by generations to come, but for mine and for me I think it's great that he may be best remembered singing "There he is, your Komodo Dragon...", because, truly, will footage of the Miss America Pageants from the 70's hold water like this film should? I gave this film a 10 because it is a 10, and the rank of 6.4 (currently) is misapprehension.