Rob Price
Gutbrain Records
rob + gutbrain.com = email

2010 February 17 • Wednesday

If we're going to have another 3-D craze, how about an insanely expensive remake of Jaws 3-D?

How about a screening of Second Chance?

Lee Server, in his excellent Robert Mitchum: "Baby, I Don't Care", had this to say about it:

Second Chance opened to good business and moderately positive reviews. Critics were distracted by the ocular assault of the 3-D effects, not by the story, which seemed even more threadbare on screen than it had on paper. For RKO's vaunted big picture of the year, the film was sloppy and cheap. The location trip to Mexico had provided little more than some raw-looking, second-unit-type footage. The rest was a cramped, operetta-style soundstage South America, the cable car climax a cheesy mix of obvious toy miniatures and back projection. Even the music sounded subpar, like the generic library cues used by Poverty Row studios for their three-day Westerns. But the "great unwashed," as Mitchum referred to his loyal fans, seemed to enjoy it. What the hell. The film was as effortlessly watchable and as easily forgotten as a gaily colored dream. Mitchum performed his empathetic tough guy characterization with refined minimalism. Given nothing to do, he did it to perfection.

It sounds better than Avatar.