The Best of Times [Blu-ray]

Director: Roger Spottiswoode Roger Spottiswoode

Overview

Small-town banker Robin Williams has never been able to live down the fact that he dropped an important pass during a crucial high-school football game. Likewise tainted for life is the team's star quarterback Kurt Russell, now a garage owner. Fed up with living his life under a cloud, Williams hits upon a brilliant idea: he will stage a rematch-13 years after the fact--with the members of the rival team. Trouble beckons when Williams' father-in-law announces that he's rooting for the opposition. Williams is determined to win, and in pursuit of that goal he pushes his former teammates to hitherto untapped brilliance. Directed by Roger Spottiswood, The Best of Times was written by Ron Shelton, future writer/director of such delightful sports films as Bull Durham, White Men Can't Jump and Tin Cup; it was Shelton, in fact, who directed most of Best of Times' climactic football game.

Product Details

Release Date:	10/17/2023
UPC:	0738329264062
Original Release:	1986
Rating:	PG
Source:	Kl Studio Classics
Language:	English
Time:	1:44:00
Sales rank:	11,497

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Robin Williams	Jack Dundee
Kurt Russell	Reno Hightower
Pamela Reed	Gigi Hightower
Holly Palance	Elly Dundee
Donald Moffat	The Colonel
Margaret Whitton	Darla
M. Emmet Walsh	Charlie
Donovan Scott	Eddie
R.G. Armstrong	Schutte
Dub Taylor	Mac
Carl Ballantine	Arturo
Dog: Buck	Actor
Kathleen Freeman	Rosie
Tony Plana	Chico
Kirk Cameron	Teddy
Raymond W. Clanto	Bakersfield Coach
Robyn Lively	Jaki
Eloy Casados	Carlos
Jeff Doucette	Olin
Anne Haney	Marcy
Bill Overton	Luther Jackson
William Schilling	Caribou,Caribou #1
Hugh Gillin	Caribou
Jake Dengel	Caribou
Kurt Fox	Actor
Peter Van Norden	Mando
Patrick Brennan	Ronny
Linda Hart	Blender
Marie Cain	Blender
Peggy Moyer	Blender
Jeff Severson	Johnny 'O'
Hap Lawrence	Dickie Larue
Nick Shields	Bam Bam
Hugo Stanger	Old Man Lester,Old Man Lester
Wayne Montanio	Felipe
'Iron Jaws' Wilson	Iron Jaws
Brenda Huggins	Mrs. Jackson
Hilary Davis	Michelle,Taft Woman
Michael Rich	Blade
Norm Schachter	Referee
Adam Rose	Actor
Christopher Mankiewicz	Safari Room Security Guard
J.P. Bumstead	Cop
Robert Dickman	Taft Business Man
Jim Giovanni	Taft Football Player
Steve Shargo	Taft Football Player
Darryl B. Smith	Bakersfield Coache
Raymond W. Clanton	Bakersfield Coache
Fred Nelson	Bakersfield Coache
Iron Jaw Wilson	"Iron Jaws"
Vister Hayes	Dr. Death
Michelle Guastello	Taft Woman
Wayne Adderson	Bakersfield Coach
Susan Signorelli	Taft Woman
Philipe Gerard	Disgruntled Fan
Christopher Cory	Assistant Football Trainer
Kim Romano	Actor
Kelly Thomas	Actor
Mike Douglas	Actor
Herman Edwards	Actor
Chuck Ramsey	Actor
Steve Riley	Actor

Technical Credits

Gordon Carroll	Producer
Garry J. Elmendorf	Special Effects
Roger Spottiswoode	Director

Editorial Reviews

There is real charm and warmth in the simple romantic comedyThe Best of Times. The two lead couples Jack (Robin Williams) and Elly (Holly Palance) and Reno Kurt Russell and Gigi (the wonderful Pamela Reed) reveal an intimacy (thanks to Ron Shelton's warm, perceptive screenplay) that allows the viewer to see both sides of their respective marital disputes, even though the film spends more time with the guys. The film is about men who live in the past and must confront it in order to live with themselves and their wives in the present. One of the smarter touches in this script is that Reno, who is as beloved for his past success as Jack is tainted by his failures, suffers just as much for his inability to put the past behind him. All of that, however, is subtext for a very funny movie about high school football and how much it means to small towns. Although The Best of Times is directed by Roger Spottiswoode, and contains fine performances from its talented cast, it clearly belongs to screenwriter Ron Shelton, whose later directorial efforts (Bull Durham, White Men Can't Jump, Tin Cup) are also about sports-obsessed adult "boys" who learn to be men.

All Movie Guide - Perry Seibert