Diamonds (1999)

Simply A Masterpiece

I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Diamonds (1999) *** (out of 4) Thin but touching drama about an ex-fighter (Kirk Douglas) who was worthless to his son (Dan Aykroyd) but after the fighter's stroke they are brought together again. Along with his grandson (Corhin Allred), the three head to Nevada to collect some diamonds owed the old man after throwing a fight fifty years earlier. This road picture really doesn't contain anything we haven't seen countless times before but this film is very special in the fact that it was made a few years after Douglas suffered his stroke in real life. I was expecting a rather bland performance made memorable by the bravery of the actor trying to act again but I was really floored because Douglas still contains all that energy and fight that we saw from him throughout his career. Clips from his film Champion are shown here to show Douglas as the young fighter and it's rather amazing that his performance here perfectly captures that mood and spirit of that young man. He's given a couple very big emotional scenes and he pulls them off remarkably well and that intense energy is still there after all these years. Both Aykroyd and Allred also deliver fine performances as does Jenny McCarthy as a prostitute. Lauren Bacall has a small role as a whorehouse owner but her scenes with Douglas is priceless. I'm really shocked to see some major critics rip this film to shreds because it's a damn good little film that seems to have a small little following behind it. It's certainly worth watching for Douglas fans. Towards the end of the film there's a twenty-minute sequence in the whorehouse, which got me worried where the film was trying to go but it perfectly captures everything we've been led up to.

This road movie deals about Harry(Kirk Douglas), an old retired boxer affected by a stroke. He claims to have a fortune in diamonds hidden in location of Reno into house a mobster(James Russo). Harry along with his estranged son(Dan Aykroyd)and grandson(Corbin)going on a road trip toward Nevada to retrieve it. Throughout travel enjoy various adventures and feeling moments. Meanwhile, they stop in a brothel with a veteran madame(Lauren Bacall) and attractive prostitutes (Jenny McCarthy).This is an independent road movie developing an agreeable father-son-grandson relationship with intimate bonding moments. Casting is justly excellent. Kirk Douglas is magnificent,in spite of his real stroke, as one-time boxing champion .He appears in a television images about his film titled ¨Champion¨(1949,Mark Robson)and is reunited with Lauren Bacall with whom he played in ¨Young man with a horn¨(1950,Michael Curtiz¨. Appears uncredited in a special cameo, John Landis as a gambler. Appropriate cinematography and sensible music score by Joel Goldsmith( Jerry Goldsmisth's son). The motion picture is professionally directed by John Asher. He's usually actor(CSY, NavyCSI) and director TV and occasionally director for his wife, Jenny McCarthy(Dirty love, Thank heaven), here lively playing a whore. Rating : Acceptable and entertaining.

I have always liked Kirk Douglas and to see him now after he had a stroke is sad but that's the way life is. He is not afraid to let the public know that he is alive and doing the best he can. I can associate with this movie because I had a stroke 10 years ago and thankfully fully recovered. This movie might be a little thin in spots but to see him and also Lauren Bacall is a movie-going treat. I hope that he does a lot more movies.

I have never seen Kirk Douglas act as well as he does in this film--stroke or no stroke. Lauren Bacall (who starred with Kirk Douglas previously in the 1950 film "Young Man With A Horn"), Dan Ackroyd, and Corbin Allred provide top-notch support, but this is mainly Kirk Douglas' showcase. The only criticism I can perhaps make is the sugar-coated way the film treats prostitution, however a cynical view of prostitution wouldn't fit in this movie. This is a movie that should appeal to all age groups.