Priceless Beauty (1988)

Sadly Over-hyped

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

I usually don't categorize a moving as boring. I am not big on action flicks and my senses do not need to be stimulated during a movie. In fact I enjoy a good rational logical dialogue and story line. Unfortunately, this movie has none of those characteristics. Diane Lane is the only saving grace in this movie and even her beauty cannot save it. Terrible overbearing music equals the moronic dialogue and acting. None of the actors actually connect with each other and as a result the movie does not connect with the audience. I guess the scenes where the townspeople are marching somewhere were suppose to add to the story but it seems that they were inserted just to fill space. The scenes appeared choppy and incoherent. There were some nice shots of the ocean and the beach which were beautiful.

With all the potential for a good movie in its gorgeous settings, cast, and cinematography, this film's lacklustre script, leaden pace, and wooden performances produced only a major disappointment. With decent direction, editing, and musical score, this could have been a good movie, perhaps a dark version of Blake Edward's '10', instead of a weepy version of Ron Howard's 'Splash'.

The main character is an ex-rock star. He stopped singing when his brother died in an accident - probably a suicide. He feels guilty. One day, on the beach, he finds a vase. A female genie comes out of it and offers him three wishes. The only thing he can wish is that his brother come back. But that's impossible.The whole movie is built around the theme of being able to live again when someone near you has died. The message is profound and interesting, but the theme is not really new, and I can't say that it is renewed or made poignant in this static film.However, one must say that the Charles Finch knows how to catch beautiful images : throughout the film, he shoots many great natural scenes and numerous extraordinary tight frames (Christopher Lambert is downright photogenic), also playing with the fabulous light of Italy.

I've seen soap operas more intelligent than this movie. Bad characters, bad story and bad acting. It would be a love story between a man and a mermaid. Really awful.