Synopsis
A comedy about life, hope, and getting even.
A small-town loser determines to have one more shot at the big time by winning a football game.
The Best of Times
Cast
Robin Williams Kurt Russell Pamela Reed Holly Palance Donald Moffat Margaret Whitton M. Emmet Walsh Donovan Scott R. G. Armstrong Dub Taylor Carl Ballantine Kathleen Freeman Tony Plana Kirk Cameron Robyn Lively Eloy Casados Jeff Doucette Anne Haney Bill Overton Peter Van Norden Patrick Brennan Jeff Severson Hap Lawrence Nicholas Shields Hugo Stanger Wayne Montanio Michael Lopez William G. Schilling Hugh Gillin Show All…
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Alternative Titles
Rocket Man, Tempi migliori, Rocket Man - Der Beste aller Zeiten, הימים הטובים, The Best Of Times, Los buenos tiempos, Most kapd el, Jack!, Une équipe du Tonnerre, Най-подходящото време, Najlepsze czasy, Лучшие времена, A Última Chance, Kasan alimmainen, Ud at spille med de vilde, Најлепша времена, 베스트 오브 타임즈, Une Équipe du Tonnerre, Кращі часи, 黄金岁月
Genre
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Releases by Date
Theatrical
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USAPG-13
19 Nov 1987
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Germany12
22 Aug 2016
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NetherlandsAL
Releases by Country
Germany
19 Nov 1987
- Theatrical12
Netherlands
22 Aug 2016
- TheatricalAL
USA
31 Jan 1986
- TheatricalPG-13
Popular reviews
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Action! - The March of the (3) Rogers: Stop Or Buddy Spottiswoode Will Shoot
There is an optimism that pervades films written and/or directed by Ron Shelton, especially those that deal with sport, that have this positive outlook and humour that one simply can't help but smile from beginning to end. This time around we have a film starring Robin Williams and Kurt Russell as exciting athletes whose glory is snuffed out, especially Williams', by the failure to catch a ball that hasn't just haunted him ever since, but also led to the whole town he resides to fall into the oblivion. As their personal and professional lives are in shambles, they decide to play a last-ditch game in an…
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I inadvertently watched two movies today that revolve around the fallout of a botched football play—this and Ace Ventura: Pet Detective. AV is way better but I will say that seeing Robin Williams and Kurt Russell spending half the movie together have friend moments and drinking beers was kinda neat. Not the best thing ever (football sucks) but a fun time waster.
Can’t believe it’s almost been 6 years since we lost robin williams.
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"The Best of Times" is a 1986 comedy directed by Roger Spottiswoode. Spottiswoode is a considerable director by trade, starting a considerable amount of work doing editing for Sam Peckinpah. He also was in the scripting game, working with Walter Hill on occasion. Directorial wise, he got his jump into the game with "Terror Train" (1980), but then quickly jumped outside of horror, contending most of his directorial career to action vehicles often with a bit of buddy like comedy candor influenced within. In that vein, he's notably remembered for things like "Turner & Hooch" (1988), "Air America" (1990), and "Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot!" (1992). His eye for action earned him a spot with a James Bond venue "Tomorrow…
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"If I'd caught that ball, my whole life would be different."
I'm sure a lot of people won't give this much of a look because it's a football movie, and it is that, but not in the simplistic way you might expect. The sports setting is just a means to contextualize a story about adults coping with regret and insecurity, and how those emotions can lead to a sort of reflexive paralysis that overwhelms not just individuals but sometimes entire towns. And how sometimes the only way to move forward is by confronting the past. In a sense it's a time travel movie that takes place completely in the present.
But is it worth the risk? What if you got a do-over on your…
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Kurt Russell was once a stud quarterback who threw a bomb pass in a big high school game, Robin Williams is the klutz who dropped the wide-open pass. As an adult, Williams is a bank vice-president that still gets heckled by everybody who remembers that game. Soon, Williams' ploy to do a rematch of that game 13 years later with all the graduates consumes the town. The whipping into shape of all these grown men is cool and all, but the big laughs come between a make-up dinner scene with Russell and Williams and their wives who have temporarily denied their men certain privileges due to their recent childlike compulsions.
Sometimes the movie plays like a mid-40's Preston Sturges comedy,…
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Half these people came here tonight to watch you catch the ball. The other half came to see you drop it. You drop that damn thing again, Jack, your life is over.
Exactly what the doctor ordered to chase away those chilly winter blues.
I remember catching and loving The Best Of Times back in the 80s, when it was unceremoniously dumped into cinemas and quickly forgotten, seemingly not even worth a decent home video release afterwards. Now that it’s finally out on blu ray I‘m happy to say that it’s just as enjoyable as I recalled.
A whip-smart, virtuoso farce about grown-ups and for grown-ups, this is one of the few movies that breathes that same rarified comedic air… -
Written by Ron Shelton and directed by Roger Spottiswoode, "The Best of Times" finds Kurt Russell and Robin Williams reliving their not-so-glorious glory days in the form of a football game against the rival that quashed their sports dreams 14 years earlier. Revolving around has-beens and never-weres, the comedy looks at adults whose real lives are slipping and for whom the game may be enough to return those adults to traction. The story is sound if recognizable, and the comedy is loud and leans into its goofy nature without alienating an authentic heart. Its sports beats, mid-range energy, and cast make the film a solid experience.
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It's never really as funny as it should be and the football scenes aren't the greatest (Ron Shelton probably should've directed this rather than just write it) but seeing Robin Williams and Kurt Russell just hang out in a small town in the 80's honestly made this a pretty entertaining and enjoyable time for me. They have really good chemistry and are responsible for the films biggest laughs. Pretty cool to see two of the Seaver clan pop up in this too despite how little screen time they have. It's not a great movie but it's a fun one and anybody who uses "The worst of times" quote in their review has probably only seen a grand total of 10 movies or their just going for some quick likes. It's really not that bad.
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I don’t think it was just a football game responsible for turning Robin Williams’ and Kurt Russell’s lives into shit. These two guys are obsessed with high school and there is no such thing as a successful, well-balanced person who is obsessed with high school. Their lives are still going to suck after the events of this movie, but even more so because they will only continue to get older and more gross.
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Genial underdog comedy soaked in pathos, that's like an alternate universe extension of 1987's "Mr. Destiny" opening (what if a fail during your high school sports game defined the misery of your entire life thereafter?). Kurt Russell and Robin Williams complement each other's personas well, though in 2017 it still hurts to watch Williams for some reason. Because he's playing an innocent middle-aged loser, maybe, so the vulnerability is already piled on pretty high, and the unshakeable memory of his suicide just compounds our empathy to an uncomfortable degree?
With its small-town cavalcade of blue-collar misfits banding together to earn some dignity, the movie seems like a zany-heartfelt Preston Sturges vehicle updated to the '80s. And not that the happy endings to those really took the road less traveled, but this one ultimately disappoints by conceding to a lazy resolution in lieu of something more worthy of its bittersweet tone. They could've found another way
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