Let's get the usual remarks out of the way:

1. I saw "The Fantasticks" on Sullivan Street. 2. I've played Hucklebee. 3. I love the show.

The movie was OK. Not special; but OK. This will seem egotistical, but it's not: John Corona & I were SO much better than Joel Grey and Brad Sullivan, and that's on a community theatre level. It's not that we were brilliant, but Brad Sullivan was so completely god-awful that Joel Grey (who at least is competent) was completely sandbagged. Why in the name of David Merrick would you cast someone in a major musical part who can't carry a tune in a bucket? I lamented that "Plant a Radish" was cut from the movie until I saw it as a DVD extra. "Oh. That's why they cut it. The singing sucks."

The young lovers were OK. Jonathon Morris acted wonderfully as El Gallo, danced well... and his singing was OK but breathy. None of the power associated with the role.

The best ones in the movie were Barnard Hughes as Henry & Teller as Mortimer... so of course their parts were heavily trimmed, prompting the heading on this review. Apparently when Francis Ford Coppola was editing the movie, he was shocked and aghast at Teller speaking. Teller is now silent in the film.

Some of the changes from play to film are clever, and there is some beautiful photography. But in a musical, without the voices you're sunk.

This show ran for over 40 years off-Broadway, where I saw it late in its run. It has certainly been done a lot on stages everywhere and often the approach is so heavy-handed that the simplicity and charm of the show are lost. So after all the delays and re-cuttings, the film came out and I had to give it a try. The good news: it worked and worked well. In fact, I can't imagine it being done much better given the difficulty of adapting stage musicals to the screen. "Act One" is full of youthful idealism (with adult plotting going on behind the scenes). "Act Two" is the reality check wherein one sees all the flaws that had been masked by that youthful idealism. A simple love story with some of Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt's most enjoyable music, this film is a wonderful entertainment.

It's a mystery to me why this film sat on the shelf for 5 years. It's no masterpiece, but it's colorful and entertaining. The songs are beautiful and well performed by ALMOST the entire cast. The story is interesting but gets confusing at the half-way point--I'm assuming it's because of the 15 minutes cut out of the original print. Unfortunately there's one huge problem with the movie--Joey McIntyre. He can sing OK, but sounds bad compared to everyone else. And his acting is horrendous! At one point he's trying to be romantic with his girlfriend on a porch bench--he was so bad the audience I had was in hysterics by the end of the scene. Also, he's not good-looking at all (sorry!) and just unbelievable. Without him this might have been a great musical. Sadly, it just misses the mark. Still worth seeing though.