Search - Cannery Row on DVD

HS students beware!

Alan R. Holyoak | 07/11/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"First of all...to all High School students out there who are required to read Steinbeck's book "Cannery Row" ...if you try to get by with just watching this movie and writing your report your grade will suffer! Oh, it has nothing to do with the quality of the film...I'll get to that later, it's just that this film is a blending of two of Steinbeck's books, "Cannery Row" and "Sweet Thursday." Both of those stories are set along Cannery Row in Pacific Grove/Monterey, CA, and have many of the same characters in them, but unless you already know the stories you may well include material from "Sweet Thursday" in your report on "Cannery Row," and...OOPS...there goes the old grade! So, beware! Now...on with the review...Nolte plays "Doc" the main character in the story. His character is based on a real life person, a marine scientist named Ed Ricketts who lived and worked along Cannery Row (which was certainly not the tourist attraction in the 1930s-40s that it is today). You can, by the way, still see the building where Doc Ricketts worked if you visit Pacific Grove...it's just down the road from the Monterey Bay Aquarium. OK, OK, enough history, back to the movie...Nolte does a great job of playing the out of the way, but not really down and out "Doc." Things are going along smoothly until Winger hits the scene, then there's romance in the air, though it doesn't land until much later.I suppose you could call this movie a romantic comedy, or you could call it a romance, or you could call it drama, or you could call it real life -- Steinbeck was like that -- he was into real life.This is, I agree, an underrated film. It's true that there are slower parts, and if you don't like narration in films then you won't like this one much. If you're looking for a barn-burner action thriller this is NOT the film for you. But if you are looking for interesting character and plot development you will enjoy this film.Nolte and Winger have good on-screen chemistry, and you will enjoy being the mouse in the corner are you observe their developing relationship.5 stars for the thoughtful crowd.Alan Holyoak"

Steinbeck and Egregious Contrivances? Get a rope.

W. Winner | 06/25/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"It's clear that the majority of viewers who've watched this movie disagree with the reviewer so disappointed by it's pacing and verisimilitude. I'm curious why anyone capable of scattering terms such as 'egregious contrivances' in their review of a light romantic comedy was assigned to anything based on Steinbeck's work in the first place. A populist romantic comedy is one film category where it may be wiser to trust the opinion of the viewers who're raving about it over the sneering technical quibbles of a critic armed with a thesaurus. Populist film based on populist fiction simply may not be the best assignment for any reviewer clearly unable to climb off what must be a most uncomfortable corncob. For ordinary folks not frightened by references to egregious contrivances and verisimilitude, other viewers who've seen Cannery Row unite in recommending the movie for it's performances by Nolte and Winger. M. Emmet Walsh outdoes himself as Mack, nearly as good a performance as his masterpiece in 'Blood Simple'. Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday were among the sweetist and funniest books that Steinbeck produced. Perhaps all the humor that the rest of us enjoyed in the film combining the novels was difficult to enjoy while perched atop that unfortunate cob. For Steinbeck fans, or fans of romantic comedy, this film won't disappoint. We join together in urging anyone suffering from egregious contrivance phobia to seek immediate help at the nearest competent proctologist."

Love This Movie!

W. Winner | Durango, CO United States | 12/24/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Looking for an exact replication of Steinbeck's reads on film? Keep looking. Want an entertaining adaptation of those same reads? Look no further. This is another film I never tire of seeing time and again. REALEASE IT ON DVD ALREADY!"

Please Release Cannery Row on DVD

Murray Altheim | United Kingdom | 09/03/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Back in September of 1999 I wrote a review praising this movie as one of my favourites. As one might note on reading the reviews here, most people who watched Cannery Row and bothered to write a review agreed.

In the past five years, tens of thousands of truly horrendous films have been transferred to DVD, even films that most people found completely unwatchable: The Brain That Wouldn't Die (1962), It's Pat: The Movie (1995), Baby Geniuses (1999), and the entire Police Academy series. In fact, *most* of the films found on The 100 Worst Films of the 20th Century list are now available on DVD.

To anyone actually awake at MGM Home Entertainment: please release this film on DVD. My VHS deck died many years ago."