Matt and I watched Man of La Mancha last night. I wanted to like it. I really, really did. The stage production is one of my favorite musicals of all time.

But... They cast the movie according to looks, not voice. Which would have been okay if they'd then dubbed over the singing parts for Don Quixote and Dulcinea. But they didn't. And Peter O'Toole's voice was distinctly mediocre - this from someone who's partially tone deaf and currently suffering allergy-related hearing loss. But we'd been braced for that. The review Matt had read had warned of this.

Sophia Loren - and I say this with full acknowledgment of the fact that Dulcinea's part is one of the hardest singing parts out there, calling as it does for a voice that can be expressive across an impressive range - sounded like a rooster with a chest cold. I winced every time she opened her mouth. Thank the gods that Dulcinea only has two big songs.

I had other problems with the movie as well. The camera-work early in the movie was pretty horrible, but it firmed up about the time Cervantes started his story. The makeup crew needed a little help - especially with O'Toole. I kept being distracted by the bad application of color on his lips. It looked like he'd been punched and was bleeding out of the corner of his mouth.

Still, it wasn't all bad. The costumes were excellent. The blocking and choreography were good. The scene-changes - going back and forth between Cervantes' prison and the world of Don Quixote - were actually very smooth. And I had to give it a lot of points for staying faithful to the stage production and not going over-the-top with special effects. If they remade it now, I'm sure they'd lose the simplicity and tragedy of the story in the effects. (Or worse, change the story.)

Ah, well. They can't all be winners.

--Liz