The Leading Man . Newcity Chicago . 03-16-98

The Leading Man

DIRECTED BY: John Duigan

REVIEWED: 03-16-98

Director John Duigan has made a few good, small movies--"The Year My Voice Broke," "Flirting," the underrated "The Journey of August King"--and this year's "Lawn Dogs," one of the better movies out of Sundance this year. Before "Lawn Dogs," Duigan turned out "The Leading Man," a perfunctorily plotted variation on backstage dramas like "All About Eve" with an eccentric cast that still manages to hold attention. Lambert Wilson is a prolific playwright whose young mistress, "Flirting"'s Thandie Newton, gets cast in his newest play about a mercenary who finds his principals compromised by, yup, falling in love with the wrong woman. Jon Bon Jovi is cast as an American action film star who comes to England to try his thumb at stage work, and the cast also includes David Warner, Barry Humphries, and as the playwright's resentful wife, Anna Galiena. There's no real dramatic momentum, but I wasn't particularly bored at any point.

--Ray Pride

Capsule Reviews
The Leading Man

Other Films by John Duigan
Lawn Dogs

Film Vault Suggested Links
Standing on Fishes
Critical Care
Little Shots Of Happiness

Rate this Film
If you don't want to vote on a film yet, and would like to know how others voted, leave the rating selection as "Vote Here" and then click the Cast Vote button.