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Good movie but grossly overrated

Absolutely Brilliant!

I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

MGM was in a slump in 1982, and nobody knew how to market this episodic, whimsical adaptation of two plot-light John Steinbeck novels. So a lot of people were deprived of a life-affirming, atmospheric wartime romance that preserves the democratic, people-loving tone of the Steinbeck originals. Shot partly on an elaborate sound stage and partly on or near Monterey seaside locations, it's a leisurely collection of likable losers and near-losers inhabiting the titular sardine- canning center that's seen better days. Nick Nolte as Doc, a marine biologist with a not-too-secret past, is perfection, as is Debra Winger as Suzy, a combative but yearning drifter--the movie captures the character's mercurial, changeable nature far better than Rodgers and Hammerstein did in their own adaptation, "Pipe Dream." We'd like to see more of the gang, and don't really get to know Mac (M. Emmett Walsh) and his cohorts very well. But Frank McRae's a wonderful Hazel, and John Huston's narration, much of it verbatim Steinbeck, ties things together neatly. A bit slow, and a bit fanciful, it's nonetheless a wonderful date movie, best experienced with a good California wine.

I was incredibly disappointed this was not much better. Perhaps I was misled by the inflated rating on this site. This was a jumbled up movie that never found its soul or covered some of the more memorable portions of the book. Why weren't there ANY scenes that took place in a bar? Everything looked staged and since there was minimal character development ultimately the characters were turned into caricatures. Steinbeck would've cringed while rolling over in his grave. It was very slow to start and painful to finish. And the score was atrocious - abrupt shifts to Vivaldi after ragtime? Come on! Now Vivaldi is rolling over in HIS grave. Reread the book but pass on this movie.

Having read Steinbeck's Cannery Row and Sweet Thursday, I am appalled that this travesty was allowed to be filmed. Except for a few character names and a few familiar scenes, the movie was unwatchable. The movie dragged on and the invented dialog was painful to listen to. The screenwriter should be ashamed for defiling the original books to the extent that he did. I understand that most books or novels cannot be set to a movie directly, but this effort missed the intent and charm of the originals. The photography was fairly good and some of the set designs were creative. Although Debra Winger was miscast, she probably was a better choice than Raquel Welsh. How did the Chinese grocer become Mexican? I sincerely wish that someone would remake the movie and be true to Steinbeck's genius. This debacle insulted his memory.

Cannery Row is "a poem, a stink, a grating noise" and.. it's still not a movie, yet! Trust me, Sweet Thursday, Steinbeck's second novel is so prominent in this film the title should be changed. I would love to see a film adaptation featuring some of Steinbeck's more down-to earth characters that made his novel so great. Where is Lee Chong, the humble Chinese grocer always looking out of the corner of his half glasses for shoplifters and have-nots like Mack and the Boys? We also shouldn't forget that Mac's pals inherited their Palace Flophouse from Horace Appeville who shot himself because he couldn't pay his grocery bill for two wives and a dozen kids. Lee Chong became Mack's landlord. Frankie, a half wit boy that idolized and loved Doc is also missing. I know the segmented quality of the book would have been difficult as a film but would have made it distinct from your run-of-the mill multiplex flick. Doc and Suzy were not paired up in Cannery Row, yet. The book was so great because Doc loved the study of nature so much he failed in his many efforts to find love. He retired to the quiet of poetry reading, cleaned up after the party, listened to music and his marine life he loved to study. His great quest for love unmet and the surprise that his love of nature was greater instead would have made an outstanding film.