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Good concept, poorly executed.

Fun premise, good actors, bad writing. This film seemed to have potential at the beginning but it quickly devolves into a trite action film. Ultimately it's very boring.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Passable little comedy/drama about small town losers wanting another shot at winning the high school football game they lost so many years before. Robin Williams plays the running back who dropped what would have been the winning touchdown and Kurt Russell plays the star quarterback. Many years removed from high school, the two find their marriages and finances on the rocks. Williams then convinces everyone to recreate the big game between rival towns in some vain hope that it will change everything in his life for the better. The script is by Ron Shelton, who'd later go on to write some memorable sports movies ("Bull Durham," "White Men Can't Jump," "Cobb," "Blue Chips," etc.) and would direct Kurt Russell in one of his best leading roles ("Dark Blue"), but this film is nowhere as memorable and hardly one of Russell's best roles. Williams' uptight banker character is just annoying, completely unlikable, and surprisingly unfunny. If it were not for the likability of Russell, I think this film would have been a complete dud.

Who doesn't have something in their past they wish they could go back and do over? In THE BEST OF TIMES, Jack Dundee (Robin Williams) has been known in Taft as the "guy who dropped the ball" in a high school football game 13 years ago. But honestly, he isn't the only one in that small town who longs for the glory days. With him is Reno Hightower (Kurt Russell), the town's star quarterback who now runs a car repair shop. And to complicate things further, both of them are having marital issues, some of which stem from Jack's insistence at not letting go of the past. The whole story is quite a mess, with some scenes leading nowhere, and others being cringe-inducing in their reliance on cliché. Still, there are a couple of scenes which stood out as being particularly good. First, there is a dinner scene between Jack, Reno, and their wives which reminded me of a similar scene in Mrs. Doubtfire. Also, the climactic game was well-done, even if the way it ends is a foregone conclusion before the film really even starts. Full disclosure: I'm not much of a football fan (or sports, for that matter). However, I can appreciate a good sports movie when I see one. This isn't one of those movies. As a comedy, it's adequate and Robin Williams does give a good comic performance as a put-upon man with some unresolved personal issues regarding his past. Kurt Russell also does a nice job as the straight man, but the chemistry between him and Williams isn't as good as one would expect. Still, both of them do the best with the material they were given. Ultimately, I like to think of this movie as not really being about high school football. It works better as a feel-good comedy about wish-fulfillment and fixing past mistakes. On that level, I think the film can be enjoyed. Overall, this isn't particularly essential viewing but should prove a decent diversion for Robin Williams or sports fans.

If you can ever wrap your mind around the concept of Robin Williams as a high school jock I think you might enjoy The Best Of Times. What this is not is a film using the hit song from La Cage Aux Folles as a theme.Instead Robin Williams plays a guy with a reputation of blowing a long pass from quarterback Kurt Russell in a final game with Bakersfield that blew the state championship for the best high school team that Taft, California ever produced. In fact the opening narrative makes it quite clear that Taft, California is one loser of a town throughout its history. Still living in a small town and married to Holly Palance, daughter of Donald Moffat who was a booster of the Bakersfield team has made life pretty miserable.No more miserable than it was for Kurt Russell who blew out a knee when the entire Bakersfield line nailed him just as he got off the pass that Williams dropped thereby losing a possible pro career. So Williams who's had 15 years of taunts decides to challenge his father-in-law to replay the game and maybe history won't repeat itself. It's going to take a lot though to motivate the rest of the team, especially Russell, but Williams has a bag of tricks.I guess there's nothing sillier then old men trying to act young again. As Bill Holden said to Gloria Swanson, there's nothing wrong with being 50 unless you try to act like you're 25. That forms the basis for most of the comedy in The Best Of Times.Both Williams and Russell have done better work, but this one will provide a few laughs. Still Williams as a jock does not compute.

I love this movie, but the music at all the alumni gatherings is just stupid.The fateful game took place in 1972. That means that the protagonists graduated in 1972. But almost all of the music played at the dances etc. is from the 1950s and very early 1960s.Having just attended my 30th high school reunion, I can assure you that the last music to be played at a reunion or dance of former high school people is their parents' music.I understand the difficulty of finding relevant 1970s music -- we all know what a desolate time it was musically. But it wasn't completely bereft, and the producers of the film should have taken more care. I found those dance scenes very jarring to my otherwise willing suspension of disbelief in the rest of the film.This was a bad director and/or producer decision.