Sweet Liberty

Directed by Alan Alda, Sweet Liberty follows historian Michael Burgess (Alda) as he finds himself caught in the middle of a larger-than-life movie production based on his novel about the American Revolution. It’s an appealing premise that’s employed to initially agreeably yet ultimately underwhelming effect by Alda, as the filmmaker delivers an erratically-paced comedy that grows less and less interesting as it progresses – which is a shame, certainly, given that the picture’s first act boasts an easygoing and entertaining atmosphere perpetuated (and heightened) by the efforts of an all-star cast. (Alda’s predictably compelling turn as the affable protagonist is matched by such top-notch periphery players as Michael Caine and Michelle Pfeiffer, although it’s Bob Hoskins, cast as the aforementioned movie’s eager-to-please screenwriter, who turns in the picture’s most engaging performance.) It’s only as Sweet Liberty moves into its meandering midsection that one’s interest and attention begins to actively flag, and it doesn’t help, either, that Alda has packed the narrative with digressions and subplots of a decidedly less-than-enthralling nature – with this especially true of everything involving Michael’s interactions with his loopy old mother (Lillian Gish’s Cecelia). By the time the padded-out and entirely lackluster climax rolls around, Sweet Liberty has cemented its place as a fairly palpable misfire that generally feels as though it should be much, much better.

** out of ****