Hawks *** (1988, Timothy Dalton, Anthony Edwards, Janet McTeer) – Classic Movie Review 8466

Apparently, in life, people are either hawks or pigeons. Director Robert Ellis Miller’s 1988 comedy drama Hawks stars Timothy Dalton, in between his Bond films The Living Daylights and Licence to Kill, and Anthony Edwards. They of course play the Hawks of the title. Hawks is based on an idea by Barry Gibb (who also provides the music) and David English, and begs the question, is a cruel lingering death a subject for comedy?

Writer Roy Clarke’s gallows humour about two cancer patients, who decide not to spend their last days in the hospital terminal ward and instead escape for one last wild time on the road, makes for an unexpectedly agreeable film. Clarke’s script is expert, warm and amusing, while Dalton and Edwards prove a delightful comedy duo, giving expertly done performances as the terminally ill patients Bancroft and Deckermensky (or ‘Decker’).

Things go astray in the film when the pair set out for a final fling in Amsterdam, but nevertheless Hawks is a fair try at something different, though there are elements of One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest and the later Patch Adams. There are also lively comic cameos from Sheila Hancock as Regina and Geoffrey Palmer as the SAAB salesman.

Also in the cast are Janet McTeer, Camille Coduri, Jill Bennett, Robert Lang, Pat Starr, Bruce Boa, Connie Booth, Caroline Langrishe, Benjamin Whitrow, Robyn Moore, Julie T Wallace, Saul Jephcott, Roger Sloman and Keith Buckley.

Hawks is directed by Robert Ellis Miller, runs 110 minutes, is made by Gibb, English and Producers Representative Organization, is released by J Arthur Rank Film Distributors, is written by Roy Clarke, is shot by Doug Milsome, is produced by Morrie Eisenman, Stephen Lanning and Keith Cavele, is scored by Barry Gibb and John Cameron, and is designed by Peter Howitt and Peter Cooke.

© Derek Winnert 2019 Classic Movie Review 8466

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com