Seize the Day

In one of his first dramatic acting turns, Robin Williams stars as Tommy Wilhelm--a salesman so down on his luck that he makes Willy Loman seem--in the words of Creedence Clearwater Revival--a fortunate son. In an otherwise decent performance that is still far less subtly developed than his recent gigs in One Hour Photo and Insomnia, the tightly wound Williams' work is almost totally obscured here--along with that of veteran actors Joseph Wiseman, Glenne Headly, Tony Roberts, et al.--by a truly awful video transfer. Originally shown on the PBS series Great Performances, this 1986 low-budget adaptation of Saul Bellow's short novel effort may not have been all that slick-looking to begin with, but here the graininess ranges from merely distracting in certain scenes to totally intolerable in others; the contrast ratio is way off, especially in darker scenes; the opening credits are cropped in the full screen presentation; and the film print shows the usual signs of wear. In keeping with the terrible picture quality, the two-channel audio sounds like it's coming from the bottom of a barrel--which is just where this release belongs. Not recommended. (T. Rich)