The Fantasticks

Michael Ritchie's film, based on Tom Jones and Harvey Schmidt's timeless stage hit, tries to recapture the golden age of the Hollywood musical. But the magic that has captivated audiences for more than 40 years on Broadway is regrettably missing onscreen (the film languished unreleased for five years before an editing assist by Francis Ford Coppola helped earn it a limited release last year). Winsome Jean Louisa Kelly and Joe McIntyre star as the star-crossed couple whose fathers orchestrated a feud so they would rebel and fall in love. Enter "The Fantasticks," a traveling circus fronted by El Gallo (Jonathan Morris), "a specialist in dreams come true"--though temptation and disillusionment will threaten the happy ending that El Gallo guarantees. Although much of the cast is touring company quality, old pro Joel Grey (as one of the fathers) does what he can to give the film a pulse by mugging shamefully. Ritchie, director of The Candidate, Smile and The Bad News Bears seems out of his element here (obtrusive editing mars the opening number). But at a time when music videos and animated features have supplanted the traditional Hollywood musical, this film is not without its old-fashioned pleasures. An optional purchase. (K. Lee Benson)