Barbarians at the Gate

Stars: James Garner (Fire in the Sky, Murphy's Romance), Jonathan Pryce (Brazil, Something Wicked This Way Comes), Peter Riegert (Crossing Delancey, Local Hero), Joanna Cassidy (Blade Runner, Who Framed Roger Rabbit?). While the subject of "leveraged buyouts" won't exactly get the Van Damme crowd's meter running, this much talked about HBO production is one of the better films of 1993 thus far, whether made for the big or little screen. Based on the bestselling book by Bryan Burrough and John Helyar, and adapted by M.A.S.H. alumni Larry Gelbart, Barbarians at the Gate stars James Garner as F. Ross Johnson, the CEO of RJR Nabisco. With his personal jet, unlimited expense account, and nubile second wife half his age, Johnson appears to be living high on the hog during the latter half of the freewheeling 1980s. But while other companies are zipping up the Dow index, RJR Nabisco is relatively stagnant, growth-wise. Pinning big hopes on the introduction of a smokeless cigarette line, Johnson becomes disenchanted when he learns that test audiences think the new Premier cigarette "tastes like shit, and smells like a fart." Hardly a winning advertising slogan. Having earlier spurned Henry Kravis (Jonathan Pryce), the acknowledged king of the leveraged buyout, Johnson now decides to buy the company himself and hires an old-style firm to handle the transaction. But Kravis gets wind of the deal, and steps up to the plate with a more lucrative offer for Nabisco's stockholders. In the multi-billion dollar war that follows, F. Ross Johnson and Henry Kravis go head-to-head while other companies try to wheedle into the battle after the media catch hold of the story. Barbarians at the Gate works well because of its comic focus on the major players--and even though the staggering sums of money involved would suggest that civilized caution might be the preferred approach, it turns into a flat-out pissing contest. And while the way the fight is conducted may not score points with Emily Post, it sure makes for a helluva fun movie. Audience: People looking for a funny and intelligent film.