On B List of Movie Reviews

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Barbarians at the Gate (1993)

Rate: 6
Viewed: 7/20

BarbGates
7/20: The viewer's enjoyment level of watching Barbarians at the Gate is going to depend heavily on how well-versed he is in the matters of business.

I found some of the language a bit difficult to follow at times, but I get it on the whole. Yet Barbarians at the Gate isn't what I call an entertaining film. By the way, what a great title, and I love the tagline as shown on the poster.

Two head honchos compete to take over RJR Nabisco through leveraged buyout (LBO) by outbidding each other with each presenting a list of pros and cons. Honestly, that sounds boring. Anyway, F. Ross Johnson lost out in the final bid round because his main motivation in life was to be filthy rich.

While the cast is uniformly good, there are two standouts: James Garner and Jonathan Pryce. I don't think I've seen the former act this well, so kudos to him. If you ever want to see Fred Dalton Thompson in a superman suit, here's your chance.

All in all, although I've never read Barbarians at the Gate, the book is probably more intricate and, therefore, better than the movie.