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Forced March (1989)

Rate: 7
Viewed: 5/25

ForcedM
5/25: It's rare to find a good Chris Sarandon film, especially when he's in the leading role.

Happily, Forced March exists. It has an interesting story: an actor goes Method to feel what his parents experienced during the Holocaust while getting into his character for a Holocaust film and is sometimes engaged in a battle with his director for not showing enough realism on screen.

While I like what's presented, it feels like Rick King spent too much time on the film within the film when he should've given 50% of the attention to Ben Kline and the movie-making process. One example of what I mean is when the director, played by John Seitz, stopped him for faking the pain and Ben instructed somebody to let go the wire so he could really feel it. That's what I want to see. Another moment is when the director yelled, "Cut!" because he hated the lack of fear shown by his actors lined up prior to their execution.

Chris Sarandon does well for the most part; he's supposed to be a bad TV actor trying to be taken seriously as a movie star by starring in a film that's often anachronistic and poorly made probably on purpose. Once in a while, he can be guilty of being stiff but manages to achieve seriousness when the moment calls for it. I like the transitions between two characters of his and must say this is the first time ever that the film within the film is a lot more absorbing than off due to the quality of the material. The ending is a nice touch when it went from the Holocaust to Chris Sarandon lying on an inflatable float in the pool before zooming out.

All in all, serious fans of Chris Sarandon will certainly enjoy Forced March.