The Rat Pack

I caught this one on late night television a few weeks back. I had avoided it due to Ray Liotta having been cast as Frank Sinatra, kind of like how I didn't want to see NIXON because of Anthony Hopkins. When watching a docudrama of such recent celebrities I feel the leads should at least somewhat resemble the people they are portraying. Like NIXON, I was pleasantly surprised to see how well Liotta did as Sinatra. Even more surprising was Don Cheadle as Sammy Davis Jr.. Utterly brilliant he was, even more so when you consider he only had a couple of weeks to prepare for the role. While preparing and shooting he learned to sing, play the trumpet and drums, tap dance and how to twirl a six shooter! This by itself if amazing but the way Cheadle deals with the racial and social pressure Davis Jr. was under in his performance is nothing short of pure acting genius. In a lot of way, he is the central character in the film and in one imaginary scene where he dances in front of a mob of protesting racists you will understand why Cheadle received a GOLDEN GLOBE for his work. Also of major note is William Petersen as John F. Kennedy. Most of us are more familiar with him as the enigmatic Gil Grissom on CSI-VEGAS and when you see him bringing such a dark and twisted side to Kennedy you will be shocked and repulsed at the same time. Look for the lovely Deborah Kara Unger who is fabulous but severely miscast as Ava Gardner.