The Wind and the Lion

John Milius is certainly riding the crest of a mighty wave right now on the popularity of his series ROME and though I've not yet seen the show after finally catching this 1975 picture I'm mighty damn interested. Set during the presidency of Theodore Roosevelt, well portrayed by the late Brian Keith, THE WIND AND THE LION sure as hell will show you not much has changed in relations between the West and the Middle East. While the war itself is the manjor motivativating force and backdrop for the film it is really about how men react to the women and the children in their lives and the comparison between Roosevelt and Raisuli, fictitious or not, and a wonderful bit of cinematic mastery. Sean Connery as Raisuli is a bit of a casting stretch but he more than charms his way though it so that you forget all about his accent and simply accept him in the role and Candice Bergen is absolutely amazing as the American mother of two who is kidnapped along with her children which of course causes quite the international political rukus. This, of course, did not happen but I, as I'm sure writer/director Milius and the rest of the movie going public did, would much rather see a smokin' hot Bergen (I don't care what anybody say...she rocked...hell...she still does!) than the boring old dude they snatched for real. An amazing piece of work all around and falls under the category of "they just don't make 'em like they used to".