Matcollis This Movie Can Only Be Described With One Word.

Titreenp SERIOUSLY. This is what the crap Hollywood still puts out?

Phonearl Good start, but then it gets ruined

Alistair Olson After playing with our expectations, this turns out to be a very different sort of film.

oOoBarracuda One of my favorite Gene Wilder films was 1974's Rhinoceros. The film, directed by Tom O'Horgan, was based on the play by Eugène Ionesco of the same name. Gene Wilder was reunited with Zero Mostel to illustrate the dangers of herd mentality among the populous. When there is one man left in a city that is quickly seeing all of its inhabitants turn into rhinoceroses, he remains steadfast in the notion that he must maintain his individuality.Stanley (Gene Wilder) is a man that is exhausted from the mundane existence that has become his life. Stanley hates his job and does not feel that he is exercising his full potential. Stanley's best friend John (Zero Mostel) is trying to make a decent man out of Stanley, encouraging him to take an interest in the arts and be mindful of the way he dresses. After several talks in which John berates Stanley for his drinking and lifestyle, Stanley promises to give up drinking and be more of the man John is suggesting he should be. The impetus for Stanley attempting to be a better man is a woman he works with that he has fallen for. Daisy (Karen Black) works in the male-dominated paper business with Stanley and is often seen with another man that they work with who is more like John. Just as Stanley is on the brink of changing who he is to fit in better at work and have a chance with Daisy, the entire town is turning into rhinoceroses. As the four-legged creatures are seen storming the city, more and more people are turning into them and defending their lifestyle. Stanley sees the transformation as preposterous and becomes convinced that it is no way to live to become a rhinoceros. Stanley makes a vow to himself that even if he is the last human being left in the world, he will not succumb to the ways of the rhinoceros.Rhinoceros is a wonderful celebration of individuality. The film doesn't try to hide or thinly veil its message, it comes across as an overt warning of what happens to people that forgo their uniqueness in order to fit in. The magic of the film comes from its message, but also the chemistry of the reunited principles. Mostel and Wilder had lost nothing in the 7 years that passed between The Producers and Rhinoceros in terms of chemistry. The two played well against each other as tough love friends looking out for each other in their own way. There was a hilarious opener in which the audience is reassured that the following story could never happen in real life as the world is flat. This opening was an exceptional way to set the premise of the film before it ever started, and a touch I had missed on my preceding viewings of the film. Wilder stole the show in this film, but Zero Mostel had a wonderful scene in which he transformed into a rhinoceros. His transformation scene was long and intense and incredibly well-acted by the veteran actor. As noted, Wilder's performance stole the show. This was the film that I first noticed how beautiful his voice is to listen to. Like melted butter to the ears, Wilder encouraged me to buy as many of his audio books as I can. What really shines in this film is Gene's attention to detail. The nonverbal acting he performed in this movie shows what an actor should be, and endears you to his character despite his many flaws. With or without a subtle message, Rhinoceros is a joy of a film to sink your horns into, and one I would recommend highly.

Lee Eisenberg Tom O'Horgan's "Rhinoceros" is based on Eugène Ionesco's play. An exercise in the theater of the absurd, the play was intended as an indictment of Nazism, showing how everyone simply acquiesces to events around them. I guess that the movie doesn't really focus on the political aspect as much, but it's still a funny movie. Zero Mostel and Gene Wilder basically reprise their roles from "The Producers", only this time it's a world in which all the people are turning into odd-toed ungulates. Nothing can stop the transformations! Admittedly, it's a totally outlandish idea. But, that's a characteristic of the theater of the absurd. We don't actually see any members of the family Rhinocerotidae, we just hear their snorts. Nonetheless, I was laughing almost the whole time. Wilder is particularly funny as the uptight office clerk who falls apart as he watches all his acquaintances change. Zero Mostel's transformation is the best, while Karen Black's character is the most dynamic in the whole movie.Pretty neat.

bkoganbing The short lived American Film Theater in its few years of existence produced and preserved so many good theatrical works that might never have gotten filmed they deserve the gratitude of all who appreciate the best in plays. One of the best and most interesting preserved work is French playwright Eugene Ionesco's absurdest work, Rhinoceros. It's a very funny work with a strong moral message about individualism.Ionesco knew a little something about zoology in that he picked of all the creatures in the animal kingdom, the Rhinoceros is the one he chose. Rhinoceros is an animal with a thick hide, a small brain relative to its body, good hearing, great sense of smell, but absolutely limited vision. Their tempers are quick to arouse when they perceive a threat and once charging they're hard creature to stop. It's a good thing they're herbivores, if they were carnivores, they not the lion would be king of the jungle. And they travel in herds, when not in their usual mud habitat, chewing on their cud.And Rhinos are what people are gradually turning into in this small town which was set in France, but could easily be any small town in the world. They are a great deal more provincial and the chances of finding folks who are individualistic are slimmer. My guess is that Ionesco lived in small towns in his formative years and hated it.Rhinoceros ran for 240 performances on Broadway in 1961 and starred Zero Mostel and Eli Wallach in the part that Gene Wilder plays in the film. The casting of Wilder was obviously done to exploit the chemistry Mostel and he demonstrated in Mel Brooks's The Producers.Mostel like in The Producers by dint of his stronger personality tries to get Gene Wilder to change his ways. Wilder is a mousy little man who has a dead end job in a newspaper, can't get to first base with the object of his affection, Karen Black, and likes to drink a little too much more than is good for him.But while Zero is giving Gene his spiel about straightening out, the first of many Rhinoceros make their appearance outside the café they are lunching at. Gradually one by one the whole cast turns into these creatures, the whole town does except poor Wilder who is left sheepishly alone.Mostel won a Tony Award for his role in the original Broadway production, but it really is Wilder's film, he definitely has more screen time. Wilder definitely should have gotten more acclaim for what he did in Rhinoceros.The theater of the absurd is not to everyone's taste, but for those that do appreciate it, this production of Rhinoceros should fill your bill.

Dewhistle I saw this movie on TV when I was a child. That was my parents' mistake. I found Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory disturbing as a child, so deciding I wanted to see Rhinoceros because Gene Wilder was in it was plain wrong.The whole thing seemed like a horror movie to me at the time. Having found it confusing to fit in with other people, maybe the movie spoke most directly to me. I have had a horror most of my life of blind conformity. Nevertheless, it was the stuff of nightmares at the time. My clearest memories of it are of Zero Mostel's transformation (the horror of finding one of the last hold-outs was lost) and seeing Gene Wilder huddling against a building out on a ledge high above a writhing mass of rhinos... I confess, I don't know whether that was really in it, just that if there were so few actual rhinos seen in it, as other reviewers suggested, my childish imagination must have filled them in. I would call that effective film-making... giving the mind what it needed to perceive the vision.From the sound of things, this is a movie I should see as an adult to see whether it tends more to be horrifying or funny. Not much of a review, I admit.