BlazeLime Strong and Moving!

Greenes Please don't spend money on this.

Hadrina The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Skyler Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

DrPhilmreview I think this movie is where the long downhill slide for Richard Dreyfuss first began. Before this, it seems like everything he touched turned to gold--"Jaws", "Close Encounters", "The Goodbye Girl", "Duddy Kravitz but that stopped with this film. "The Competition" is slow, pretentious, and boring.Even Amy Irving is forgettable in this one. Director Joel Oliansky never got to direct another feature after this snooze-fest.It's like the film wants to be a "Paper Chase" for music, but it fails on just about every level imaginable. Dreyfuss would to be sure, still put in a good performance now and again, but after this movie his star never shined as bright and his movies were all on a downhill slide.Too bad, because once he was a hell of an actor.

willrams I must admit this was a great musical thrill as well as a pretty good love story between the competition, a very skinny Richard Dreyfuss and Amy Irving, who were trained competently for difficult hand movements while classical pianists did a good job. In the story she was trained for perfection by her teacher, Lee Remick. Such a wonderful actress she was!! What a pleasure it was to see her again, as well as listen to such fine classical music. Amy wins the prize for playing a very difficult piece of Prokiev; and, alas, a warm love story between the competitors. I highly recommend this to all classical music lovers; even though I don't know that much about them. I loved it, give it 8/10

pachin "The Competition" stars two of the hot young actors (it was a while ago) at the time in Richard Dreyfuss and Amy Irving. The plot is very promising in that it shows the relationship between two piano virtuosos in a major piano competition. The music is enjoyable and the actors are likeable but you get the impression so much more could have been done. Some of the subplots could have been done away with. Overall the movie is okay if you catch it on television but it is not a great movie by any means.

budmassey Ostensibly about the competitiveness between gifted young pianists, this picture is actually about ambition, disappointment, sacrifice, love, betrayal and a lot more. By the time this film was made, Dreyfuss had already fallen into his period of self-adulation during which he exalted himself, but sometimes, sadly, not his work. Amy Irving had not yet married (and divorced) Steven Spielberg, a move that for many reasons probably ended her career in Hollywood. As leads, they both came to their roles in perfect form, and their intelligent and layered performances are the centerpiece of this astounding ensemble cast.The movie does a great job of convincing us that we are looking through the keyhole into the rarefied world of young pianists who look upon the likes Vladimir Ashkenazy as a peer while still finding themselves as adults. They angst over their futures, which always seem just out of reach, and then render performances of the classical repertoire that amaze and delight. All the while, they trip through the comically serious pas de deux of youthful obsession.Lee Remick is stunning as the demanding teacher to Heidi Joan Schoonover (Irving). I get the feeling that the original character was supposed to be a lesbian, but Remick's instrument won't play that note. Instead, she is a hard-nosed, totally serious, single-minded taskmaster who demands, and brings forth, the best from her pupil. Dreyfuss is the driven and desperate young man who, while gifted, has never been able to break through as a serious musician, and who, hounded by financial responsibilities and tempted by a job that cannot possibly provide more than a paycheck, runs the risk of being washed up at 25. They become romantically involved, much to Remick's dismay, only to find themselves competing head to head for the most coveted prize in their field. Can they work it out knowing that only one of them can win? Hey, it's the 80's!There are basically two kinds of movies. Those in which things happen, and those in which we get to know the characters. This is a shining example of the latter. I've loved this film since its original release, but I still yearn for a DVD edition.