I am a big fan of the Golden age of Hollywood and Errol Flynn will always hold a soft spot in my heart. This tells the story of how the aging and ill Flynn met his last wife. She was a mere 15 years old – one Beverley Aadland (Dakota Fanning). This was a spirited girl who was being driven to be an actress by her alcoholic mothers own ambitions. This is Florence Aadland played brilliantly by Susan Sarandon.From what I know of this part of Flynn's life the film is fairly faithful to the facts. Kevin Kline as the ageing Lothario is actually excellent – he plays the part with enough of the rogue to be believable but with the right level of empathy to make the man live. They also recreate some of the last filmatic roles and that part of the film is very enjoyable.The problem is it does not go anywhere too exciting in the 94 minute run time and so has been criticised for that. That said I really enjoyed it. I think you will get a lot more out of this if you are interested in Flynn and enjoy a good performance or two and this certainly has that.

I eagerly awaited the release of this movie. And it met my expectations well, which is unusual because most movies that I highly anticipate end up disappointing me due to my built-up expectations. This one didn't. It is very well made from beginning to end. All three main actors did a great job portraying their characters; true professionals. Kevin Kline's depiction of Errol Flynn was amazing. His was the most demanding role because the whole world knows Errol Flynn. I love historical reality dramas like this when produced properly by professionals. Films like this not only require highly experienced and talented people, but require a great deal of research and preproduction. To me these movies come the closest to reverse time travel. This movie did a very good job of transporting me back to 1950s Hollywood, to the streets and sound stages of Warner studios, and witnessing the last private two years of the aging bigger-than-life star Errol Flynn. As every movie critic knows, the quintessential trait of a good movie is the ability to make the viewer forget he/she is watching a movie. Reality and accuracy are important to me. I'm a fan of the reality film noir genre. I don't like the older "big production" historical or biopic movies that put on airs and over-glamorize like a 17th century opera. I truly think people who gave this movie a bad review simply aren't qualified to critique biographical films, or appreciate the art and science of film production. I think they might also have a preconceived notion of what Errol Flynn's life should have been like, which is narrow-minded. These people probably have a taste for the old phony fantasy biopics that I dislike so much, such as "Night and Day"(1946), a badly embellished film about composer Cole Porter. Errol Flynn was certainly a megastar who led a life of fame and fortune, but it wasn't all as grandiose and wonderful as some people might think, especially due to Flynn's lifelong health problems. I will agree that perhaps it would have been nice if this movie had some scenes aboard Flynn's famous yacht Zaca, and scenes of the lavish trips and gala Hollywood elite events that Flynn and Aadland attended. Unfortunately, historical biopics like this just don't draw the huge young and dumb movie crowd that action-hero, sci-fi, and space thrillers do. And I just don't feel right taking points off my rank of a biographical film only because it lacked money in its budget. I'm always thankful for talented film producers, directors, actors, and crews who provide their valuable time and talents making wonderful biopics like this. There aren't many people in the general movie-going public who appreciate these rare productions. My DVD of this movie is one of my highly valued film art possessions.

After reading the poor reviews of this film I was expecting very little, but ended up surprised that it was better than I expected. I would say that this was mainly due to the superb acting of the 3 stars here, Kevin Kline, Susan Sarandon, and Dakota Fanning. I also had to take my own personal "moral police meter" and put it aside , to review the movie on it's merits and not my moral judgments, something perhaps some viewers will not want to do.Set in the latter years of the 1950's, the tale focuses on the 2 year relationship between the world famous actor Errol Flynn and the 15 year old Beverly Aadland. Kline is excellent as Flynn, known for his lecherous and playboy ways, and who spots the chorus girl and aspiring actress Aadland on a movie set and immediately takes steps to seduce her.However, Beverly, also superbly portrayed by Fanning, does not appear to be your typical teen looking to bask in the fame and fortune of Flynn. She actually appears to like him and his company, I guess you could say as much as a 15 year old is able to.Then there's Florence, Beverly's mother, and Sarandon just "nails it" here with her portrayal of the super ambitious "stage mother", who even has groomed her daughter to look and act older than her years ( having a fake birth certificate handy showing she's 18 years old). Florence seems to be pushing Beverly to succeed because her own career as a dancer was cut short when she lost a leg in an auto accident, and now wears a prosthetic device.Thus the remainder of the film will focus on the enmeshed lives of the three personalities, and how they will try and hide what's going on from the public and the media. However, there will come a time after the death of Flynn, in 1959, when most serious repercussions will have to be faced.I read that the filmmakers Richard Glatzer and Wash Westmoreland (Still Alice) tried to focus on the story rather than the morality of it all, and, as mentioned, that's what I tried to do as well. The movie itself I thought was quite absorbing, led by the strong acting of the three leads plus the fine supporting cast, and was enhanced by actual photos, at the end, of the real characters portrayed and some of what happened to them in future years.

It is Friday 13, 2013 the world premier at the Toronto International Film Festival – TIFF.A great movie and very tastefully done and the actors are really well chosen! Kevin Kline portrays Errol Flynn extremely well. What a great actor to duplicate Errol Flynn so well, which is a most difficult task indeed! Kevin Kline has his gestures, how he applied his charm in various situations and or how he bewilders Florence, his haughtiness or flamboyancy at times or his fun loving nature, Kevin Kline shows it all and so very well. The make-up artists did a great job as he looked quite a lot like Errol Flynn. What a superb acting in the malaria attack and in particular the dying scene, just gripping, totally outstanding. Susan Sarandon plays Florence very well. Of course, not knowing Florence it is hard to tell how authentic Susan Sarandon was – but she made me believe – yes – this most likely was Florence. As a matter of fact one could feel how disappointed Florence was with her life and her dreams not materializing and as she tries to live her life through her daughter by trying to make her a star. Susan Sarandon reveals in her portrayal, right or wrong, that she tried her best to make a dream come true, if not for herself at least for Beverly. Florence not a well educated woman and therefore thought that Errol Flynn is the answer to her prayers. Susan Sarandon's performance is so genuine of a stage struck mother who would walk on hot coals to get to what she wants.Dakota Fanning plays a very lovely Beverly Aadland and again as Beverly is not known to us the judgement of performance how the real Beverly was is very hard. In the movie she plays an obedient daughter and lives her mother's dream until she meets Errol. She then is much more interested in Errol Flynn than in a stage carrier. At least that's how it comes across in the movie. She plays a passive very nice Beverly not at all like described in Earl Conrad's "A Memoir". As a matter of fact, I did not really believe Earl Conrad's description of Beverly as coarse, ill-mouthed teenager. Maybe he was out for sensational writing to sell his book. It is very sad that in our society writings have to have tainted, grimy and/or scandalous content in order to appeal to the public. And of course anybody who was in the writing business took advantage of Errol Flynn making his escapades 10 times worse than they really were. When ever there was a possibility they were over him like vultures.Dakota Fanning fits the role very well. She gives Beverly warmth and sensitivity. She had to have some of these qualities as Errol Flynn himself was always very well mannered. He would have not put up with bad, ill mannered and swearing behavior. Dakota Fanning is a very good actress and gives a great performance in portraying Beverly Aadland!The Film shows that they had a very nice believable relationship. We must here consider what is written by authors that Errol Flynn never outlived his youth, judging by his often immature mischievous behavior. Maybe Beverly gave him a kind of reliving youth or fulfilled a yearning of his soul; we don't know – only Errol Flynn and Beverly know what was what! I think their love for each other was genuine.A very nice touch at the end was that they showed a picture of Errol and another one from Beverly. I think it is a very good movie and everybody should see it.