watcher410 This was an awesome movie. There was great attention to detail:-One adviser was dressing for a costume party. He was going as superman. This was great symbolism: He was pretending to be superman as an adviser. -One adviser (Cohen) yelled "take the drive" as a traffic suggestion. This was great symbolism: he was always giving bad advice. (The drive was jammed with traffic.) -A woman tells the cab driver: "Can we take the Parkway?" He responded: "How can you do that?" (It was impossible to magically switch to another road.) Again, this was great symbolism because the characters in the movie were "locked in" and couldn't find a way out.Anyways, I loved it.

Lee Eisenberg "Barbarians at the Gate" focuses on KKR's leveraged buyout of RJR-Nabisco in 1988-89. The movie does everything to a tee. James Garner plays Ross Johnson, the smooth-talking RJR executive. His affable demeanor and joke-telling affinity hides Machiavellian schemes, and all the while he really just likes his company's perks. Jonathan Pryce was practically born to play Henry Kravis: Pryce's devilish physiognomy perfectly represents what sort of a person this is.A particularly effective scene is when the executives are flying in their corporate jets side by side, conversing with each other on their cell phones while servants prepare them drinks. It's the ultimate display of greed.All in all, the whole thing captures what the '80s were all about, all the while managing to be humorous. It should come as no surprise that the first decade of the 21st century (The Aughts? The Noughts?) saw things like Enron. Perfect.Also starring Joanna Cassidy (Dolores in "Who Framed Roger Rabbit" and Brenda's mom on "Six Feet Under"), former presidential candidate Fred Thompson, Jeffrey DeMunn and Peter Riegert (Boone in "Animal House").

ezlidblue-1 I don't know if there's been a more perfect made-for-TV movie than this one! If you've ever been involved in a corporate takeover, and I have, you know how perfect this film is. This was the largest corporate takeover in history at the time and the personalities involved are no different today than they were back then. In fact, many of them, particularly Henry Kravis, are still involved in this sort of thing. (I wouldn't want to have to go up against Kravis in a takeover, as few have ever won when KKR was in the mix.) One other reviewer said this film was the "zenith of greed" and it was in the '80s but this sort of greed is exactly what has led to the downfall of Wall Street here in the late-'2000s too! James Garner is perfect in this film, as he is in most anything he acts in, and he truly steals this film from the other actors. Jonathan Pryce is exactly what Henry Kravis is, conniving, brilliant and evil. What really makes this worth watching is the writing skill of Larry Gelbart - a real genius at verbal machinations of all sorts. My favorite line from the film is about the "healthy" cigarette and James Garner delivers! "This cigarette tastes like a turd!" - still cracks me up! If you haven't seen this film, please do sit back and enjoy a priceless bit of entertainment. If you haven't read the book, please find it and read it. Both the film and the book are worth every minute you will spend!

Coxer99 The RJR Nabisco company goes on the selling block, triggering chaos as Wall Street scrambles to take control of the $25 billion empire. A sharp, witty script delivered with panache by a perfect cast, most outstanding Garner and Pryce as the giants going head to head for the company. Larry Gelbart wrote the script. The cast also includes Peter Reigert, Joanna Cassidy and Senator Fred Thompson, who are all wonderful.