Unofficial Director's Consensus: George Roy Hill

[thefourthwall]

Hey all, I'm writing an entry on George Roy Hill for an encyclopedia on Movies and American Culture and was curious what people's thoughts were on his work and how it's generally received. So, as long as the mods don't mind a rogue director's consensus thread and shut this down, how do you rank his work?

Funny Farm (1988)
The Little Drummer Girl (1984)
The World According to Garp (1982)
A Little Romance (1979)
Slap Shot (1977)
The Great Waldo Pepper (1975)
The Sting (1973)
Slaughterhouse-Five (1972)
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Thoroughly Modern Millie (1967)
Hawaii (1966)
The World of Henry Orient (1964)
Toys in the Attic (1963)
Period of Adjustment (1962)

Thanks!

[Sven]

I really enjoy The Sting and Butch Cassidy is tops when it comes to adventure, but Slap Shot, World According to Garp, and Funny Farm are lame and Thoroughly Modern Millie is downright unwatchable. I like his off-kilter style and the imaginative performances he gets from his casts. Kind of like a low-grade Hal Ashby.

[Qrazy]

Kind of like a low-grade Hal Ashby.

Nope.

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969) - A
The Sting (1973) - A-
Slap Shot (1977) - C+
Slaughterhouse-Five (1972) - C+

Been too long to rate The World of Henry Orient.

[Robby P]

I thought he did a really impressive job adapting Slaughterhouse-Five to the screen. That had to have been an extremely difficult task.

[Yxklyx]

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - 7
Slaughterhouse Five - 8
The Sting - 9
The World According to Garp - 9

[thefourthwall]

Thanks for the feedback! I'm starting my quest to be watch all his films (some of them seem to be unavailable unfortunately), so I'll be checking back to see how your impressions compare with my own. First up, will Funny Farm be funny?

[dreamdead]

Although The Sting is not really my type of film, lacking any kind of philosophical contemplation on living or being, it possesses everything else in abundance. It has all kinds of energy and hustle, and is a good caper film that understands the attention to detail and character, building out a full panorama on the ways in which the police allow for the profit of vice and just generally obstruct real justice. A tiny, tiny sliver of race consideration is also effective. Would have liked to have seen just a bit more of gender dynamics, but in terms of celebrating a "man's" world, it is perhaps unparalleled.

I'm interested in trying to figure out if Hill has any kind of personal voice in his films....

[trotchky]

A Little Romance - ****
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - ****

He's pretty fucking good.

[Torgo]

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - 8/10
The Sting - 9/10

[origami_mustache]

Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid - 7

[Mara]

Funny Farm **
The World According to Garp *
The Sting ***.5
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid ***.5
Thoroughly Modern Millie **

A note on Thoroughly Modern Millie: I totally loved it as a kid. It's infectious and fun, and the music is quite hummable.

However, rewatching it as an adult, that crap is RACIST. Also, pretty stupid.

[thefourthwall]

Every film I watch by this guy is awesome, I'm glad that I ended up with this job. The World According to Garp just made me sweetly sad.