Synopsis
After a film student gets his belongings stolen, he meets a mobster bearing a startling resemblance to a certain cinematic godfather. Soon, he finds himself caught up in a caper involving endangered species and fine dining.
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Cast
- Marlon BrandoCarmine Sabatini, aka Jimmy The Toucan
- Matthew BroderickClark Kellogg
- Bruno KirbyVictor Ray
- Penelope Ann MillerTina Sabatini
- Frank WhaleySteve Bushak
- Jon PolitoChuck Greenwald
- Kenneth WelshDwight Armstrong
- Richard GantLloyd Simpson
- Jefferson MappinHunter
- Maximilian SchellLarry London
Recommendations
- 100
Empire
Marvelous supporting performances from scene-stealing Kirby, Maximilian Schell, Paul Benedict as the nutty professor and Frank Whaley as Broderick's quiff-coiffed room mate pile on the pleasures, but the sight of Marlon Brando on ice skates is surely the absolute treat in a film well worth rooting for. - 90
The New York Times
The visual style of The Freshman isn't always up to its verbal wit, but then the writing sets an exceptional standard. - 90
Chicago Reader
Sweet and warm as well as manic, this is full of loopy surprises, and the supporting cast (including Penelope Ann Miller, Bruno Kirby, Steve Bushak, Maximilian Schell, and Bert Parks, playing himself in his film debut) is uniformly fine. - 88
Chicago Sun-Times
There have been a lot of movies where stars have repeated the triumphs of their parts - but has any star ever done it more triumphantly than Marlon Brando does in "The Freshman"? He is doing a reprise here of his most popular character, Don Vito Corleone of "The Godfather," and he does it with such wit, discipline and seriousness that it's not a ripoff and it's not a cheap shot, it's a brilliant comic masterstroke. - 88
Chicago Tribune
Even without Marlon Brando in it, Andrew Bergman`s The Freshman would be a very funny movie; with him, it seems likely to become a classic. - 80
Los Angeles Times
The role is nothing more than an elaborate comic turn, but he invests it with such sly knowingness and reserves of feeling that he gives this dinky joke-book movie a soul. Brando is doing here what a lot of famous actors probably wish they could do to the roles that made them famous (or, in Brando’s case, famous again). He’s using the gravity of his performance in “The Godfather” for comic effect, bringing out the absurdity that was always just under the surface of the role. - 75
TV Guide Magazine
There's not much to THE FRESHMAN beyond the spectacle of Brando gently spoofing his most famous role, but that's a pretty sizeable asset. Broderick is his usual charming self, and there are occasional moments of inspired whimsy or absurdity: Brando on ice skates, Bert Parks delivering a rousing rendition of Bob Dylan's "Maggie's Farm." - 70
Rolling Stone
With Brando around, The Freshman has a snappy madness that’s hard to resist.
