Berkeley (2005) User Reviews

An advertising brochure for the peace-rally crowd.

[emdoub · 5/10 · 25 May 2008]

A fairly stereotypical tale of a young man growing up in the 1960s who goes to Berkeley to avoid the draft, grows a beard, sleeps with a handful of women, argues politics with his Marine brother-in-law, confuses and annoys his father, does some drugs - pretty much the storyline you expect.

Not horrible, fairly well-acted, and not quite so cliché-driven that it becomes annoying, the movie is watchable. Some of it does become annoyingly predictable, though - it even has the narrator give a commentary on G. W. Bush, lamenting his pursuit of war today.

There are films about this time that will give deeper insight, whose protagonists are not quite so naive, with fewer/shorter musical performances by the characters - that are, basically, better. There are, however, much worse.

Great fun

[linda_messner · 8/10 · 21 July 2008]

I watched with friends from that era and totally and completely enjoyed the movie. I loved the music, the feel of the movie and the acting was good. Henry Winkler did a great job.

I thought the movie captured the feel of the time and the sense of what was happening on college campuses everywhere. Loved the song by Country Joe and the Fish at the end as the credits were rolling that commented on George Bush and the current war very, very accurately. It was a feel good movie but it also made clear the government violence against the protesting students.

I highly recommend the film for those of that era and for those who wish to see "the way it was".

Enjoyable, has a sense of place

[tseepra · 8/10 · 1 May 2008]

Berkeley is a coming of age story about a man who enters Berkeley as a boy and finds himself in a movement, the anti-war movement. I tend to like these movies because they have a sense of place. You can almost feel like your a part of it. Berkeley does not disappoint and you feel swept up in Ben Sweet's story. After seeing it I got a longing for a time when protest still worked and free love was in the air. It reminded me of Stephen Kings - Hearts in Atlantis, the book.

While this movie is not for everyone, there is very little action and there are some corny scenes. I really enjoyed it and recommend it.

"Isn't it interesting how you can fall in love before even speaking a word" "Words tend to get in the way"