{"id":29231,"date":"2013-01-10T15:00:10","date_gmt":"2013-01-10T22:00:10","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=29231"},"modified":"2020-12-22T19:45:45","modified_gmt":"2020-12-23T02:45:45","slug":"turtle-diary-1985","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=29231","title":{"rendered":"Turtle Diary (1985)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;Nobody&#8217;s interested in turtles &#8212; except the keeper, me&#8230; and you.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Turtle-Diary-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Turtle-Diary-Poster-202x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"202\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-29249\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Turtle-Diary-Poster-202x300.jpg 202w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Turtle-Diary-Poster-86x128.jpg 86w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/12\/Turtle-Diary-Poster.jpg 580w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 202px) 100vw, 202px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nAn author (Glenda Jackson) and a bookstore clerk (Ben Kingsley) conspire with a zookeeper (Michael Gambon) to steal caged sea turtles at the zoo and free them into the ocean.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ben Kingsley Films<\/li>\n<li>Do Gooders<\/li>\n<li>Glenda Jackson Films<\/li>\n<li>Misfits<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nThe synopsis for this unusual &#8220;caper flick&#8221; &#8212; based on a novel by the eclectic expat author <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Russell_Hoban\">Russell Hoban<\/a>, and scripted by playwright Harold Pinter &#8212; is a bit misleading, given that the turtle heist in question is essentially a proxy for the deeper theme of how finding a sense of purpose and passion in one&#8217;s life can serve as the ultimate liberating force. The characters played by Kingsley and Jackson are both deeply idiosyncratic misfits, living on the fringes to one extent or the other &#8212; Jackson is oddly emotionally reserved; Kingsley rooms in a boarding house despite having a wife and kids somewhere in his past &#8212; and while the thematic parallel between freeing turtles and freeing one&#8217;s inner self is perhaps a bit too obvious, it&#8217;s thankfully never hammered over our heads. The literate screenplay goes in unusual directions (i.e., romance emerges, but not as expected), making this one worth a look for fans of eclectic character studies. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Ben Kingsley as William Snow<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Turtle-Diary-Kingsley.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Turtle-Diary-Kingsley-1024x621.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"388\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-59113\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Turtle-Diary-Kingsley-1024x621.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Turtle-Diary-Kingsley-300x182.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Turtle-Diary-Kingsley-128x78.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Turtle-Diary-Kingsley-768x466.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Turtle-Diary-Kingsley-445x270.png 445w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Turtle-Diary-Kingsley.png 1500w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Glenda Jackson as Neaera Duncan<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Turtle-Diary-Jackson2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Turtle-Diary-Jackson2-1024x628.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"393\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-59111\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Turtle-Diary-Jackson2-1024x628.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Turtle-Diary-Jackson2-300x184.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Turtle-Diary-Jackson2-128x79.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Turtle-Diary-Jackson2-768x471.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Turtle-Diary-Jackson2-440x270.png 440w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Turtle-Diary-Jackson2.png 1475w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>An unusual tale of a uniquely formed bond<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Turtle-Diary-Couple.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Turtle-Diary-Couple-1024x641.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"401\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-59112\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Turtle-Diary-Couple-1024x641.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Turtle-Diary-Couple-300x188.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Turtle-Diary-Couple-128x80.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Turtle-Diary-Couple-768x480.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Turtle-Diary-Couple-432x270.png 432w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/01\/Turtle-Diary-Couple.png 1469w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, though it&#8217;s worth a look. Listed as a Personal Recommendation and a Sleeper in the back of Peary&#8217;s book. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0090219\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1986\/02\/14\/movies\/screen-turtle-diary-with-pinter-screenplay.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.allmovie.com\/movie\/turtle-diary-v51274\/review\">All Movie Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/turtle-diary-1986\">Roger Ebert&#8217;s Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.cinematicthreads.com\/review.php?id=128&#038;ltr=T\">Cinematic Threads Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/turtle-diary-1\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;Nobody&#8217;s interested in turtles &#8212; except the keeper, me&#8230; and you.&#8221; Synopsis: An author (Glenda Jackson) and a bookstore clerk (Ben Kingsley) conspire with a zookeeper (Michael Gambon) to steal caged sea turtles at the zoo and free them into the ocean. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Ben Kingsley Films Do Gooders Glenda Jackson Films Misfits Review: The synopsis for this unusual &#8220;caper flick&#8221; &#8212; based on a novel by the eclectic expat author Russell Hoban, and scripted by playwright&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=29231\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29231"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":59114,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29231\/revisions\/59114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}