FLAMINGO RISING is about two Florida families: the Lees, who own a drive-in theater, and the Knights, who own a funeral parlor across the street. Hubert Lee (Brian Benben) and Turner Knight (William Hurt) are constantly at odds while Lee's young son and Knight's equally young daughter are falling for each other. Lee's long-suffering wife (Liz McGovern) tries to keep the peace. Along comes the Judge (Kevin O'Connor) who likes to fly biplanes, and Lee puts him to use promoting the drive-in, much to the consternation of Knight. Things get considerably worse before they get better, and since this is based on a novel, not everything nor everyone turns out OK. At the end, my wife turned to me and said, "What was the point of all that?" I confess I wondered myself. RISING is well-acted, especially by the flamboyant Benben, and well-directed by Martha Coolidge, but by the end, I suspect most people will be wondering why they spent two hours watching it.
Review of The Flamingo Rising
