Decent biopic

American cable channel HBO makes a fair attempt to tell the story of Frank Sinatra and pals. Directed by Rob Cohen(before he started inflicting Vin Diesel films upon the world), 'The Rat Pack' is a stylish film that aims to contrast the gang's public high life with their private traumas.

Of course, in a film such as this casting is key and here 'The Rat Pack' mostly passes the test. Ray Liotta takes the lead role of Sinatra despite not looking or sounding a great deal like him, but he gives a strong enough performance to carry the picture. The real success stories lie in the supporting cast. Joe Mantegna nails Dean Martin's swagger and wry one liners and portrays him as a character casting a jaded eye over the soulless showbiz scene. He may play up to the womanising, partying image but he sleeps alone.

However the real star here is Don Cheadle who superbly plays Sammy Davis Jr. Davis is shown to be a slightly insecure man who knows Sinatra and Martin are often condescending to him but he needs their friendship. The most poignant scenes in the film occur when Sinatra vows to stand by Davis over his controversial marriage to May Britt in the face of hostile bigotry.The script gives short shrift to the rest of the cast. Peter Lawford is well played by Angus MacFayden while Joey Bishop is marginalised into irrelevance. But William Petersen has fun as a sleazy JFK.

'The Rat Pack' is not without it's flaws. It often tries to cram major events into floating newspaper headline montages while the likes of Ava Gardner, Marilyn Monroe and Mickey Cohen vanish as soon as they appear. The film glosses over Sinatra's mob connections and did we really need Davis' dream sequence where he faces off against the racists? It really jars with the realistic tone elsewhere and takes the viewer out of the picture.

While 'The Rat Pack' doesn't have all the details(those interested might like to check out Shaun Levy's excellent book of the same name), it's solid cast make it a more than entertaining chronicle of an era when a select group of entertainers could have, and do, anything they wanted.