in a movie that robert duvall wrote, directed, and starred in, he spends a lot of time chuckling with a smile on his face. however, the reason for duvall's giddiness seems to be more about a realization on the lack of interesting dialogue his character has than because of a good film.<br /><br />with the exception of zach braff's "garden state," the big three combo is a kiss of death. there is no one in the film making process to check duvall's love for his own abilities. although the "apositle" worked for the most part, "tango" doesn't. the direction is pretentious--shots of a panther used for bad symbolism. the writing is basic and pointless. "what is tango? tango is life" everything is life. i could see the passion and beauty that was given off by a form of dance i am not familiar with and consequently could write some better things about the heat of tango.<br /><br />i'll put it this way. i'm a guy that loves 99% of movies because i see them for what they are, not what they could be. however, it took me three days of on and off again viewing to finally complete this film, all the time with a grimace on my face. not to mention, it is one of those films where you just wish the protagonist is going to die and the end and are disappointed when he doesn't.