Runtime: 113 minutes
Directed by: John Schlesinger
Starring: Jon Voight, Dustin Hoffman, Sylvia Mills, John McGiver, Brenda Vaccaro
From: United Artists
Well, that was bleak…
Despite my viewing of various New Hollywood movies through the years, this early example that won Best Picture I had only seen various bits & pieces of. Before it left the Criterion Channel it deserved a shot. Thank goodness I did, although this was the feel-bad movie of the year.
Joe Buck (no, not the haughty pompous sports announcer now in the lead chair on Monday Night Football; rather, Jon Voight) is a Texas cowboy who is shown to have an overinflated opinion of his desirability towards women as his dreams of being a hustler in New York City quickly turn sour. Not even his Zenith transistor radio or rocky bromance relationship w/ “Ratso” Rizzo can turn his fortunes around. Rizzo has a limp, a persistent cough & dreams of moving to Florida. As someone who lives in Florida… don’t do it!
Despite the general tone of the picture, there are no regrets in finally pulling the trigger. People don’t like Voight now as a person for various reasons, but what an actor, at least back then. Dustin Hoffman was also memorable in an even more colorful performance. It has a nice score; the soundtrack-well, hopefully you like Nilsson’s Everybody’s Talkin’ as especially during the opening act the song’s heard often. Thankfully I do. Me, the main highlight was the editing and how Buck’s backstory was slowly unfurled throughout via flashbacks that allowed the viewer to understand Joe; so did those surreal dream sequences of his current state of mind in NYC
This must have been shocking to movie audiences in ’69; soon after the Hays Code was finally abolished, this totally adult tale with blatant homosexual overtones (and frequent usage of a certain slur), downbeat nature, some brutal scenes, and an unflinching look at an adult lifestyle… it still can hit hard 55 years later. Those accolades plus the tremendous performances from the two leads = a must for those with even a passing interest in the New Hollywood era.
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