Movie Stats:
Released 1973 (USA)
American, in English
Director – George Roy Hill
Stars – Paul Newman, Robert Redford, Robert Shaw
Plot Summary:
In 1930s Chicago, when grifter Johnny Hooker (Redford) pulls
a con on the wrong man (Doyle Lonnegan, played by Shaw), there are deadly
consequences. Hooker is forced to join forces with seasoned con man Henry
Gondorff (Newman) to exact his revenge. (Note: This summary makes the movie
sound very serious. It’s not.)
Warnings:
A small amount of blue language & relatively mild
violence.
Bad Stuff:
It starts out a little slow, so it was hard for me to get
into, but once it got moving, I settled into it nicely.
It’s one of those movies that’s definitely fun and
entertaining, but I had to wonder what the point of it was other than that. The
story is good. However, it doesn’t go anywhere that’s satisfying beyond the “revenge”
aspect. There’s no character development. I guess what I’m saying is that this
is fluff. While that’s not necessarily a bad thing, I expect more than fluff
from my Oscar winners.
Good Stuff:
Great soundtrack.
Newman and Redford are both extremely easy on the eyes. Oh,
and they both turned in fine performances. I enjoyed Shaw the most in this
film, however, which was a relief after his turn in A Man for All Seasons.
I really enjoyed the big con, called “The Wire.” It was
intricate, with a lot of layers, so it was fun to watch it unfold. I didn’t
even see the final layer coming until it happened, which was a pleasant
surprise. I’m not usually fooled so easy.
The Verdict:
First, a story. If you’re a regular reader of these reviews,
you’ve probably seen me say “I saw this movie once about 18 years ago” on a
semi-frequent basis. Here’s why. In the mid-1990s, I spent my junior year of
college in a study-abroad program in Germany. My fellow American students and I
often went to a local video store that rented out English-language movies.
However, their selection was limited, so we ended up renting a lot of older
films. That’s how I saw a lot of these Oscar winners for the first time.
That having been said, I saw this movie once about 18 years
ago. I didn’t remember a whole lot about it other than that I enjoyed it. I
enjoyed it a second time around; I just wasn’t especially wowed. It was fun. It
had some nice eye-candy. That’s about it. I’m not going to give a movie I liked
a harsh rating. However, I don’t think you need to see it unless you’re feeling
especially inclined.
I give the movie 3.5 stars.
2 comments:
I was fooled too! One of my friends told me her mother showed her this movie when she was about eight or so and she got very upset at the ending. But it all came out all right in the end.
For some reason, I watched this and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid within the same month in 2009. I realized that Clooney/Pitt are the Redford/Newman of our time. And I think that's why this movie won an Oscar. Just like people love Clooney/Pitt pairings, people loved Redford/Newman stuff and wanted it to succeed. Plus, there was that catchy soundtrack.
I think that's a very astute observation about the Redford/Newman pairing. They definitely had fantastic chemistry (although personally I don't like Butch Cassidy; I think it's boring).
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