Word: redford
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Dates: during 1970-1979
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Fauss (Michael Pollard), a goofy mechanical genius, is the otherwise backward son of a suffocatin' maw and a sufferin' paw. Halsy (Robert Redford) is a full-time motorcycle rider, ego-tripper and ladysmith. But the steatopygous girls who follow him are, as he admits, "gland cases" and "hurting whores." Between race-track rack-ups and sexual hang-ups, the film is crowded with subject-but barren of object. It is impossible to hide what never existed; nonetheless Director Sidney Furie seems to be attempting an existential comedy. Local color is dabbed in by the numbers. Maw (Lucille Benson...
None of Halsy's pretensions is quite as labored as the 97-minute one that Furie has concocted. Pollard, an amalgam of chagrin and Silly Putty, is C.W. Mossier than ever. Redford is one of the few actors who can look gaudy wearing nothing but blue jeans. But both characters have infantile psyches; they seem as incapable of sorrow as of happiness. The aimless script is even more anesthetized. Its lame jokes are articulated by stunted heroes and vapid chicks: the halt leading the bland. Though its budget appears generous, the film's editing is cut-rate; scenes...
...doesn't do so continually, as a unity. Sentimental situations are instead set up and undercut. Moreover, the film is filled with strange changes, apparent lapses, in tone. Economical establishment of character alternates with incompetent dialogue and playing. Subtle implication gives way to blatant statements about the situation. Redford's and Clarke's performances and even Katherine Ross's, seem insecure and inconsistent...
...Them Willie Boy is Here. Two American westerns, one a graphic epic on violence by a young director (Sam Peckinpaugh), the other a psychological exploration of racial genocide by an old and, for twenty years, blacklisted filmmaker (Abraham Polonsky). Lucien Ballard's color photography in the former and Robert Redford's performance in the latter are added treats...