Word: redfords
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...Rock apparently aimed to be the caper movie to end them all. Unfortunately, it probably won't. William Goldman has transferred the patty-cake banter of his Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid to contemporary New York City, where he unleashes a quartet of schlemiel heist men (Robert Redford, George Segal, Ron Leibman, Paul Sand). Their task is to lift a gem called the Sahara stone and turn it over to the pompous African diplomat (Moses Gunn) who contracted for the job. They go to a lot of elaborate trouble to break into places. The gimmick is that...
Yates and Goldman set a facetious tone throughout most of the film (Redford, admired by Segal for his "nerves of steel," suffers from gastritis). But the jokes do not so much supplement the tension as undercut it. Combining satire and suspense is a treacherous business. Only Hitchcock (as in North by Northwest) has really been able to manage it. His wit, visual sophistication and editorial wizardry are greatly missed in The Hot Rock...
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...