I looked at the IMDb page for this movie back when we were preparing for the 70's countdown, and I decided I wasn't interested in watching it. One thing I've learned since joining MoFo, is that I have better luck watching good movies when I blindly watch other's recommendations, than I do with movies I pick out for myself. Matt has stated a few times recently how this was his favorite, so I decided to give it the watch I passed on before.
Art Carney plays Harry, a widower in his 70's who gets kicked out of his rundown NYC apartment because it's being torn down. Tonto is his cat and devoted companion. The two of them go to live with Harry's son and his family, but it's a little hectic for him there and he wants his own space. He decides to travel with Tonto to Chicago to visit his daughter, and this is when it turns into a road movie with several little adventures along the way.
Art Carney won the best actor Oscar for this movie, and he did it with the competition being Nicholson, Pacino, Hoffman, and Finney. I can't say that his performance was better than the other's, but he deserved his award. The supporting cast of Larry Hagman, Ellen Burstyn, Geraldine Fitzgerald, etc., all do a terrific job in smallish roles. Chief Dan George is hilarious in about a 5 minute cameo.
I didn't think I was going to care for this movie after the first 10 minutes, and then it just all clicked. It got better and better all the way through to the end. Once I was about a half hour in, it started to make me feel very reflective. That may be the wrong word because I'm nowhere near that age, but I felt something that I don't normally feel. I somehow felt like I related to this movie. This movie is extremely endearing, with subtle emotion and well placed humor. Maybe it's because of the age of the main character, but if I was going to compare this movie to another, it would be The Straight Story. I'm not sure who I'd recommend it to, because I think you either feel it or you don't, and that's something very hard to predict. I feel like it's a special movie and I loved it.
I woke up at 5am, couldn't sleep, and knew you were going to post this. I think it's a movie everyone can relate to, as we see not only the Grandpa, but his son's generation and mores, but also of their kids'.
"Whose Vice President this week?" (Agnew just resigned)
"Who cares?" (apathy)
Shows the decay of the city, and he ponders how it would affect his wife. The man has nothing but his cat, and his little apartment, which he doesn't want to give up.
"Is one of your classmates the Mayor?" --- "To fight capitalism, you have to get out into the streets!"
I really love the relationship between Harry and Jakob - it's also very funny. Not a wasted line the entire movie. The exchanges are great on many levels, and I love the irony of "Can I see the (stock) market?"
"He (my father) was a capitalist bastard!" - I love the political and social conversations. During the eviction, notice Jakob is upset, yelling at the police "Why don't you use tear gas? Drop an atomic bomb?" - and notice how authority has the voice, with their loudspeakers and position, and we can barely hear Jakob, even though the other citizens, even a "young punk" shows solidarity.
And then when Harry has to later make a stop, notice how impersonal things can be.. "We need a social security number, we need this" - "Ma'am, I'm just trying to ________..." - and the audience also sees women and other minorities in the work force. And the young Hispanic man (though dismissive at first) sees the bond, the friendship, and shows his empathy.
The interplay between characters is realistic, funny, and true, and shows how everyone sacrifices, and how a man has to have his own place - King Lear is mentioned a few times.
It's a journey of life, and also the changing society. Airport security - logic vs. the rules. Harry is kind of an old rebel with good values. Even the kid who mugs him doesn't find any value in food, which tells you something right there. He says early on "I've never been west of Chicago" - and everyone he meets has a lasting effect, meaning. Meeting a young girl running away.
Harry: "I don't know what it's like to be sixteen"
Girl: "Neither do I"
Meeting his old love was a touching moment. The others were not actors, and after watching the first time, I try to watch things in the background.
"Stricnine?
Harry and the relationship with his kids is another nice sub-story. We do see some of the "kindness of strangers" -
"Was that the last time you had it, or enjoyed it?"
Even in the music culture - notice the women are covering a Doobie Brothers song.
I could go on and on.... The Straight Story does seem influenced by this movie. And in ways, maybe the movie has a bit of inspiration from "Umberto D"
I have a lot of serious movie fans who have never saw the movie. I've also received great recommendations I wouldn't have seen.
The power of film... I get so much enjoyment when others love something I love as well. I just tried looking for a link online - nothing.. If it wasn't a long walk, I'd bring over the DVD.. The Director's Commentary is interesting, just saw that a week ago.
You might also like Mazursky's "Next Stop, Greenwich Village" - also a fine cast with some familiar names like Christopher Walken (first movie), Shelley Winters, a few others, though the unknown actors are really good. I really respect a great director who is also a great writer.
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