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Hustle (1975) -
...starring Burt Reynolds and directed by Robert Aldrich, who had just finished directing Burt in the original version of THE LONGEST YARD. It starts off promising, as Reynolds abandons “Burtisms” like silly high pitched laughing and arrogant smirks interspersed with gum chewing. He also abandons the redneck Bandit stuff and has a respectable job as a Detective.
Add the lovely Catherine Deneuve into a Hollywood movie and get Ben Johnson involved - that sounds like something, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, it’s not much. Catherine must have had it written into her contract that she would always be wrapped in enough layers of clothes to take an Arctic trek. Her subdued acting as a sort of quasi-feminist hooker is okay, but what hooker has ever dressed like that? And what '70's moviegoer ever wanted to see CATHERINE DENEUVE dress like that? And WHAT KIND OF MAN is Burt to accept crumbs from the table from her for most of the film?
It’s also sad to see Ben Johnson looking so frail and being called a nobody countless times. Of course, it had already been four years since he told us in THE LAST PICTURE SHOW that “Being an old decrepit bag of bones, that’s what’s ridiculous. Gettin’ old.”
This movie is a couple of hours long, and Burt doesn’t seem to know how to act in this new persona, which is surprising since he had so much practice as DAN AUGUST. When he’s supposed to be drunk, he even slips back into the high-pitched giggle Burtism. I guess he only had so many moves, and the workmanlike Aldrich probably didn’t give him much help. Too bad Peter Bogdanovich wasn't around to rile him up by explaining how movies are "little pieces of time." Without adding a spoiler, let’s just say Burt plays a hero. And - as William S. Burroughs once said - what do you do with a hero? There’s only one thing you can do!
...starring Burt Reynolds and directed by Robert Aldrich, who had just finished directing Burt in the original version of THE LONGEST YARD. It starts off promising, as Reynolds abandons “Burtisms” like silly high pitched laughing and arrogant smirks interspersed with gum chewing. He also abandons the redneck Bandit stuff and has a respectable job as a Detective.
Add the lovely Catherine Deneuve into a Hollywood movie and get Ben Johnson involved - that sounds like something, doesn’t it? Unfortunately, it’s not much. Catherine must have had it written into her contract that she would always be wrapped in enough layers of clothes to take an Arctic trek. Her subdued acting as a sort of quasi-feminist hooker is okay, but what hooker has ever dressed like that? And what '70's moviegoer ever wanted to see CATHERINE DENEUVE dress like that? And WHAT KIND OF MAN is Burt to accept crumbs from the table from her for most of the film?
It’s also sad to see Ben Johnson looking so frail and being called a nobody countless times. Of course, it had already been four years since he told us in THE LAST PICTURE SHOW that “Being an old decrepit bag of bones, that’s what’s ridiculous. Gettin’ old.”
This movie is a couple of hours long, and Burt doesn’t seem to know how to act in this new persona, which is surprising since he had so much practice as DAN AUGUST. When he’s supposed to be drunk, he even slips back into the high-pitched giggle Burtism. I guess he only had so many moves, and the workmanlike Aldrich probably didn’t give him much help. Too bad Peter Bogdanovich wasn't around to rile him up by explaining how movies are "little pieces of time." Without adding a spoiler, let’s just say Burt plays a hero. And - as William S. Burroughs once said - what do you do with a hero? There’s only one thing you can do!