starring Ben Gazzara, Peter Falk, John Cassavetes
directed by John Cassavetes
131 minutes
Harry (Ben Gazzara), Archie (Peter Falk), and Gus (John Cassavetes) lose one of their best friends. They start the grieving process by drowning their sorrows with heavy drinking. That doesn't numb the pain they are feeling. Harry suggests that they fly to London. He seems determined to go with or without Archie and Gus so they decide to go with him. They do a little bit of gambling as a casino. Despite all being married with children they pick up women and take them back to their hotel.
This movie feels very raw in the way it was shot and planned. It seemed like there were a lot of long takes where the camera doesn't move much. It wasn't just the look of the movie. It was also the way scenes felt very sparsely edited.
There's something about Cassavetes performance in this movie that makes me think that it must have influenced Jon Hamm's performance in Mad Men. If not Hamm then certainly the way Hamm was dressed and made up by the costumes makeup, and hair people on that show.
I have trouble imagining how this movie was received in 1970. The behavior of the three leads is disgusting, stomach churning.
There is a 15-minutes clip of the three stars of this movie on YouTube in which they are making an appearance on the Dick Cavett show. They act like they are drunk or high, maybe they were. They seem to do everything they can to avoid talking about the movie. Worth watching even if you don't want to watch the movie. Dick Cavett has described it as the worst moment of his TV show.
The tag line for this film is "A Comedy about Life, Death, and Freedom." I would not classify this as a comedy. I don't think I laughed a single time. It was two plus hours of my life than I can't get back. It was uncomfortable and down right icky at times especially in the scenes where the men are dealing with the women they pick up in London.
I did not enjoy watching this movie. I can't imagine why I would ever seek it out again. Lots of people disagree with me. Over 300 people on Letterboxd list this as one of their 4 favorite films and it has a rating of 3.8/5 stars. Ridiculous! They're crazy. Watch it if you must but this is not a good film or worth anyone's time.
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