It is
a little sad that it often takes an actor or director's death to give us
the nudge that we needed to watch some of their films. RIP Robert Redford.
One of the great ones from my generation. I have had this on My Rewatch Someday
List for ages. There were a few other candidates of Redford that I should
watch again - The Natural, The Candidate, The Hot Rock, Watched All the President's
Men last year - such a great film - but zero desire to watch perhaps his
two most popular films, The Sting and Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid
- too polished, too light. They made him a huge star though. Such a handsome
guy and loaded with natural charm that he could have floated by on his appearance
for a few years, but he took his craft seriously as he did his causes away
from the screen. A good person by all accounts.
This one is a favorite of mine. Filled with
paranoia, cynicism, conspiracies, professional killers, government malfeasance
- it still works wonderfully well today for the most part. There have been
many films since that covered some of the same territory, but none as well
as this one does. It keeps it simple. A man trying to understand why they
are trying to kill him and keeping a step ahead of them. The bedding of Faye
Dunaway after holding her captive doesn't feel as sexy or romantic as it
did perhaps 50 years ago. This was directed by Sydney Pollack and I love
the look and feel of the film. The scenes in NYC. Even the extras who float
by felt right. He puts together such a great cast - all of them legends now
- Redford, Dunaway, Cliff Robertson, Max von Sydow and John Houseman. They
are all so good. Been ages since I saw Houseman in anything. And it
felt so good to me that it is pre-internet, pre-cell phone, pre-massive surveillance
with cameras everywhere. He has to work to figure it out. It moves along
at a perfect pace with tension every step of the way. The killing scene at
the office was shocking back then. It still does.
