SoftInloveRox Horrible, fascist and poorly acted

Yash Wade Close shines in drama with strong language, adult themes.

Darin One of the film's great tricks is that, for a time, you think it will go down a rabbit hole of unrealistic glorification.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

LeonLouisRicci Interesting but Ultimately and Art Film Showcasing Two Method Actors, John Cassavetes who uses Method Acting as a Whole New Method, and Peter Falk Professionally Playing along with what Writer/Director Elaine May and one Assumes Cassavetes had in Mind.It's All in the Mind and We get to Penetrate the Craniums of Two Small Time 1970's Hoods on the Lam in what amounts to a Couple of Blocks in the Big City. The Character Study takes place in less than 24 Hours and the Two Hour Running Time is a Tense, Claustrophobic, Anxiety Riddled Atmosphere of much Rough Housing and Verbal Sparring.The Two are Not too Bright so the Banter is Raw and Reveals very Little as the Screenplay makes Pretensions to Say A Lot Without Saying much. Words and Phrases are Repeated Endlessly (is there an echo in here?) The Whole Thing becomes an Exercise in Frustration, Fighting, Wrestling, Pawing, Slapping, Ball-Busting, and Betrayal.Ned Beatty Shows Up in the Third Act as the Antagonist as the Conclusion is Opened Up somewhat for Ventilation but the Air has been Sucked Out of this Thing Long Ago and Replaced with Stagnant Carbon Dioxide from the Constant Back and Forth Bickering.Overall much Too Long to Sustain this amount of Close-Up Scrutiny, Watching and Listening to these "Real" Low-Lifers. Worth a Watch for Fans of the Actors and the Cassavetes No Frills Film-Making Format that the Female Writer/Director Emulates and seems to be making an Homage.

JasparLamarCrabb A brilliantly acted film. Infantile John Cassavetes is a low level gangster who finds he has a contract on his head. He enlists the help of best friend Peter Falk. What transpires is a night of truth-telling and betrayals that does not end well for either of them. Elaine May wrote & directed this tough-as-nails expose and it's as far from THE HEARTBREAK KID as it could be. Falk & Cassavetes excel and the outstanding supporting cast includes Ned Beatty, Sanford Meisner (the legendary acting teacher making a very rare movie appearance), Joyce Van Patten as Cassavetes extremely angry wife and, in a shocking role, Carol Grace (aka Carol Matthau). The expert cinematography is by credited to Victor J. Kemper but appears to have been worked on by a number of people. May reportedly shot more than a million feet of film, leading to a battle with Paramount Pictures over how best to assemble & release this. May's 119 minute version is astounding.

MARIO GAUCI A strange film to come from a woman film-maker and one best-known for comedy at that; its rough, intense quality makes it feel more like one of co-star John Cassavetes' own radical works and, in fact, around this same time made one of his finest films - THE KILLING OF A Chinese BOOKIE (1976) - which incidentally also deals with the trials and tribulations of a small-time crook (played by Ben Gazzara) who unwisely takes on the mob.The film under review is buoyed by two excellent performances from Peter Falk and Cassavetes who, for the most part, are the only people on screen; however, Ned Beatty is also notable as a beleaguered hit-man.The film, however, can't make up its mind whether to be an existential neo-noir gangster melodrama or a perverse, eccentric inversion of a "buddy" movie! Cassavetes' come-uppance at the very end is arguably the film's highlight and, interestingly, it was shot by veteran cinematographer Lucien Ballard who, among others, had previously shot THE RISE AND FALL OF LEGS DIAMOND (1960) a fine gangster picture and Budd Boetticher's Hollywood swan song. May herself would go on to direct just one more film, the unfairly maligned ISHTAR (1987; see review above); having watched her delightful debut, A NEW LEAF (1971; in which she also starred), I've only got THE HEARTBREAK KID (1972) left to catch up with (though I did miss a number of Cable TV screenings over here several years ago).

dbdumonteil Although the director is Elaine May,the style is Cassavetes's.One may think it's a lost work of him.Peter Falk's presence accentuates this impression.The female parts were too small for Gena Rowlands,I guess..An offbeat work,it starts as a thriller with gangsters and maffia,but we soon discover we got it all wrong.It's a psychological drama,a meditation on friendship (how could have we thought sweet Falk ,full of bonhomie ,was a Judas?),on death (the long sequence in the graveyard ) and mainly on this lost paradise,childhood:Falk tells Cassavetes that he often speaks of his child memories with his wife;actually,he'll do that afterwards,at the end of the movie.Childhood again,when the broken watch reminds them of a long gone past that comes back to take its toll. Childhood again,when Cassavetes buys candies.Childhood's memories might explain Falk's ambiguous behavior.Remember James Cagney and his mother in "white heat" .There's a Walsh dash thrown in here.