← Back to Reviews
in
Scarecrow (1973)
If the idea of watching two of the industry's greatest actors near the beginning of their careers delivering Oscar-worthy performances in a movie nobody saw holds appeal, then you might want to take a look at Scarecrow, an evocative blending of buddy movie and character study from 1973 that took this reviewer through a myriad of emotions, not to mention a master class in screen acting that riveted this reviewer to the screen.
Gene Hackman stars as Max, an ex-con who loves to fight and is fresh out of jail after six years, who is hitchhiking to Pittsburgh to get his hands on a large amount of money he has stashed there which he plans to use to open his own car wash. Al Pacino stars as Lion, an ex-sailor who is hitchhiking to Detroit to deliver a gift to a child that he has never met. A chance meeting leads these two drifters to become fast friends and eventual business partners who embark on an incredible episodic cross country odyssey.
I'm at a loss as to why this movie was such a box office bomb because it was made at a time when both stars were really coming into their own as box office champions. Hackman had just won his first Oscar for The French Connection and Pacino had just earned his first nomination for The Godfather, so one would think this film would have been box office gold but it laid a big fat egg art the box office and I don't know why. Hackman and Pacino not only create a magical chemistry onscreen but two distinct and fascinating characters who create their own backstory through their performances and the focused and sensitive direction from Jerry Schatzberg (Tha Panic in Needle Park).
I love the way the story opens...Max and Lion are hitchhiking on opposite sides of the same road competing for a ride while trying to feel each other out to determine if the other can really be trusted. I loved that the breaking point of the impasse turned out to be Max being unable to light his cigar because his zippo was dead and Lion offering him his last match.
Garry Michael White's screenplay is more focused on establishing who Max and Lion are than the somewhat ordinary buddy story that is the canvas here. The story has us falling in love with these two guys and completely behind their journey until the halfway point where they are pulled apart and the story takes some very dark detours that we really don't see coming. Fans of the 1969 Best Picture winner Midnight Cowboy will definitely have a head start here.
Gene Hackman, giving a performance he claims is his favorite, is a glorious combination of unhinged and unaffected, a dazzling performance where he is never caught "acting" and Pacino is loopy and explosive, lighting up the screen at every turn. Mention should be made of performances by Dorothy Tristan and the fabulous Ann Wedgeworth as a pair of good time girls and a brief appearance by Eileen Brennan. A big bouquet to Vilmos Zsigmond's cinematography as well. An unsung hero in the resumes of Hackman and Pacino and probably the best movie of 1973 that nobody saw.
If the idea of watching two of the industry's greatest actors near the beginning of their careers delivering Oscar-worthy performances in a movie nobody saw holds appeal, then you might want to take a look at Scarecrow, an evocative blending of buddy movie and character study from 1973 that took this reviewer through a myriad of emotions, not to mention a master class in screen acting that riveted this reviewer to the screen.
Gene Hackman stars as Max, an ex-con who loves to fight and is fresh out of jail after six years, who is hitchhiking to Pittsburgh to get his hands on a large amount of money he has stashed there which he plans to use to open his own car wash. Al Pacino stars as Lion, an ex-sailor who is hitchhiking to Detroit to deliver a gift to a child that he has never met. A chance meeting leads these two drifters to become fast friends and eventual business partners who embark on an incredible episodic cross country odyssey.
I'm at a loss as to why this movie was such a box office bomb because it was made at a time when both stars were really coming into their own as box office champions. Hackman had just won his first Oscar for The French Connection and Pacino had just earned his first nomination for The Godfather, so one would think this film would have been box office gold but it laid a big fat egg art the box office and I don't know why. Hackman and Pacino not only create a magical chemistry onscreen but two distinct and fascinating characters who create their own backstory through their performances and the focused and sensitive direction from Jerry Schatzberg (Tha Panic in Needle Park).
I love the way the story opens...Max and Lion are hitchhiking on opposite sides of the same road competing for a ride while trying to feel each other out to determine if the other can really be trusted. I loved that the breaking point of the impasse turned out to be Max being unable to light his cigar because his zippo was dead and Lion offering him his last match.
Garry Michael White's screenplay is more focused on establishing who Max and Lion are than the somewhat ordinary buddy story that is the canvas here. The story has us falling in love with these two guys and completely behind their journey until the halfway point where they are pulled apart and the story takes some very dark detours that we really don't see coming. Fans of the 1969 Best Picture winner Midnight Cowboy will definitely have a head start here.
Gene Hackman, giving a performance he claims is his favorite, is a glorious combination of unhinged and unaffected, a dazzling performance where he is never caught "acting" and Pacino is loopy and explosive, lighting up the screen at every turn. Mention should be made of performances by Dorothy Tristan and the fabulous Ann Wedgeworth as a pair of good time girls and a brief appearance by Eileen Brennan. A big bouquet to Vilmos Zsigmond's cinematography as well. An unsung hero in the resumes of Hackman and Pacino and probably the best movie of 1973 that nobody saw.