Scarecrow

source: Scarecrow

Trailer—Scarecrow

Scarecrow

Great performances from Gene Hackman and Al Pacino. Two hitch hikers meet on the beaten path leading to an uncertain future. Hackman's character has been saving money in his shoe in hopes of someday buying a car wash. Dialogue on the rough side. This is a very moody piece about being down and surviving on your dreams. Movie drags on and on, but is redeemed by the acting skills of Hackman and Pacino. Was that a body double for Eileen Breenan? If not, what a cameo.

Despite the high-powered names in the credits--and Warner Bros. at the picture's helm--this is one odd package: gritty but meek, somnambulist instead of artistic. Two drifters (Gene Hackman and Al Pacino) become friends on the road, dreaming up a scheme to go into the car-wash business together. Director Jerry Schatzberg allows his lead actors room to roam about and collect their characters on the fly. The muddy photography and patchy sound definitely gives one a sense of wayward dislocation, but none of this does much to strengthen the narrative, which is a little drowsy. Good acting nearly puts it over, although nothing can redeem the cheap sentimentality inherent in the film's final reel. ** from ****

Gene Hackman and Al Pacino play two drifters(Max & Francis) who befriend each other, and decide to form a business partnership in Pittsburgh, where they hope to open a car wash. Film details their adventures along the way. Both actors are very good as usual, and being filmed on real road locations helps, but film, which feels very inspired by the far superior "Midnight Cowboy" never amounts to much, feels like an extended sketch study stretched to feature length. Hackman(Max) is a hot-tempered brawler, which gets them in frequent trouble, while Pacino(Francis) is a simple man who just wants to see his son again, but fate has other ideas. The ending is disappointing because it just stops, without any real emotional resolution. Nice try, but misses.

Essentially, the film reveals is that people use different ways and personas to protect themselves from being hurt. Max is obviously confrontational and aggressive. Francis is a clown. Each disarms those around them so that they don't get too close. You can look at a scarecrow in many ways, but the purpose is the same.... to keep the crows away. Max uses fear, Francis uses jokes. At the end of the movie, Francis' scarecrow doesn't work anymore when strong feelings break through surface. The dialog and acting in this film are first rate. Two of my favorite actors in break-out roles. Hackman as a sensitive guy... Pacino as a comedian... who would have thought?

I saw Scarecrow when it originally came out in 1973. Like so many movies of that era (late 60's - early 70's) it didn't have the requisite "happy ending" that Hollywood force feeds us today. Instead, we're presented with the desolate lives of two drifters searching for redemption at their respective destinations of Pittsburgh and Detroit. Hackman and Pacino are at their best here, providing the same type of brilliant acting and on-screen presence that Voight and Hoffman gave us in Midnight Cowboy (1969). In fact I've always thought these two movies would make for a great "compare and contrast" assignment in a Theatre Arts class. Hackman has been quoted as saying that this was his favorite role. No argument here, it's my favorite too. Thanks Gene. You too Al.

This excellent movie has been overlooked for too long. Its a great film on every level. It is entertaining as well as deeply profound. Schatzberg's directing is outstanding, Hackman and Pacino deliver acting on a level rarely found in any films, and the script is funny, while retaining a quiet note of tension and melancholy throughout. Its an exceptional film, largely overlooked by American audiences in the years since its release (despite winning the grand prize at Cannes, as well as the acting prize for Hackman and Pacino). Don't overlook this film. Rent it!

This overlooked film features Gene Hackman's best performance as an introverted ex-con. Al Pacino gives one of his best performances. Director Jerry Schatzberg and cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond capture both the squalor and the grandeur of the American landscape. Garry Michael White's screenplay is filled with richly nuanced characters, religious symbolism and a deep sense of humanity. One of the best of the 70's.