cult film freak: THE BIG BOUNCE

Written by James M. Tate / 2/27/2011 / No comments / drifter , elmore leonard , leigh taylor-young , robert ryan , robert webber , sixties , van heflin

THE BIG BOUNCE

2/27/2011 | No comment

year: 1969 cast: Ryan O'Neal, Leigh Taylor-Young, Van Heflin rating: ***

Elmore Leonard said no film "got it right" until GET SHORTY and JACKIE BROWN, and that's after many of his books and stories were translated to the screen.

There are good and bad during that time, and this lies somewhere in-between. Ryan O'Neal is an unassuming drifter in a small Florida town. He's told to leave after bashing a local with a baseball bat, but stays for a job working a beach side motel, where he "befriends" Lee Grant and gorgeous gold digger Leigh Taylor-Young: who's nothing but trouble in a Film Noir kinda way.

The acting and story are fine (especially Taylor-Young), but the music... sounding like a kid's TV show with lyrics narrating the film and characters... is the real problem, turning what could have been an intriguing melodrama into a bland, forgettable one.

Share This Post :

Tags : drifter , elmore leonard , leigh taylor-young , robert ryan , robert webber , sixties , van heflin

James M. Tate

No comments:

Post a Comment

Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.

FAVORITES SHORTLIST

1)OTLEY 2)HELL IS A CITY 3)ROBBERY 4)THE FEARMAKERS 5)CANYON PASSAGE 6)VIOLENT SATURDAY 7)HOT CARS 8)JUNGLE STREET 9)THE CROWDED SKY 10)THE ROARING TWENTIES 11) ANATOMY OF A MURDER 12)SHARKS' TREASURE 13)SWEENEY TWO 14)RAIDERS FROM BENEATH THE SEA 15)HARDCORE 16)THE SYSTEM 17)WHITE HEAT 18)AL CAPONE 19)HIDDEN FEAR 20)FALLEN ANGEL 21)NIGHT CREATURES 22)CURSE OF THE DEMON 23)ASH WEDNESDAY 24)THE BREAK 25)AIR PATROL 26)JOURNEY INTO FEAR 27)EASY LIVING 28)WILLIAM CONRAD'S BRAINSTORM 29)FRENZY 30)THE MAN FROM LARAMIE 1)DANA ANDREWS 2)JAMES CAGNEY 3)STANLEY BAKER 4)MARLON BRANDO 5)WILLIAM LUCAS 1)VIRGINIA MAYO 2)SUE LYON 3)GENE TIERNEY 4)MERRY ANDERS 5)FAYE DUNAWAY DIRECTORS 1)JACQUES TOURNEUR 2)RICHARD FLEISCHER 3)STANLEY KUBRICK 4)ORSON WELLES 5)OTTO PREMINGER 6)JOHN LANDIS 7)JOHN GUILLERMAN 8)VAL GUEST 9)JOHN CARPENTER 10)MICHAEL WINNER