Scarecrow

1973 buddy comedy

Rating: 16/20

Plot: Fresh out of jail, a tough guy meets a sailor who wants to connect with a former lover and his child he has never met in Detroit. They travel together and make plans to open a car wash in Pittsburgh.

I love a first shot capable of jolting me. This one's a tan hill with a few trees, a figure clumsily walking down that hill, a barbed-wire fence in the foreground, and a dark sky. Then, a shot of Pacino lurking behind a tree, Hackman getting to show off some of his physical comedy stylings, and an awkward meeting between the two characters whose friendship, partnership, falling-out, and reconnection makes up this drifting narrative.

This is a very 1970s film, the kind that Hollywood definitely doesn't make anymore, a counterculture artifact no concerned about shaking off the dust or grime. It succeeds because director Jerry Schatzberg, I'm guessing, allowed his two leads to explore. Hackman and Pacino don't do anything here that will shock anybody familiar with the rest of their filmographies, but the performances and ways they develop these two unlikely cohorts carries the story. Both are at the top of their game here. A good actor has an understanding of his or her own character. Here, the performances are great because both Hackman and Pacino have an understanding of their own characters and an understanding of how their character is going to be perceived by others. That's another layer a lot of performers don't explore, but here, these two go even deeper and create characters who have that awareness but also know when to be completely unaware. So they're actors who understand every ounce of their characters, understand how others will perceive those characters, and still have a lack of self-awareness that contributes to the character development. It's awesome to watch, and it just seems like they're doing it so effortlessly.

I'm probably not describing that very well at all. I should just give up. Writing a successful blog post right now seems about as likely as these two characters operating a successful car wash business.