It's an interesting movie. Yes, it's oft been compared to "Of Mice and Men," and it's indeed very similar in plot.
It's about two men on the road. Gene Hackman plays a guy who claims to be an ex-convict and claims to have some money saved up in a certain city with which he dreams of starting a car wash business.
Pacino plays a guy who's a bit shy, childish, awkward, and sensitive. He weaves between simpleton and just reserved odd guy. He's the one who initially makes the connection with Hackman to the latter's chagrin.
Throughout the movie, Pacino's antics annoy Hackman but eventually it's clear that he's come to care deeply for him.
I'll say few movies develop male-to-male platonic friendship so well and it really ends with a bang.
Yet the beginning is weak. The Hackman part seems miscast. They say he's "big" and the ladies can't keep their hands off of him, but we never see why. He looks like he's homeless, behaves crudely, and dresses like a middle-aged woman. Near the end of the movie there's a striptease scene where everything changes, but this character REALLY takes some patience to accept in the role.
As for Pacino, the directing did not do him any favours. He's all over the place. Sometimes he acts like he's got a learning disability and other times he acts like a basically normal but shy guy. You can tell they were going for a Mice and Men thing except that they cross-combined the traits of George and Lennie.
Definitely worth watching to the end, but it has its flaws.
Honourable Mentions: My Special Brother (2019). Another effective movie (this one Korean) about a strong male-male friendship that borders on a paternal dynamic. Ironically, the part of the more simple-minded character is overplayed as well.
It's about two men on the road. Gene Hackman plays a guy who claims to be an ex-convict and claims to have some money saved up in a certain city with which he dreams of starting a car wash business.
Pacino plays a guy who's a bit shy, childish, awkward, and sensitive. He weaves between simpleton and just reserved odd guy. He's the one who initially makes the connection with Hackman to the latter's chagrin.
Throughout the movie, Pacino's antics annoy Hackman but eventually it's clear that he's come to care deeply for him.
I'll say few movies develop male-to-male platonic friendship so well and it really ends with a bang.
Yet the beginning is weak. The Hackman part seems miscast. They say he's "big" and the ladies can't keep their hands off of him, but we never see why. He looks like he's homeless, behaves crudely, and dresses like a middle-aged woman. Near the end of the movie there's a striptease scene where everything changes, but this character REALLY takes some patience to accept in the role.
As for Pacino, the directing did not do him any favours. He's all over the place. Sometimes he acts like he's got a learning disability and other times he acts like a basically normal but shy guy. You can tell they were going for a Mice and Men thing except that they cross-combined the traits of George and Lennie.
Definitely worth watching to the end, but it has its flaws.
Honourable Mentions: My Special Brother (2019). Another effective movie (this one Korean) about a strong male-male friendship that borders on a paternal dynamic. Ironically, the part of the more simple-minded character is overplayed as well.