Rafferty And The Gold Dust Twins (1975) ....is a another prime example of a major studio movie that could only exist in the 1970's......as the studio system rapidly collapsed and and no inmates running the asylum had any clue as to what kind of movies to make.......or whom to make them for.
This chaotic situation became a goldmine for emerging young screenwriters and directors. Literally any off-the-wall story idea could end up with a studio greenlight.
Which brings us to this tiny little character-driven, hit-the-road movie......(road trip movies were a surefire way for fledgling scripters to test their dialogue chops, get their foot in the door and attract big name actors who saw these movies as a potential backdoor entry into better roles and who knows.....maybe even an award or two.
Hence we see Alan Arkin, at the pinnacle of his leading role career, as Rafferty, a burned out, disaffected Army veteran, living out a sad, lonely life in an alcoholic haze.
His dead end job giving Motor Vehicle Bureau driving tests gets interrupted when he's carjacked by 'Mac', a freewheeling would-be country singer (Sally Kellerman) and her companion, 'Frisbee' a 15 year old streetwise orphanage escapee (Mackenzie Phillips)
The kidnapping naturally evolves into a typical road trip companionship for the odd trio, with various up-and-down adventures along the way.....(none of which we'll bother to detail here.....) If you've seen any other 1970's road movies, you can almost guess the events ahead of time, right up to the bittersweet but satisfying ending.
Arkin goes right to the unhappy core of his character, the smoky-voiced Kellerman perfectly captures the elusiveness of a girl who's practically a temporary mirage and Phillips more or less repeats her "American Graffiti" character, the hard-as-nails but deeply vulnerable teen.
Nothing special or spectacular to report here, but nobody watched these 70's road movies for special effects or spectacle.
We watched them for the actors, their characters and stories. And that's why movie buff's look back on the 70's as a golden age for filmmakers.......when it was all about telling good tales........ 3 stars (***)
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