A powerful idea for a serious comedy - James Garner and Lou Gosset Jnr (with hair!) travel through pre Civil War US making money by selling Gosset and him escaping. Garner has played a conman forever and is the star - which kind of throws off the balance of the film since the stakes are so agnoizingly high for Gossett.
Gossett is a good actor and it's a wonderful part that he treats with respect - possibly too serious (though how could it not be?), I didn't really believe him as a conman, someone who loved the life - his pain is a bit too strong. I couldn't help wishing someone like Richard Pryor had been cast - the piece would have been funnier but not lost any power.
The story is full of good ideas - Susan Clarke is a rival conner, John Brown appearing to rescue Gossett, Gossett winding up on a real plantation, finding real Africans. The handling is a bit TV - it feels a bit too much like a 70s TV Western (the blacks seem very contemporary like they did in Roots). They never seemed to quite get the tone right - drama vs comedy. Ripe for a possible remake if cast properly.
1 comment:
I disagree. There was nothing wrong with Lou Gossett Jr. in the role of Jason. He played it just right, as far as I'm concerned.
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