After making his name by cowriting Bonnie and Clyde (1967), Robert Benton graduated to directing with the admirable Western Bad Company (1972), then tackled another beloved Hollywood genre with his sophomore effort. An homage to classic detective pictures, The Late Show proceeds from a decent premise: what happens when an old-school gumshoe right out of a ’40s private-eye flick gets thrown together with a hippie chick so peace-and-love ’70s they barely speak the same language? Right from the beginning of the film, however, the premise is undercut by iffy tonal shifts between comedy, drama, and suspense; furthermore, logic takes a beating whenever ostensibly intelligent characters make reckless decisions, which happens frequently. And while it’s a given that engrossing mystery films can sometimes surmount nonsensical narratives (see 1946’s incomprehensible The Big Sleep), The Late Show carries its unnecessarily convoluted plot as dead weight.
On the plus side, Honeymooners icon Art Carney delivers a terrific leading performance as a crusty old PI. His characterization offers a tip of the fedora to the type of suave investigators once played by Humphrey Bogart and the like. Alas, costar Lily Tomlin is tiresome as a neurotic flibbertigibbet so preoccupied with “vibes” that it’s as if she’s transmitting from another dimension. Worse, she barely stops talking during her scenes, and most of what she spews is blather. One can only imagine what a more conventionally endearing actor, say Goldie Hawn or Diane Keaton, could have done with this type of role. Another speed bump the movie hits again and again is indecisiveness about what sort of relationship Benton means to present with these characters. Is this supposed to be a May-December romance, a mentor-trainee story, a surrogate-family narrative, or simply, to butcher the familiar Bogart line, the beginning of an unusual friendship? Since the murder mystery is confusing and inconsequential, shouldn't the movie’s central relationship have clarity for storytelling balance?
Still, some of the nonconventional material works. Comedy pro Bill Macy strikes sparks as a sleazy showbiz professional with dangerous side hustles, and Eugene Roche is delightful as a sleazy villain who keeps trying to buy people off with retail goods. On the technical side of the project, Benton employs a stately visual approach that uses shadows effectively, and Kenneth Wannberg’s score has the right neo-noir vibe. Yet because The Late Show primarily hinges on the rapport between Carney and Tomlin, as goes her performance, so goes the whole picture. Therefore if you, like me, cannot lock into her portrayal, the overall experience is diminished. Others had more uniformly positive reactions, as evidenced by the Oscar nom Benton received for his script and the Golden Globe nod Tomlin earned for her performance. And for what it’s worth, this one improved for me over time. When I first reviewed The Late Show for this blog in 2011, I slapped it with a "lame" rating because the Tomlin of it all made it impossible for me to see the movie's virtues. Rewatching it 15 years later prompted me to update my rating and review.
On the plus side, Honeymooners icon Art Carney delivers a terrific leading performance as a crusty old PI. His characterization offers a tip of the fedora to the type of suave investigators once played by Humphrey Bogart and the like. Alas, costar Lily Tomlin is tiresome as a neurotic flibbertigibbet so preoccupied with “vibes” that it’s as if she’s transmitting from another dimension. Worse, she barely stops talking during her scenes, and most of what she spews is blather. One can only imagine what a more conventionally endearing actor, say Goldie Hawn or Diane Keaton, could have done with this type of role. Another speed bump the movie hits again and again is indecisiveness about what sort of relationship Benton means to present with these characters. Is this supposed to be a May-December romance, a mentor-trainee story, a surrogate-family narrative, or simply, to butcher the familiar Bogart line, the beginning of an unusual friendship? Since the murder mystery is confusing and inconsequential, shouldn't the movie’s central relationship have clarity for storytelling balance?
Still, some of the nonconventional material works. Comedy pro Bill Macy strikes sparks as a sleazy showbiz professional with dangerous side hustles, and Eugene Roche is delightful as a sleazy villain who keeps trying to buy people off with retail goods. On the technical side of the project, Benton employs a stately visual approach that uses shadows effectively, and Kenneth Wannberg’s score has the right neo-noir vibe. Yet because The Late Show primarily hinges on the rapport between Carney and Tomlin, as goes her performance, so goes the whole picture. Therefore if you, like me, cannot lock into her portrayal, the overall experience is diminished. Others had more uniformly positive reactions, as evidenced by the Oscar nom Benton received for his script and the Golden Globe nod Tomlin earned for her performance. And for what it’s worth, this one improved for me over time. When I first reviewed The Late Show for this blog in 2011, I slapped it with a "lame" rating because the Tomlin of it all made it impossible for me to see the movie's virtues. Rewatching it 15 years later prompted me to update my rating and review.
The Late Show: FUNKY
I agree completely with your final line. Couldn't even finish this one.
ReplyDeleteYears later, I gave this another chance and had a better experience, but it's not necessarily a ringing endorsement that it took me three viewings across decades to get on board.
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