tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8823340817818385797.post104236487105486199..comments2024-03-24T14:03:33.932-07:00Comments on Every 70s Movie: Rabbit, Run (1970)By Peter Hansonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11385971732301020652noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8823340817818385797.post-73294467357909256722022-07-07T17:42:24.165-07:002022-07-07T17:42:24.165-07:00This film is a prime example of a very under-studi... This film is a prime example of a very under-studied and fascinating period in Hollywood, that strange and awkward transition between the violent political and social upheavals of the late 60's into the early 70's and the collapse of the old studio system giving way to the era of the revolutionary "New Hollywood" renaissance which opened up the floodgates of previously taboo subject matter. It was briefly dominated by the culturally impactful, highly stylized, and critique-driven literary masterpieces of Phillip Roth, John Updike, and Saul Bellow which were suddenly being considered ripe for being turned into commercially viable films. Some were, very badly (Portnoy's Complaint, 1971) some excellently (Goodbye, Columbus, 1969) and some not at all (Bellow's "Seize the Day", not made until a 1986 TV adaptation for PBS's American Playhouse with a then-rare and first-time dramatic Robin Williams performance that was barely acknowledged by the public and shockingly blocked from theatrical distribution out of fear that no one wanted to see Robin Williams in anything other than a comedy). What is especially notable about these literary adaptations, either obscure in their lack of success or their well-known and profitable recognition, is a specific and very short-lived commonality of ethnic Jewish themes and sensibilities, deeply alienated and unforgiving portraits of American social experience, and profound existential crisis: "The Angel Levine" with the legendary Zero Mostel especially comes to mind in terms of very obscure or "unsuccessful" films of that period that are well worth rediscovering today, examined in both the historical and sociological context of their time.Barry Millerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16573287218366341637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8823340817818385797.post-69885391815374456862015-09-12T10:00:29.052-07:002015-09-12T10:00:29.052-07:00You know... Bruce Dern *would* have been great! Go...You know... Bruce Dern *would* have been great! Good call. Will Erricksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16285306262078600804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8823340817818385797.post-2219740037778136362015-09-12T04:17:48.315-07:002015-09-12T04:17:48.315-07:00Those actors are too urban for this role. If the ...Those actors are too urban for this role. If the producers were actually going to film the story and characters in the book, Bruce Dern would have been very good as Rabbit. I have seen the movie and read the book; the movie complete misses everything but surface level details. Having said that, I enjoy this movie on its own terms, as it shows people and places not often covered in films of this period.Sir Sweetstickhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09158629718359078249noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8823340817818385797.post-881062114838323772015-09-11T11:22:27.838-07:002015-09-11T11:22:27.838-07:00Odd thing happened, I was reading Will's comme...Odd thing happened, I was reading Will's comment above and George Segal sprang to mind, he was another unusual leading man who seemed active at that time. In any case, I'm dubious of the idea that all literature can or should be adapted. Fitzgerald's Great Gatsby should probably never have been filmed, not even once. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14984112497088619496noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8823340817818385797.post-75242674481029202762015-09-11T10:20:05.470-07:002015-09-11T10:20:05.470-07:00I've read a few of Updike's RABBIT novels;...I've read a few of Updike's RABBIT novels; they are fundamentally *literary* in a way that makes for poor cinematic adaptations. THere is indeed much more about Rabbit's psyche detailed, altho' he is often a very unsympathetic character. Caan is definitely miscast--altho' I've never seen this movie!--and I wonder if someone like Richard Benjamin or Elliott Gould would have fared better in the role. Will Erricksonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16285306262078600804noreply@blogger.com