Husbands (1970)
Rated: PG
Runtime: 2 hrs 20 mins
Synopsis: John Cassavetes continues to delve the depths of the human condition with this story of three men who embark on a journey to cope with the death of their best friend. Harry (Ben Gazzara), Archie (Peter Falk of COLUMBO), and Gus (Cassavetes) gather together to pay their respects and decide, on a... John Cassavetes continues to delve the depths of the human condition with this story of three men who embark on a journey to cope with the death of their best friend. Harry (Ben Gazzara), Archie (Peter Falk of COLUMBO), and Gus (Cassavetes) gather together to pay their respects and decide, on a whim, to travel to London to get away from the pressures of work and family. Upon arriving, they gamble and bring three call girls back to their hotel room; these actions unwittingly present them with individual life issues with which to contend. As usual with Cassavetes's films, there is no traditional narrative; rather, there is a series of seemingly insignificant exchanges that need to be processed moment to moment for the film to deliver its greatest impact. Superficially a comedy, HUSBANDS contains enough serious questions to keep it dramatic, making for a hysterical, challenging, and enlightening work. Collaborators Cassavetes, Gazzara, and Falk interact with an honesty enhanced by their being friends in real life, which allows their characters to emerge with truths inherent to these relationships. [More]
Genre: Comedies
Starring: Ben Gazzara, Peter Falk, John Cassavetes, Judith Lowry
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Reviews
Most of Cassavetes's cinema verite films as a director are invariably accused (and with some justification) of being rambling, self-indulgent, and unfocused, but it is precisely those elements that make his best work so affecting and memorable.
An overlong improv piece that when it's not tedious or startling settles on showing the emptiness of suburban life for three married New York commuters.
It is almost unbearably long. It is a narrative film without any real narrative, and although it is a movie about three characters, those characters are seen almost exclusively in terms of their limiting relationship.
This 1970 film is John Cassavetes's most irritating, full of the male braggadocio and bluster that mar even some of his best work. But it's impossible to dismiss or shake off entirely.
John Cassavetes' Husbands is disappointing in the way Antonioni's Zabriskie Point was. It shows an important director not merely failing, but not even understanding why.


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