Average Rating: 7.3/10
Reviews Counted: 12
Fresh: 12 | Rotten: 0
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Critic Reviews: 4
Fresh: 4 | Rotten: 0
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Also known as Never Give an Inch, this film was based on a novel by Ken Kesey. Paul Newman (who also directed) stars as Hank Stamper, the oldest son of an Oregon logging family headed by Henry (Henry Fonda). Hank's half-brother, Leeland (Michael Sarrazin), embittered over Henry's treatment of his late mother, returns after a ten-year absence to work in the family business. Leeland's presence causes friction with Henry, who resents his prodigal son's hippie mindset, and Hank, who perceives
Jan 1, 1971 Wide
Universal Pictures
All Critics (12) | Top Critics (4) | Fresh (13) | Rotten (0) | DVD (1)
A New Hollywood movie suffused in Old Hollywood values.
The result is rather good -- a sort of contemporary 'western' in the timber territory.
Surprisingly effective.
Newman starts tunneling under the material, coming up with all sorts of things we didn't quite expect, and along the way he proves himself as a director of sympathy and a sort of lyrical restraint.
It's not a classic, in the sense of being perfectly formed. But the craft work is one of a kind.
Based on Ken Kesey's book, Newman's second film as helmer is not effective or cohesive as the first (Rachel Rachel), but Oregon locations and good acting by Henry Fonda and others compensate for uneasy fit between melodrama and action
Paul Newman directs and stars with a great deal of success in this almost-classic.
When the film cuts away from the family soap opera dramatics and shows the macho men at work wielding their chainsaws at the logging camp among the giant trees, it has a buzz.
Kesey's 600-plus-page novel would have made a fine six-hour mini-series, and it's a tribute to scenarist Gay that he managed to condense that much material into under two hours.
Terrific family drama
Newman's handling of the outdoor scenes, especially those involving work, is -- like his own acting -- restrained but powerfully evocative.
Newman handles the emotional drama well and directs one outdoor scene with consummate brilliance.
Okay but overlong logging drama would have benefitted by being a half hour shorter. Has a fine cast, with Lee Remick giving the best performance even though her screen time is limited, but they don't have enough to work with. It just should have been more involving.
February 24, 2011
Super Reviewer
Paul newman Starring With And Directig Henry Fonda And Lee Remeck In A Story Written By Ken (One Flew Over The Cookoo's Nest) Keysey? That Alone Sas it All
June 17, 2009
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