Thursday, August 24, 2017

Paperback Hero (1973)

Director: Peter Pearson

Writers: Barry Pearson, Les Rose

Composer: Ron Collier

Starring: Keir Dullea, Elizabeth Ashley, John Beck, Dayle Haddon, Franz Russell, George R. Robertson, Ted Follows, Linda Sorensen

More info: IMDb

Tagline: every woman's had one... every man's been one... once...

Plot: A hockey player in a small town begins to lose his grip on reality, and starts to believe that he is a gunslinger in the Old West.



My rating: 4/10

Will I watch it again?  No.

The plot synopsis from IMDb isn't that cut and dry.  Rick (Dullea) likes to pretend that a hundred years ago he'd be an Old West gunslinger and he has a standoff in the middle of the street with the cops at the end of the film like you've seen in Westerns but the movie lacks a few things.  I get that we're probably not supposed to like Rick.  I didn't at all.  He's an obnoxious cocky asshole who treats people horribly, especially his women.  There's no gradual shift from Rick in the beginning of the film to Rick at the end.  He essentially just says fuck it and becomes the gunslinger he fancies and cashes in, probably knowing that this will all lead to his death.  He doesn't care.  I didn't care either and I found it slow and boring.  Perhaps this has the makings of a good picture but the story has a long way to go to make it interesting as I see it.  Maybe I missed something but it took three attempts to finish it without falling asleep.

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