Perfectly adorable

Dreadfully Boring

This is a small, humorous movie in some ways, but it has a huge heart. What a nice experience.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

For me, one of the great roles of Al Pacino. and one of the most impressive love story films. for many reasons. in many forms. because it is a film about deep solitude. about escaping from yourself. about hope, in a manner who easyly escapes if you define it as a sport film. one of films reflecting, in inspired manner, the actors behind the roles. and this is one of basic motifs to see it time by time. not for artistic virtues, not for message but for a forme of precious honesty. and it is enough for admire "Bobby Deerfield" as one of admirable films.

I can recall when this movie was released to theaters. At the time Al Pacino was one of the hottest box office stars around. In the five years prior to this film he starred in THE GODFATHER 1 & 2, SCARECROW, SERPICO and DOG DAY AFTERNOON. So the odds are that he would have a turkey eventually. This is the giant turkey, one big enough to feed a family or two come Thanksgiving.Pacino stars as formula race car driver Bobby Deerfield. Bobby lives the high life, plenty of fast cars and money, married to a top model and yet bored to death. When a friend is involved in a terrible crash, he goes to visit him in the hospital and there meets Lillian (Marthe Keller). Strongly attracted to her he tracks her down and insists on spending time with her.The two begin an affair but Bobby soon discovers her reason for being reluctant to do so. Lillian has a terminal illness and the odds of her surviving are slim at best. And yet she lives her life to the fullest. She presses Bobby to do the same, to spend the time he has with her to discover life.I won't reveal anything here about the plot but it has all been done before and much better. On top of that the movie is a snooze fest that was difficult to watch. Pacino can be one of the most dynamic performers ever seen on screen but here he's left to mope around and contemplate life, something that lends itself to boring to watch. Which this film is.I was stunned to see the number of positive reviews for this film online. I remember when it was released it was savaged by critics and died an agonizing death at the box office. Seeing it I can see why. Word of mouth on this film had to have driven the nail in its coffin. It wasn't so much that I found myself dozing off at various moments in this film (though there were those moments) it's that I kept hoping something would happen that would draw my interest. I wanted to have characters that I cared about and yet I found myself not caring on iota about any of them. While potential tragedy with the lifestyles of the rich and famous should not interfere with feeling sympathy, here you find yourself with a lack of caring that matches those of the characters on screen.Keller, on the rise prior to its release having done MARATHON MAN and BLACK Sunday never seemed to recover after this film. Pacino, a star by this time, was much more fortunate. Director Sydney Pollock also did well after. That's good news because had their careers been determined by this film we might not have ever heard from them again.Twilight Time has again made a great presentation of this film for those that love it. If you are among those make sure you get a copy since as always they've limited the number of copies being made.

I made a special effort to see this movie and was totally disappointed with the outcome. On paper, the script seems hopeful, and the choice of actors leaves one with hopes - I liked Pacino in Scent of a Woman and have seen Anny Duperrey and Marthe Keller in several French and other films of the 70s/80s. But I had forgotten how important a part dialogues can play in a film, and in this film they are absolute ..... trash ! The filming locations were also attractive but the hopeless, pretentious and forced dialogues pulled the whole thing down to sub zero level. In addition to that, I am pretty allergic to the world of motor racing and find no interest in this sport. Even the inelegant dialogues in "Love Story" were better than the ones in this film (and that's saying something !!). I was really expecting better from this film and was very disappointed to have been let down so much.

I saw this movie when I was too young to really "get" it. Then, I tried watching it again a few years later, and I thought it was boring. HOWEVER, I absolutely LOVED the soundtrack and I wish it would become available again. The music is so moving, and it's great to listen to when one is in a 'sad' mood....it has a feel to it which is strangely enjoyable. I wonder how many people are aware, really, that they experience a sense of 'joy' even in their own pain/grief? I doubt many are aware of it at all. But I've noticed this myself. There is music for every mood. And the music in this movie is peculiarly uplifting, perfect to induce a "feel good" pleasure, while experiencing the various emotions that most people might try to deny, yet secretly enjoy within. If I was rating the music, I'd give it a 20! But I want to get this movie, just to have the music, since they don't make the soundtrack. If you're lucky enough to know someone who has an LP, consider yourself fortunate! You could then have the honor of listening to a great, original score!