File Under: I have had this Netflix disc out for so long and it really has to be returned to unclog my queue. -Nathaniel
You got a terrific knack for being nice and a prick all at the same time.
Have any of you ever seen Cinderella Liberty? Back when we were doing our 1973 celebration, I rented it since it was the sole Best Actress nomination I hadn't seen from that year. Marsha Mason plays a prostitute with a heart of... well, not gold exactly. But she's got one. She's raising Doug, her biracial teenager (Kirk Calloway nominated for Best Newcomer at the Golden Globes) on her own but she's doing a pretty shit job of it. Enter: James Caan, fresh off the double whammy star-making years of Brian's Song (1971) and The Godfather (1972), as a sailor named John Baggs Jr. who hooks up with her. In actuality it's Baggs' story and Maggie is missing for good stretches of the movie. Seemingly on a whim, this goodhearted sailor decides to stick around and decides to fall in love with her. That's the one thing that's most clear and most enigmatic about the movie.
I found it a fascinating watch primarily because, though Mason is just fine as a moody blowsy hooker who can't manage her life towards something better, it was Caan's masculine reserve and softly shaded performance that drew me in...
-I'll come by tomorrow
-I might not be here
He doesn't spell out much about Baggs' internal life but he's somehow deeply sympathetic and fully realized all at the same. This sailor didn't strike me as an unstable spontaneous fellow so much as a wanderer, fully committed to quit wandering and anchor down even if he didn't quite realize it until this moment; this port of call will do. As a leading role it's a marvel of minimalism but of course it was Mason, purposefully vulgar, sexy, vulnerable and loud, that won Oscar's attention. Eli Wallach, who won an Honorary Oscar before his death, co-stars as a friend of Baggs Jr's and it's something of a surprise that he wasn't nominated here in kind of a letter-perfect role for what the Academy likes in the Supporting Actor category.
As a time capsule Mark Rydell's (On Golden Pond) adaptation of the then-popular novel, is totally worth seeing both to be reminded that in many ways we regressed as a society after the 70s (topics like abortion, promiscuity, open relationships and biracial families aren't even blinked at but just part of life) but we also progressed (doctors smoke during check-ups, and Doug loves using gay slurs against his would be step-dad who he pretends to resent but clearly wants to stick around) . As an added bonus there's all that 70s grain courtesy of legendary cinematographer Vilmos Zsigmond (who is still working at 84 - next up: Six Dance Lessons in Six Weeks starring Gena Rowlands). I love how freaking gritty the movies looked back then (see also: Cabaret).
-that’s a nice ass
-yeah, well so’s mine
-[not listening] yes it is
-mine’s better than hers.
-yes it i…
-my legs are better than hers, too
-ye…
-in fact my whole body’s better than hers! WHERE ARE YOU GOING?
P.S. There's a brilliant SALLY KIRKLAND cameo as another prostitute who tries to pick up Baggs before he ditches her for Maggie! A pinch of Sally Kirkland is always always a plus.