Pocket Money (1972)

Tonight we watched Pocket Money: directed by Stuart Rosenberg from a screenplay written by Terrence Malick starring Paul Newman and Lee Marvin(Strother Martin, of course). It's an interesting film that flows at a sticky, pace. It is tres light but not a comedy, not a typical Western. I loved it but I don't recommend because I don't know if you have the patience for it.

The story takes place in Arizona and Mexico, Paul Newman plays Jim Kane and is referred to as the "Chihuahua Express": get it? Kane is broke and in debt after purchasing horses infected with the Equine version of syphilis. To raise some money he involves himself with Garrett (Strother Martin at his most theatrical) who needs a few heads of Corrientes (horned cattle from Mexico) for a rodeo. Kane is promised payment for expenses and $2 per head. What ensues is one fouled up step after another, Mexican standoffs and then a somewhat unsuccessful financial ending for Kane and all involved. "The bottom has dropped out of the rodeo business" and the cattle are no longer needed by Garrett, everyone is now in some sort of debt, Kane is stuck with unpaid expenses, the end.

Just a guy bringing cattle over from Mexico to a hustler and then nothing really happens but that is why I like the film. It has well formed scenes that ramble into good lines, in real life you have non sequitors and mumblings and obscure references. It's an interesting story about a guy who is slightly, mentally retarded (per the movie, not the book)and trying to find his place in the ranch world he was born into. His mistakes and bad decisions are things you can relate too as are his losses and frustrations (the way he handles feeling angry and frustrated), none of which are caused because he is mentally retarded but because he is honest. Kane constantly calls it like he sees it, his only handicap is honesty and expecting things to be on the level.

This is a movie delicately structured, awkward, a slice of life and character study. You will not find a movie like this past 1978(3 Women par example). These lil gems were all over in the 1970's. It takes a certain sensitivity, understanding of this sort of narrative strategy and patience to watch and appreciate a movie like Pocket Money. It's hard to tell if the audience for this sort of film is now extinct, the stories, the type of actor or the directors. Perhaps all of the above.