I thought the first hour and 15 was really terrible just the most boring melodrama you could imagine but the second half starts to get more interesting things actually start to happen and it's even quite good in the end although the over acting never stops.
shareI'm watching this right now, almost finished and you are spot on. Totally agree with you.
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I'm not sure the film is guilty of over-acting, actually. Today, in an era of faux-naturalistic posing and that contemporary descending vocal gurgle, if anybody even dares to yell in a movie, they call it "over-acting."
Poor Redford is indeed dreadfully miscast and probably should have played James Fox's role (I always recast Redford's Christ-like victim with Jon Voight in my head), but Brando, Fonda, Dickinson, Duvall, Rule, and even appropriately-histrionic Miriam Hopkins are all fine.
In fact, the superstar cast (many of whom weren't all that famous yet) is why the film rates better amongst fans, like here on the IMDb, than one might expect given its flaws.
The movie's main problem is it's scripting. THE CHASE was legendary for it's behind-the-scene creative conflicts. Arthur Penn wanted to do a fenetic, claustrophobic picture similar to what he would soon do with BONNIE & CLYDE, producer Sam Spiegel wanted something more traditional and had the film edited to his own likings, Lillian Hellman wanted to make an oil politics statement with allusions to the still-fresh JFK assassination, and Brando wanted something else (I don't know what).
As a result, it's all over the place.
And dying, old-school Hollywood attempting to portray the rebellion of "the kids" in mid-'60s studio-backed cinema is laugh-out-loud disastrous.
But the cast, the 1966 Halloween color scheme, and John Barry's score keeps you peeking in every few years when it's broadcast.
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Can't say I was particularly bored with the thing at any point - if anything, it felt a bit disjointed during the early goings as it kept (not so smoothly) alternating between Redford's escapades and the drinking orgy getting in the gear. Also, most overacting seemed to be from smaller characters while the central players were pretty fine in these regards with Brando bringing a real understated authority to his role as the film's (moral) center; they say the best of his performance was, in fact, cut out... I'd really like to see 'that' cut footage as he's impressive enough as it is. As for the film's shortcomings... it's certainly not inaccurate to say that it's dated even for 1966, although I'm not sure if altogether obsolete (incidentally though, it doesn't focus on the youth culture, but rather the boozy, middle aged upper middle class... and does it really miss the mark that much with its cynical view of the hedonistic culture?), or that the proceedings are increasingly over-the-top and heavy handed. I'm not sure though how 'bad', as it were, this "over-the-topness" is as the film gathers quite a frantic, almost frightening momentum towards the with all the blood and fires. Near-farcical as it may be, that ultimately works 'for' the film imo. Some might call this a momentum of a train wreck, but I was more like watching on with exhilaration as the already crazy goings-on climaxed. Even as most of the characters were immoral, violent & callous to the max and not helped by the regular goofy appearences by the old nun and the completely unhinged hysterics performed by Bubba's ma. It's certainly not a flawless film, to say the least, but one that definitely made an impression.
"facts are stupid things" - Ronald Reagan