He totally stole this film! He was brilliant. Whenever I see a film with an ensemble cast like this one, I truly enjoy the whole. All parts are usually cool. But instead of Robert Redford who is always good and beautiful to look at in those days, I was watching Ron. What an interesting original performance. Oscar worthy indeed. Sorry to say the other parts were not nearly so good.
Thank you, Ron.
Ron liebman did steal the film. But i think George Segal was also fantastic. I have come to believe that Redford is not so good as the others. His claim to fame is his looks, but his acting is rather poor. He doesn't bring anything to the table. It shows when he's paired up with real characters like Segal, Liebman, Mostel etc. Check out some of the other films he's been in. Pretty bogus.
sharemtworkowski wrote,
" ... i have come to believe that redford is not so good as the others ..."
just cant concur on this take
redford's looks actually work against him in this movie (make that great movie)
hope you ll give it another chance, im not a big fan of his acting talent but robert redford is very good in the hot rock
it s october world series time, maybe a baseball analogy ? ...
zero mostel waddles to the plate does a whole pre batters box routine y'know
adjust helmut, gloves, belt, crotch grab ... then steps in and homers first pitch
crowd cheers
segal follows ... same result but w/ clock-wise home trot ala jimmy piersall
doffs cap at dugout and disappears into it
crowd cheers louder
paul sand finds his way to home plate with some difficulty
fouls off a half-dozen pitches then dribbles a swinging bunt the 3rd baseman throws into right
the right fielder overthrows 2nd into left field and the guy out there bobbles it before pegging a one bouncer to the plate as sand slides home headfirst in a cloud of dirt
the catcher muffs the throw in
sand scores picks up the dropped ball and proceeds to swallow it on his way back to the bench
crowd roar drowns out normally deafening jet exhaust from plane landing at airport next to stadium
liebman steps in and belts a towering tape measure shot that is still rising as it clears the bleacher roof in right-center (barely missing a jet taking off from said airport)
bedlam ensues (game is eventually delayed 15 mins)
liebman waves to his mom mrs murch in the stands as he rounds the bases
(as murch trots he admires to himself the plane taking off -- " 'atsa sweet
737-700 ... extended cabin, tail number N45612, two pratt&whitney super quiet turbo fans, new wing-lets to save some on av-fuel, nice paint job too ... prolly headed on that 4-day ewr-sea-ord-mia turnaround ball buster but hey ... not so bad" trot uninterupted w/ gum chew & smile continuing naturally)
finally the ump calls for next batter
redford looks good in his uniform and crushes a line drive over the shortstop's head that carries like a laser all the way to the wall in left center
actually putting a dent in the fence just inches below the railing and bleacher seats
this time the left-fielder scoops the ricochet clean and fires a bullet back to the infield to hold redford to a stand up double
the shortstop calls time to show the 2nd base ump the ball which is now flattened where redford's louisville slugger made contact with it the grain of wood imprinted upon the horsehide
redford/dortmunder - a baseball traditionalist and anything but a hotdog -
when shown the ball simply shrugs
the fans are ... underwhelmed
and boo as they order a beer & a hot dog from the vendor in the aisle
p.s. days later the ball paul sand 'disappeared' is returned to the team to do with as they please but what say we skip over the details about that part, okay?
Disagree with you about Redford. He didn't have to carry this film because of the strong ensemble cast that he had to share screen time with so he played the part of the very cerebral Dortmunder quite well makin him understated.
Take a movie like Butch Cassidy or Jeremiah Johnson, and Redford really shines. A great Redford vehicle is The Candidate.
Yeah, Ron tends to steal scenes, and often whole movies. He's one of the most undervalued acting greats in cinema history. YOUR THREE MINUTES ARE UP, THE SUPER COPS and WHERE'S POPPA? are just some of the movies that Leibman helped to make so great.
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