Solid Paul Newman Film with a Great Finale

SPOILERS

In 1980, Steve McQueen died. One doubts there was much connection, but McQueen's chief rival star of the sixties -- Paul Newman -- rather coincidentally came back after a few years in the wilderness, with three major movies in a row, and solid hits, too.

1980: Fort Apache, the Bronx
1981: Absence of Malice
1982: The Verdict

"The Verdict" was the Big One, but "Absence of Malice" is a superior lead-in,
with Paul Newman exuding major star power (like Cary Grant, he was a classic example of a male star who looked better the older he got), Sally Field ALMOST justifying her recent "Norma Rae" Oscar as his co-star, and a capable supporting cast making Sydney Pollack's film a smooth and involving take on an important topic.

But let's jump to the end, and the Best Part: the finale.

The finale of "Absence of Malice" is what I call "an action sequence that's all words." Usually, such scenes take place in a courtroom (like Tom Cruise duelling with Jack Nicholson in "A Few Good Men.")

This one takes place in a conference room, but still involves a few lawyers:
United States Attorneys investigating organized crime (and Paul Newman's alleged invovlement in a mob hit via his mobster Uncle); newspaper attorneys protecting Freedom of the Press (and Sally Field's libelous reportage of Newman's alleged mob ties and ultimately tragic reportage of a fringe figure's abortion); and a local Florida District Attorney (suckered by Newman into a triggering a "sting" against everybody else in the room.)

Paul Newman does great star work in this big scene. He sits quietly in the corner of the frame,watching everybody else argue and fight it out. He is almost inhumanly handsome in his gray hair and blue suit, with his trim body and blue eyes. His pose is relaxed, watchful, intelligent. And eventually, he DOES say a few important things to the others in the room.

But the STAR of this finale isn't Newman. Or Sally Field.

Its'....Wilford Brimley!

Brimley now seems content to advertise oatmeal, insurance, and diabetes medications, but he was a revelation in "Absence of Malice," the classic example of a Character Guy who, for one scene only, takes over a movie and thoroughly entertains the audience in the process.

Brimley is playing a Top U.S. Attorney who is all country cracker-barrel charm, steel-trap mind, and razor-sharp wit. He's convened this meeting to round up everybody, find out the truth, lay down the law...and clean a few clocks.

Director Pollack and his editor skillfully cut together this scene so that we see everybody reacting to everybody else as Brimley cajoles his way through the scene. Brimley demands that everybody tell what they know, or a sheriff with "a pocketful of sub-peenies" will hand them out and start sending people to jail. When someone suggests that this mob investigation has been subject to "a few leaks," Brimley bellows back: "A FEW? The last time somebody had this many leaks, Noah went out and built himself a BOAT!"

One by one, Brimley knocks out the folks in the room who have done wrong or are trying to protect it: Field, Field's lawyer, the D.A....and ultimately the true villain in the room, Brimley's unscrupulous assistant federal attorney, Bob Balaban (who turns the schitck of constantly playing with rubber bands on his fingers into a mark of preening arrogance).

Eventually, Brimley goes a little one-on-one with the star, Newman. Realizing how Newman's sting brought everybody into this room, Brimley opines: "You're pretty smart. But I'd be careful. I'm pretty smart myself." Damn straight!

Newman's rejoinder is crucial: "Everybody in this room is smart. Everybody in this room is just doing their job. But (the woman who killed herself when Field revealed her abortion) is dead. Who do I see about that?"

Brimley, momentarily cowed, admits, "Nobody. I'm sorry. I wish there was."

And then its back for the final clock-cleaning:

Brimley orders various people out of the room, but saves two: the local D.A. whom he quietly advises to resign, and the smarmy Balaban, with whom a great final dialogue ensues:

Balaban: (About the D.A.) Too bad about him.
Brimley: Yeah. He was a nice guy. He just forgot about the rules. (Pause) Tell me, just what did you expect to do after government service?
Balaban: I'm not resigning.
Brimley: The President didn't hire YOU. I did. You've got thirty days.

In theaters, this exchange met with applause and cheers.

In real life, you don't always get Wilford Brimley coming in, sizing up good and bad, and doling out just punishments backed by " a pockeful of sub-peenies," just like that.

But it would be nice.

And this near-final scene in "Absence of Malice" (along with a few sad and gripping earlier ones focussed on Newman's friendship with the woman who had the abortion and kills herself) make it a worthwhile movie to see.