I caught this on Talking Television Pictures, a Freeview channel (81) in the UK which has built up a solid following in recent years due to its showing of vintage shows and films including classics that have perhaps fallen out of favour, receive rare viewings (The Killing of Sister George) or whose lustre has dimmed over time.
It was interesting to read that Art Carney won an Oscar for his performance here. It is certainly winning in terms of appeal, but it comes as a surprise when you discover that he beat the likes of Jack Nicholson & Al Pacino to the prize in a film that was not otherwise garlanded with Oscar nominations.
Harry, a retired widower, finds himself uprooted from his familiar New York surroundings. After a frenetic start, the film settles into a slower pace perhaps echoing the Zen Buddhism read by Norman, Harry's oddball grandson with whom he builds a quiet rapport, two outsiders bonding with each other. This is an interesting movie though I agree with the review that believed the film's slow pace can detract from its main point, which is about how imagination transcends the generations (the final scene of a young boy on a beach, building sandcastles, Ginger, Norman).
I enjoyed the scenes where Harry connects with younger people, crossing the generational divide. He has a habit of whistling old songs, and Ginger, the young runaway - who has hitched a lift with him - recognizes one tune much to his surprise. She knows of Isadora Duncan, too, so that she reminds him of his first serious love. He connects with his apparently oddball grandson, taking a genuine interest in what he is reading (Zen Buddhism), treating him with patience & tolerance (in stark contrast to his brother) and even questioning him about drugs (specifically mind-expanding ones rather than the hard stuff).
I did find the occasional scene felt out of place. For instance, the scene where Harry is given a lift by a high-class prostitute. Later, we see him in Las Vegas ambling around, looking rather pleased with himself. The film often handles the delicate subject of old age & sex, but this just seemed to be ridiculously out of step & unbelievable. It sat uneasily with the earlier, much more tender and real scenes when Harry & Ginger take a diversion to visit his first love.
Harry is very much an outsider, which is what being old means in a world interested in the constantly new. He forms part of an odd couple with his pet cat Tonto, which leads to a range of mishaps that lead them on a haphazard, rambling journey crisscrossing America, via NYC to Chicago and then finally onto Los Angeles.
Harry eventually goes with the flow (Buddhism), becoming less attached to things (his car, the gizmo he hands on to the native American he meets in a cell), but more to life itself and the short duration that remains to him. Tonto's demise was handled rather abruptly, but perhaps that was the point. Perhaps, by now, Harry has accepted one of the tenets of Buddhism, the constant cycle of life. The final image has Harry following a cat, uncannily like Tonto, on to a beach where he finds a little boy happily building sandcastles (an echo of Harry as a child?)
Watching the film, I couldn't help being reminded of 'About Schmidt' which I consider a better film (in terms of pace), covering similar themes. It, is also about a retired widower journeying across America and experiencing a series of adventures, and perhaps benefits from a narrative regarding his daughter's impending nuptials.
Instead of a cat, the loner hero, Schmidt, addresses his monologues and thoughts to a child who he is helping to sponsor in Africa, and like Schmidt, Harry is a man without any real purpose in life anymore, now that his children are adults, apart from looking after Tonto. Interestingly, Jack Nicholson was Oscar nominated for a role very much akin to the sort of performance that saw Carney beat him to the Best Actor nod, a touching, humorous portrait of an old man at odds with the world around him.
It was interesting to read that Art Carney won an Oscar for his performance here. It is certainly winning in terms of appeal, but it comes as a surprise when you discover that he beat the likes of Jack Nicholson & Al Pacino to the prize in a film that was not otherwise garlanded with Oscar nominations.
Harry, a retired widower, finds himself uprooted from his familiar New York surroundings. After a frenetic start, the film settles into a slower pace perhaps echoing the Zen Buddhism read by Norman, Harry's oddball grandson with whom he builds a quiet rapport, two outsiders bonding with each other. This is an interesting movie though I agree with the review that believed the film's slow pace can detract from its main point, which is about how imagination transcends the generations (the final scene of a young boy on a beach, building sandcastles, Ginger, Norman).
I enjoyed the scenes where Harry connects with younger people, crossing the generational divide. He has a habit of whistling old songs, and Ginger, the young runaway - who has hitched a lift with him - recognizes one tune much to his surprise. She knows of Isadora Duncan, too, so that she reminds him of his first serious love. He connects with his apparently oddball grandson, taking a genuine interest in what he is reading (Zen Buddhism), treating him with patience & tolerance (in stark contrast to his brother) and even questioning him about drugs (specifically mind-expanding ones rather than the hard stuff).
I did find the occasional scene felt out of place. For instance, the scene where Harry is given a lift by a high-class prostitute. Later, we see him in Las Vegas ambling around, looking rather pleased with himself. The film often handles the delicate subject of old age & sex, but this just seemed to be ridiculously out of step & unbelievable. It sat uneasily with the earlier, much more tender and real scenes when Harry & Ginger take a diversion to visit his first love.
Harry is very much an outsider, which is what being old means in a world interested in the constantly new. He forms part of an odd couple with his pet cat Tonto, which leads to a range of mishaps that lead them on a haphazard, rambling journey crisscrossing America, via NYC to Chicago and then finally onto Los Angeles.
Harry eventually goes with the flow (Buddhism), becoming less attached to things (his car, the gizmo he hands on to the native American he meets in a cell), but more to life itself and the short duration that remains to him. Tonto's demise was handled rather abruptly, but perhaps that was the point. Perhaps, by now, Harry has accepted one of the tenets of Buddhism, the constant cycle of life. The final image has Harry following a cat, uncannily like Tonto, on to a beach where he finds a little boy happily building sandcastles (an echo of Harry as a child?)
Watching the film, I couldn't help being reminded of 'About Schmidt' which I consider a better film (in terms of pace), covering similar themes. It, is also about a retired widower journeying across America and experiencing a series of adventures, and perhaps benefits from a narrative regarding his daughter's impending nuptials.
Instead of a cat, the loner hero, Schmidt, addresses his monologues and thoughts to a child who he is helping to sponsor in Africa, and like Schmidt, Harry is a man without any real purpose in life anymore, now that his children are adults, apart from looking after Tonto. Interestingly, Jack Nicholson was Oscar nominated for a role very much akin to the sort of performance that saw Carney beat him to the Best Actor nod, a touching, humorous portrait of an old man at odds with the world around him.