Rewatched. Yeah this film has major problems. It wants to be manic like an old Preston Sturges movie but it also wants to be serious and at least to feel "real." I see several of the actors - Dunaway and Duvall particularly - struggling with this indefinite tone. Dunaway is expected to be a cartoon in some moments and real in others. All the while the dialogue is far too grand for these characters.
Holden says to Dunaway when he's breaking up with her, "Everything you touch turns to shit" - and he's supposed to be the compassionate one, the guy with heart.
― Josefa, Monday, 23 March 2020 21:54 (four years ago) link