Review of Absence of Malice (1981) by Clark B — 18 May 2010

Look, as we all know from "Smokey and the Bandit", Sally Field doesn't smoke. The Bandit tried to teach her but it didn't take. Good for her, it's a filthy habit, but every time she pulls one out of her purse here and puts it up to her lips like she's about to play the flute, I want to throw something at the television. I don't know why her character had to be a smoker, but if she wanted to play one in the movies, she should have spent a few weeks with them in the 'hood, and learned how to hold a cigarette for crying out loud. Isn't that what method acting is all about? Didn't she win a couple of Oscars? Yeah, well, she should have to give one back.

Anyway, if you can get past that, this movie is okay. As always, Paul Newman stares off into space excellently. He's deep. "Absence of Malice" is kinda leisurely paced and some of the melodramatic turns stretch credibly, but it heats up at the end. The movie takes itself a little too seriously, but it's okay. The Quaker Oates guy, the one with the dia-bee-tus, he's pretty good here. Just when this movie needed a ludicrous mustache, he brings it gangbusters.