Review of Bound for Glory (1976) by Chris W — 02 Oct 2012

This might be based on folk legend Woody Guthrie's autobiography, but it comes off as less of a biopic, and more of an origin story of sorts, basically a tale of how a situation not all that dissimilar from The Grapes of Wrath led to a man changing the face of folk music and specifically politically charged protest tunes.

It also is the first time that I actually felt rather underwhelmed and let down by Hal Ashby. This is a very well meaning film, and some of it is done quite well, but overall, this is far more flawed than I was expecting.

I think it might have to do with the fact that for some reason, it comes off as feeling like a cheap, TV movie of the week sort of affair, and not some epic look at how Woody Guthrie helped get people through the Great Depression. The pacing is pretty slow and uneven, and the way the film is structured is like this, too. It's kinda all over the map.

I do think that David Carradine gives a great performance though. It's definitely one of his best. He carries the film, and ultimately saves it from being worse. Ronny Cox is also good, probably the second best one here, but where Melinda Dillon and Randy Quaid are concerned, I was let down. I love those two, but they just didn't do it for me.

I said the film feels cheap, but that's surprising since Haskell Wexler's cinematography is quite good. It definitely captures the essence of the era, so maybe the TV feelings come from the execution. Plus, this film featured what I believe was the first steadicam-based long take tracking shot, and I generally just go nuts for that sort of things.

All in all, this film is an overlong mess, but it does have its moments. Carradine and Wexler make it worth it, but I feel like somebody really dropped the ball here, and that this is one of the times where I think a remake is definitely warranted.