STAY HUNGRY
(director/writer: Bob Rafelson; screenwriter: based on the novel and screenplay by Charles Gaines; cinematographer: Victor Kemper; editor: John F. Link; music: Byron Berline, Bruce Langehorn; cast: Jeff Bridges (Craig Blake), Sally Field (Mary Tate Farnsworth), Arnold Schwarzenegger (Joe Santo), R.G. Armstrong (Thor Erickson), Robert Englund (Franklin), Helena Kallianiotes (Anita), Roger E. Mosley (Newton), Woodrow Parfrey (Uncle Albert, narrator), Scatman Crothers (William), Kathleen Miller (Dorothy Stephens), Fannie Flagg (Amy Walterson), Joanna Cassidy (Zoe Mason), Ed Begley Jr. (Lester), Joe Spinell (Jabo), Richard Gilliland (Hal); Runtime: 102; MPAA Rating: R; producers: Bob Rafelson, Harold Schneider; United Artists; 2024)
“Works fine as a character story.”
Reviewed by Dennis Schwartz
Bob Rafelson (“Five Easy Pieces”/”The King of Marvin Gardens”) directs and writes this quirky, meandering and gentle comedy based on the 1972 novel by Charles Gaines, who co-writes the screenplay. It’s set in Birmingham, Alabama, as an example of the rootless ‘new south,’ where old money and new money partner in business ventures and their families try to relate to each other like they never did before.
The film pales compared to the book, cutting out vital scenes and adding others that leave a questionable blend of sardonic comedy and awkward drama.
The blueblood wealthy parents of the young man Craig Blake (Jeff Bridges) die in a car crash and he inherits their estate, which includes a mansion. For some reason the native of Alabama speaks without a southern accent.
Craig, itching to do his own thing, soon gets involved in a shady downtown real estate deal run by a con man (Joe Spinell). He then gets the bright idea to invest in promoting the Austrian body-builder Joe Spano (Arnold Schwarzenegger), working out to compete in a Mr. Universe contest. To do this he must convince the slimy, wig-wearing, gym owner (R.G. Armstrong), where Spano signed a contract with his gym, to sell him the promotional rights to Spano.
Craig finds his inner bliss when he forms a relationship with the feisty working girl Mary (Sally Field), who works for the bluegrass lover Spano, her sometime lover, as a bemusing love triangle develops.
The film works fine as a character story. But when the unstructured film goes off the reservation (covering too many subplots, silly antics and brawls), it turns into a fine mess.
REVIEWED ON 8/29/2024 GRADE: B-
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