Husbands (1970)

Husbands
Directed by John Cassavetes
Written by John Cassavetes
1970/US
IMDb page
First viewing/Criterion Channel

Harry: Gus, Archie, look what I did to that phone booth. I kicked the hell out of it. Yeah. Like I’ve been telling my wife for years. Aside from sex, and she’s very good at it, God damn it, I like you guys better. I really do. Now, who the hell else could put up with me, huh? I’m a jerk, I know it. So, let’s go home and get it over with.

I love me some John Cassavetes but I have mixed feelings about this one.

Four married men in their thirties are as close as can be.  One of their number dies.  After the funeral, Harry (Ben Gazzara), Archie (Peter Falk) and Gus (Cassavetes) decide to go on an epic bender.  They end up at a bar where they have a singing contest with other very drunk patrons.  This and the after effects last until morning.  All face going home to get ready for work.  Harry’s long-suffering wife is really not happy to see him and a physical fight ensues.  Archie and Gus try to put Harry back together again mentally.

Harry decides the answer to all his problems is a trip to London.  He talks the other two (who still have not checked in with their wives) into joining him.  The three go to a casino where they proceed to pick up three women.  They take these back to their hotels where they pair off and reunite in the morning.  All this stuff is accompanied by raw emotion as only Cassavetes can write it.

I might have liked this more if I were a man. Surely I could never be married to any one of these three bad boys.  Cassavetes idea of “freedom” is also different than mine.  There’s something about him that is on my wavelength however and I’m glad I saw it.  It’s not something I will be coming back to.

Gena Rowlands has a tiny dialogue-free appearance as Gus’s wife in a flashback in the beginning.  Their children appear at the end when Gus comes home with his tail between his legs.