Scarecrow
Directed by Jerry Schatzberg
Written by Garry Michael White
1973/US
IMDb page
First viewing/Amazon Prime rental
Max Millan: You didn’t pick me, I picked you.
Lion: Why?
Max Millan: ‘Cause you gave me your last match. You made me laugh. God damn crows are laughin’…
The 70’s were a decade for road movies. This is one of the good ones.
Max (Gene Hackman) has just been released from prison. He has saved all his money and meticulously planned buying a car wash business in Pittsburg. He is hitchhiking cross-country with a detour to see his sister in Denver. On the road, Max meets fellow hitchhiker Francis Lionel (‘Lion” – Al Pacino). Lion has come home from the sea and is on the way to Detroit with a present for the five-year-old child (sex unknown) he has never met and a desire to make it up to the child’s mother.
The larger-than-life brawler Max and the goofy peacemaker Lion could not be more different. However, Max is immediately taken with Lion and decides on the spot to take him into the car wash business. They make a good team.
The boys have adventures along the road and a high old time with Max’s sister and her sexy friend Frenchy (Ann Wedgeworth) in Denver. Their luck kind of changes in Detroit.
Wow, this movie is so much of its time but continues to work well now. It is simply a pleasure to watch Hackman and Pacino in their prime. The supporting characters are memorable as well. And since this is a character study that’s all you really need. It’s got that seventies sadness but is also warm and funny. Recommended.
Scarecrow was the co-winner of the Palme d’Or at Cannes.
