Thanks to Mr. Wilson, who lent me the video, I was finally
able to see the 1999 movie adaptation of THE WOMAN CHASER by
Charles Willeford. I looked back through the archives and
almost everyone who saw it liked it and said it was the most
faithful of the three adaptations of Willeford's books
(the others being COCKFIGHTER and MIAMI BLUES).
One or two people didn't like it much, and neither did the
reviewer in the New York Times. I'd say it's middling. Some
scenes are well done, like the dance with Hudson and his
mother, and some of the minor parts are well cast. The movie
within the movie, what bits we see of it on screen or while
it's being filmed, looks great. Willeford's book is very
good, so it's got the right stuff to start with.
The problem is not that it's a low budget, off-beat, black
and white film noir homage with a lounge music soundtrack,
it's that it's not an original low budget, off-beat, black
and white film noir homage with a lounge music soundtrack. It
often looks just like you'd imagine it would, camera angles,
grainy film, and all.
While watching it, I thought, man, if they'd handled it the
way Stephen Frears and Donald Westlake did Jim Thompson's THE
GRIFTERS, they'd have one hell of a movie. But that's a rare
happening.
Bill
-- William Denton : Toronto, Canada : http://www.miskatonic.org/ : Caveat lector.
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