Sometimes A Great Notion (1970)

OK, in fairness; I came to this film on the strength of my long, enduring affection for the work of Ken Kesey. Sometimes a Great Notion, the novel, is as dense and intense a read as one can find out there by any (and I mean ANY -Faulkner, Hemingway, the works) American author. I've read this superb novel many times, and savored every word with every reading.

...then I saw the film.

Again, in fairness; I had doubts that ANY film under 2 hours would begin to do justice to the novel. I was right. I had suspicions that perhaps Paul Newman and Henry Fonda weren't quite, well, BIG AND TOUGH ENOUGH to do due justice to the Henry and Hank Stamper father/son team. I was almost right -physically, they weren't the looming figures that roared across Kesey's pages. But Newman and Fonda ain't bad either, not by a long shot. Their abilities almost obscure the fact that they don't fully seem like lifelong lumberjacks from the wild coast of Oregon in the middle 20th century. They seem like superb Hollywood actors who are acting like lumberjacks. But that's OK, too. Fonda and Newman break even in my book, in terms of how they portray the fictional characters. I can't fault actors for scenes that aren't there, and my biggest problem with the film was a lack of depth -the novel has several parallel, ongoing story lines that all weave together with magic and drama. By nature, cinema is a more linear story-telling device in that regard. Kesey's magnificent command of language, and voice, and perspective, and verb tenses helps to define this sprawling masterpiece -that's a tough sell on the big (or little) screen.

I wish the cutting room had eaten a little less footage. The romance between Lee and Viv is, essentially, missing in action. And with it, the dramatic narrative that powers much of the core of the novel.

On the positive side, Richard Jaekel was excellent as Joby -to the extent that he was on-screen. I found myself looking for his Christian aphorisms and life's-only-gettin'-better outlook, and finding less than I'd hoped for. Sure, he seems jolly enough half the time -but I found myself wondering if that was because I KNEW he was supposed to be happy and full of Biblical jibberish. Again, the novel vs. the cinema -and again, cinema fails where 600+ pages of copy succeed. The drowning scene, in fairness, is unforgettable. Of course, it was that way in Kesey's novel, too.

I'm glad to know Ken worked with Paul, as the film evolved. That Ken found the final product more successful than One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest-The Movie is a mixed blessing. I agreed with Ken about Cuckoo's Nest and Jack Nicholson (although I love Jack's work, too). I wish Ken were alive today, and perhaps he could shed some light on what he felt worked best in this film.

The Union sub-plot was touched on, but not fully explored. Same with the 'suicide'/death of Willard the theater owner (we never even learn he has a laundromat or a wife or any of the rich details that make him unforgettable in the book). Same with the love triangle. Same with the Stamper family history. The film was good, unquestionably, but not nearly as profound nor as deep as the novel.

With that said; go out and read the novel, and THEN sit down and watch the film. My vote goes for a RESTORED DVD RELEASE with whatever worthy footage was sacrificed for the Faux God of Running Time! This is an admittedly complex and far-reaching tale, and one that's hard put to do justice to itself in 112 minutes, give or take.

As is often the case, a great movie doesn't do justice to a great novel. In this case, it was almost impossible to succeed along those lines (Hey, does anybody PREFER the cinematic Moby Dick to the Melville novel? Case closed!).

On balance, Paul Newman and Henry Fonda and Lee Remick and Richard Jaekel in a Ken Kesey story...!? Does it GET better than that? Only Ken Kesey could have authored a novel that surpassed this film, talent and all. And he did! Check them both out -book and film.

You'll be glad you did.

Firstly, I cannot stress enough that one read the novel. It is one of the finest American novels ever written.

Kesey's superb epic novel with its shifting points of view and verb tense is far too complex a work to adapt directly to the camera's limited third person POV. Kesey's rich and dense narrative prose, while exceptionaly cinematic in its description and action ironically proves unfilmable.

That said, Paul Newman and his production team created a most admirable and solid, if very truncated adaptation of Kesey's excellent novel. It is near impossible to fit the novel's rumbling narrative into a mere hour and a half.

Unlike the more famous film version of Cuckoo's Nest, Kesey admires this filming of his work. It is important viewing on that note alone.

Sadly missing is the critical sub-plot involving a love triangle between Lee and Vivian. As a result, a great deal of Lee's motivation and narrative tension is lost. According to Kesey, the triangle was filmed but lopped off to save running time. Maybe it will come back in the DVD version.

The dialouge, while rather shallow and weak in spurts (much of Kesey's rich vernacular is lostsave for the brilliant aphorisistic interjection "Boy, Howdy!"), is effectively and evocatively brought to life by a wonderful ensemble cast featuring some of America's finest. Who better than Henry Fonda to play Newman's father. Richard Jaekel richely earns his Oscar nomination as the dim-witted but enthusiastic born again lumberjack JoBen. The famous drowning scene is heartbreakingly tragic and darkly comic and this owes directly to both the expert acting of Newman and Jaekel and Newman's own expert direction.

Newman spent a great deal of time in my native Oregon researching the part. He also invited Kesey to hang around on the set and the two of them partied a great deal together. Newman's homework shows vividly as much of Kesey's descriptions resound intact in the brilliant photography presented here. The sense of time and place is impressively captured in the framing of the omnipresent rusting metal, dripping ferns, rotting wood and mildewed carpets that one sees on the Oregon coast. This is a film that one can almost smell.

Special note must be also made of Henry Mancini's twangy country score. It sounds exactly like something found in a juke box in some coastal dive circa 1970.

Newman is one of the finest artists ever to come out of Hollywood. Not only as an actor, but also as a director. He instinctivly knows how to illicit naturalistic, comfortable and utter human performances from his casts and Sometimes A Great Notion is no exception. This is not a great film, by any stretch, but it is most definately a film worth seeing.

Buy Sometimes A Great Notion (1970) Now

Don't believe the editorial review by Marshall Fine. That's one of the most misleading reviews I've ever seen. The story is not a "mishmash", and it has nothing to do with LSD or anything psychodelic. He calls Newman an "ultraliberal", which indicates that his bad review was probably politically motivated. However, the story is not political at all. It's really a touching story about a family in crisis. And it's one of Newman's finest moments as an actor. Fonda's too. It was nominated for two Academy Awards. This movie used to play on HBO constantly. And it would probably do fairly well today if it were re-released on DVD.

Read Best Reviews of Sometimes A Great Notion (1970) Here

This epic, powerfully acted, and visually breathtaking movie beg for the Criterion DVD treatment. What can they be waiting for? The characters in this film, bigger than life, seem to be acted by the only actors who could possibly do justice to the roles. The cinematography is lush and beautifully composed on location in the Pacific Northwest, and the dialogue keeps the film moving effortlessly, as though one were a member of the family of loggers portrayed in the film. Sign me up to purchase the DVD as soon as it is released, hopefully by Criterion.

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There are certain scenes in a movie that last you forever. In this case there are two worth seeing. The famous drowning scene and the closing scene. This is a movie that will stay with you long after watching it and give you an idea of the independent nature of man. It also is under-rated in terms of relationships between fathers and sons and brothers.

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