92 In The Shade (1975) was stranger than I expected. Who knew that being a fishing guide in Florida was such a contentious, dangerous business? Peter Fonda plays a tanned, laidback dude who decides to get in the game of being a “guide”, much to the annoyance of established pros like Warren Oates and Harry Dean Stanton. Things are so loose and amiable that this hostility doesn’t seem real until twenty minutes in when a dirty trick is played with explosive consequences. Lives are threatened with the Colt revolver that Oates carries with him, yet things also seem very buddy buddy and passive aggressive; Fonda seems too hip to be worried about anything. The other supporting characters – including Fonda’s father played by William Hickey and his cantankerous granddaddy played by Burgess Meredith – and subplots – including Margot Kidder as Fonda’s teacher girlfriend and Elizabeth Ashley as Stanton’s bored wife – dilute the central conflict and everything seems like a languid hang-out, as if it was a Burt Reynolds flick but vaguely arty and existential, Robert Altman or Monte Hellman at the helm. The only film directed by author Thomas McGuane, the dialogue feels both specifically written and haphazardly improvised. The video quality of the film available to rent on iTunes is not so hot; everything looks like it was shot on video – some scenes look limited and cheap in coverage, other scenes have an in your face charge. Basically it’s a chance to see great 1970s character actors walk around in floral shirts. Where else will you see Joe Spinell rock up as goofy good ole boy looking to fish? Clocking in at 90 minutes, the film itself is a strange fish – not quite the coastal Elmore Leonard type crime flick I thought it would be or that the poster implies). I wasn’t sure what to make of it all to be honest. Mainly for those who are fans of the actors involved and can deal withe unhurried, weird vibe. Recommended (kind of).
VHS Tracking 