BurnKnee

Although I immensely enjoyed & admired this film, I was struck by

a curious omission: there is neither an appearance by nor a

reference to Hubert Humphrey, LBJ's VP at the time. Even his

appearance at the opening inaugural ball would have helped. If

his role were insignificant or non-existent, there should have been

some reference to this; if he tried to persuade LBJ to withdraw our

troops from Vietnam & were shut out of further counseling

sessions because of this, that too should have been mentioned.

When HH ran as Dem prez candidate in 1968, he was burdened

by the war just as LBJ would have been. If there were a line about

Humphrey (& 1 or 2 lines might be all that would be necessary), I

missed it. Or were there legal problems that made the director or

writer or producer determine not to allude to him?

A very underrated film that can be called a cop movie, a buddy movie or an odd couple movie; mainly, one that's funny, human & absolutely beguiling. And it gets better each time I see it. The scene in which Robert Foxworth seduces Barbara Babcock (or vice versa) saying again & again, "I'll find your doggie"; the scene in which Paula Prentiss hilariously seduces him as a Russian gypsy song plays in the BG; Harry Dean Stanton as a dog lover who doesn't want to harm the dog he must harm to be credible as a blackmailer; James Woods' violinist who wants to stop playing & pee; the Russian restaurant; Foxworth's drunken opening scene in a Russian church--all are so wonderful & so well acted that the movie is an absolute delight. It's not to everyone's taste, but it sure is to mine. At first, it was a lovely surprise. Now, it's like an old friend.

Usually, I dislike plays adapted to a place & time other than those the author intended. Country Life (the title is from Chekhov's subtitle for Uncle Vanya, Scenes from Country Life) is a rare exception. Placed in the Australian outback in the 1920s, aspects of the play, such as the old man's writings (here, trashy theatre criticism, some of which is quoted) are as worthless as his academic treatises in the play; veneration for London (true in much of Oz, even today) makes clearer the play's characters' veneration for Moscow; etc. Blakemore, a fine stage director, knows his Chekhov, knows how to get the most of his actors (all of whom are excellent) and, to my happy surprise, knows how to make a sparkling, engrossing film from a play by Chekhov, which is very difficult (Mikhalkov is the only other one who has done it, in An Unfinished Piece for Player Piano). A thoroughly delight