En route pour la gloire

"Bound For Glory" is a very involving and interesting movie in a hypnotic, slow-moving seventies kind of way. In fact, for the first 45 minutes I was watching it on cable TV, I had no idea why I was watching it. Nothing much was happening. The "story" was episodic and meandering. But I did watch the thing all the way through--all 2 and a half hours of it. In retrospect, I can now see some reasons why the film held me so. To begin with, the cinematography is beautiful and the music is wonderful. But mostly it was the acting, which is uniformly excellent in a naturalistic way that is rarely seen these days. I had the impression I was peeking in on real people and events, not on movie actors playing out a script. The biggest revelation, however, was David Carradine, who gives an amazing performance as Woody Guthrie. He's just living the part. I mean--what has the guy ever done before or since that even hinted at the fact that he could act so damn well? Nothing, that's what! Carradine's performance in "Bound for Glory" reminds me of two other, more recent performances in similar films: Ashley Judd in Victor Nunez's "Ruby in Paradise" and Peter Fonda in the role that gave him an Oscar nomination, "Ulee's Gold", also by Nunez.

In these films you can see the main character thinking, breathing--living. Not acting out some melodrama.

Another common thread runs between these three performances, too: none of these actors have been allowed to (or been able to?) do work anywhere near as good again. The post-"Ruby" Judd has gone on to major in spunky thriller heroines and Fonda has drifted back off the map to wherever he was before "Ulee."

But Carradine is the one who really breaks your heart. He has continued acting, like Judd. But the horrendous quality of his projects make you wish he'd disappeared back in to the vapor of obscurity, like Fonda. After watching "Bound For Glory", the sight of Carradine zombie-walking through an episode of "Kung Fu: the Legend Continues" or snarling like a brain-dead idiot in one of his European-made direct-to-video action cheapies is enough to make you cry. The massive talent he wasted.

Still, many actors never have even one moment of glory.

Of all the five best picture nominees of 1976, "Bound for Glory" is the most difficult for most to remember. I mean it was the quiet film in a year which consisted of "Rocky", "Network", "All the President's Men" and "Taxi Driver". Woody Guthrie (David Carradine of "Kung Fu" fame) is suffering through the Dust Bowl of Pampa, Texas in 1936. There are no jobs, no crops and really no hope. Guthrie decides that the best way for him to do his part is to become a folk singer for the poorest peoples of Northern Texas and depression-era Oklahoma. What follows is a genuinely wonderful story which is all based upon the life of America's greatest folk singer. "Bound for Glory" is well-written, well-directed by the wonderful Hal Ashby and well-acted by David Carradine in the role of a lifetime. Melinda Dillon, Randy Quaid and Ronny Cox are among the other players, but this is Carradine's show from the word go. A wonderful, but truthfully somewhat forgotten masterpiece from the 1970s. 4.5 out of 5 stars.

BOUND FOR GLORY compassionately portrays that Woody Guthrie's gift to mankind was about being at life's mercy, deliberately staying on a par with everyday people -- not just understanding and speaking for them, but being them and speaking for himself.

BOUND FOR GLORY had the courage to abstain from the bigger-than-life formula for Hollywood success, and never hurried its pace to placate a predictably impatient audience. The scenes, and David Carradine morphing into Woody Guthrie, took whatever time was needed to ripen into the enriching story of inherent human value, undeniable personal dignity, and the insidious soul-starving quality of greed that this masterpiece movie tells.

Ronny Cox, Melinda Dillon, Gail Strickland, Randy Quaid, and David Carradine all delivered academy award worthy performances. No saints, no heroes, no cavalry to the rescue; just actors tenderly disappearing into heart capturing characters who are disturbingly vulnerable, familiar, ordinary, and profound.

"Bound for Glory" is a dramatization of the early career of Woody Guthrie--particularly his wanderings around the country and the establishment of his career as a folk singer. However, the film does NOT cover his later years and his affliction with Huntington's.

Have you ever seen a movie that is well made and you are supposed to enjoy it but you didn't? That's my experience with "Bound for Glory". While I could see it was a fine film and David Carradine did a fine job, I found my attention wandering throughout. Part of it is because the film is VERY deliberately paced (i.e., slow). Part of it is because I just don't happen to care much about the subject matter. This is sad, I know, as I am a retired history teacher and I should love seeing the dust bowl and the history of Woody Guthrie but I still didn't. Part of it is because Guthrie was a pretty selfish guy (leaving his family and just going on the road for months or years at a time with little regard for them). Regardless, I just didn't enjoy the experience. Well done but I had a devil of a time with "Bound for Glory"... But, I am NOT saying it's a bad film or that you shouldn't see it--it's just that I was not bowled over by it like nearly all the other reviewers.

If you would've asked me, what I thought of the movie, right after I saw it, I would've probably gave it a lower rating. But the movie grows on you. Carradine's performance is mesmerizing to say the least and his underdog is more than likable. You can see that he has his priorities straight, even if they get him in all sorts of trouble, be it at home or at work.

The problem of the movie is, that it tries so hard to depict a historical character in a short period of time. Well "short" might be a stretch here, seeing that the pace of the movie itself is pretty slow, which make you think, the movie is longer than it actually is. Not really much is happening and the same issues get played twice or more times, with almost the same conclusion. The stoic Carradine character remains the same. This might be truthful (I can't say, because I haven't read any bios on the real man portrayed here), but could also become boring after awhile for quite a few people.