Martin's Day

I first saw Martin's Day when I was just 10 years old, at home, on The Movie Channel, and still remember the impact it made on my life. It touched me as no other film had touched me, and I remember balling my eyes out.

After the first time I saw it, I couldn't find it anywhere else. I would ask around and no one had ever heard of the film! I guess it was one of those more rare films that not many people knew about, because no one, and I mean no one, knew what I was talking about. I searched and searched throughout the years, checking video stores shelves and scanning cable TV listings, but always came up short. Finally, in 1996 I found out I could special order it, I did, and have probably watched it at least 50 times since--and it still makes me cry, every time.

Martin's Day is about Martin Steckert, a man who is in prison (but genuinely a good guy), who yearns to make it back to the special lake where he grew up as boy. This was a special place, where he lived off nature, spent time with his dog, and was left alone to enjoy life. Soon into the movie, he escapes and starts making his way back to the lake.

It isn't long before the cops find him, and Steckert grabs a child as a hostage to convince the police to back off. Soon Steckert and his hostage (the 2nd Martin) become best friends, and have many fun adventures together--from robbing a toy truck, to hi-jacking a train, all on the way to this special lake.

Throughout the movie, Steckert has great flashbacks of him at the lake as a boy.

I won't ruin the ending for you, but I will tell you, this movie is a must see. It is the BEST movie I have EVER seen in my life! I am, without a doubt, the biggest fan of this movie EVER! I managed to find the song that the two Martin's are singing throughout the movie ("I'm going back, to where I come from...). I'm even planning a trip to Canada to see the lake and cottage where Martin's Day was filmed. Crazy, I know--but that movie just means so much to me.

A well-made and imaginative production, refreshingly free from cliché, this somewhat picaresque affair recounts a tale of a close friendship that develops between a man and a boy under less than ideal conditions: the man an escaped convict who has kidnapped the youth for his value as a hostage. Expertly directed by Alan Gibson with a fine sense for balanced narrative movement, the film provides freshness in nearly every scene, as felon Martin Steckert (Richard Harris), believing that his rejection for parole was particularly undeserved, contrives a convoluted but ultimately successful escape plan, following which his spontaneous nature comes to the fore as he flees to the lakeside residence of his childhood. Often bursting into song or dancing a few steps, the capricious Steckert gradually gains the trust and affection of his captive and, as police close in for an inevitable showdown, the tethered pair are seen to be a great deal alike in their responses to forms of rejection, as discerned by a psychiatrist (Lindsay Wagner) assigned to aid a zealous police lieutenant (James Coburn) who is in charge of the manhunt for Steckert and his "prisoner". This is an engrossing story, worth telling, a quickly-paced and novel adventure that profits from a capital performance by Harris, fine turns from Wagner, Coburn, and Karen Black, along with Justin Henry as the snatched lad, with an appropriately whimsical score contributed by Wilfred Josephs, and top-notch cinematography by Frank Watts, with all footage shot in a beautiful autumnal Ontario province.

This movie is great because it is unique and original and Includes all elements that create a balanced and good movie. There is a thrilling aspect because he is a criminal on the run who kidnaps a boy and the cops are chasing him and you wonder if they will shoot him but on the other hand, what the cops don't know is that he is not all that he seems. There is a sentimental element to it and I was not only entertained but curious as to what would happen next. This movie is a very simple movie and that is another reason why I like it. The locations are beautiful (Guess that's why Hollywood always films in Canada) and overall, I wish modern movies had more of a fingerprint like this one.

This movie was one of the last gasps to come from the Canadian tax shelter era of the late '70s to early '80. It has some interest because of its cast; not only are there a number of American stars who had appeared in earlier Canadian tax shelter efforts (Richard Harris, James Coburn, Lindsay Wagner, and Karen Black), but there are also some familiar Canadians who appeared in other such efforts (Saul Rubinek and John Ireland.) As it turns out, the interesting cast is about the only thing of interest about this movie. The generally predictable plot is certainly a problem, but the biggest problem with the movie is with Harris' character. His character commits so many unlikable actions (especially in the first third of the movie) that he's not only a real turn-off, the tender scenes he has with his young co-star Justin Henry are very unconvincing. The only other thing of interest to be found in the movie is seeing how much the Clint Eastwood movie "A Perfect World" stole from this movie eight years later.

I missed this film in 1984 but did see "A Perfect World: when it came out in the 1990's. If "Martin's Day" had followed the Costner movie I would have thought it less believable and compelling. The fact that it predated the Costner film gave it a big boost in my assessment of the film. Richard Harris was his usual excellent self; and all of the other members of the cast were excellent. I did find the ending, however, very weak. In the case of "A Perfect World" this was rectified. Anyone who sees one of these two films would be well advised to see the other.