The Woman Chaser

Just saw 35 films at Sundance and hands down, this film stands out while most of the others are just a blur. Patrick Warburton plays "The Director" (the author's original title for the story)and he plays it to deadpan perfection. Shot in color and then transferred to a high contrast black and white title stock, paints this film in a lush visual treat. Plot and dialog holds true to the original 60's pulp and creates a harsh charm that is both parody and innovative filmmaking. Looking forward to seeing this one again as soon as it is released.

I first heard of Charles Willeford when Miami Blues came out. I read that book & found it fantastic. I thought the movie of Miami Blues was a minor masterpiece. I began to work backwards in Willeford's novels & got to this one which I found, like much of his earliest work, very bizarre. A used car salesman who dances a ballet with his mother. This film has captured that quality perfectly, treating it with utmost respect & love & lots of very well-tempered humor. Every detail of this film works perfectly, the acting, lighting, music, quality of sound, even, or especially, the perfect pitch of B-movie voices. Less lethal than Jim Thompson, less schematic than James M. Cain, more resourceful than David Goodis, Charles Willeford now has had two well-deserved minor film masterpieces made of his work.

I first saw this movie in a theater, and I thought it was an amusing, if somewhat uneven film. I enjoyed Patrick Warburton's performance, but felt that the movie didn't hold together that well.

I was lucky enough to score a VHS copy recently, and I've watched the movie a few more times, and I've enjoyed it more each time.

Maybe it's because I have a better idea of what to expect. I find more humor in it, and am able to enjoy it more as the satire which I now think it was intended to be.

It's still odd and quirky, and the title really doesn't seem to fit the content of the movie very well (I read somewhere that it was originally supposed to be called "The Director", which would be more fitting), but it's fun to watch.

Plus, it's got a whole lot of shirtless Patrick Warburton, which is definitely a good thing!!

The only truly original film I've seen this year, The Woman Chaser takes its cue from its psycho-pulp origins and steeps itself in a brilliantly mordant mise-en-scene. Each shot bursts with ideas and mood, and Patrick Warburton is wonderful. The film is hilarious, and far enough off-center to truly appeal to those who get it. Those who like it will love it, and those who dislike it should probably look a little closer. Somehow simultaneously endearing, shocking and gritty, it's an insider's view of insanity, with all its delightfully f***ed-up characters painted affectionately by the director and his actors. Insightful and funny on the dregs of human behavior and in many ways a multi-layered riff on the nature of movies themselves - this is the one American film I would recommend over any other this year.

This is an incredibly under-rated comedic gem of a movie. Although it has appeared on several Top 10 lists, it was carelessly ignored by the sell-out lemmings at the Independent Spirit Awards. Patrick Warburton's performance as Richard Hudson is a tour de force. He does great justice to Charles Willeford's original portrayal. See this movie!!!