Harry and Tonto

Starring: Art Carney, Ellen Burstyn, Cliff De Young, Josh Mostel, Dolly Jonah, Melanie Mayron, Chief Dan George, Larry Hagman
Directed by: Paul Mazursky
Rating: R
Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Drama
1974

Times Seen:
Tim: 1

Summary: After losing his apartment in New York, Harry (Art Carney) takes a life-changing trip across the United States with his beloved cat, Tonto.

Review:

Tim: When I first started watching Harry and Tonto, I didn't care very much for it. It seemed like a fairly small budget film (maybe a little cheap). It felt a little melodramatic, almost a little like a souped up Hallmark film. I wasn't sure how to feel about the character of Harry, and Tonto seemed like an average cat. I didn't get what all the fuss was about. and yet, something interesting happened the more I watched the film- it started to get under my skin.

I really believe this is the greatest aspect of the film- that as it goes on, you get to know Harry more and more, and you become increasingly impressed with him. At the start of the film, he seems nice, but a little bit of a fuddy duddy. Throughout the movie, he goes through a bit of a transformation. As he leaves New York and starts his trek across the country, we see Harry in a wide range of different circumstances. In many of these, he's outside his comfort zone. What is amazing is that despite the uncertainty and the crazy situations he finds himself in, he never wavers from who he is. He is this friendly, optimistic, resilient, incredible character. I really grew to love Harry. I didn't expect that.

Truly, a great deal of the connection I felt for the character is due to the performance of Art Carney. He is so endearing, so warm, and so likeable. It's truly a great performance. He is old, and therefore wise and experienced. And yet, he has this curiosity and this resiliency that is youthful. I loved the performance of Carney. It's impressive that he won the Academy Award for Best Actor for this film. That happens because he makes you care so much about his character.

The supporting cast is fine, but no one really gets an opportunity to stand out. I really like Ellen Burstyn, but she only had a few scenes. That's a shame, because she was terrific and I liked her interactions with Carney. I wish she had more screen time, but I understand. This film really isn't about the supporting cast at all- they are just there for Carney to interact with and further his story. For this reason, there aren't a lot of standouts, save for Burstyn and probably Melanie Mayron (whom I enjoyed).

As a complete movie, I felt like this film was good, but not great. Art Carney was fantastic and it's no surprise he won Best Actor. The film was also nominated for Best Original Screenplay, although it did not win. These were two of the stronger elements, but the rest of the movie was average. Harry and Tonto is an example of a film that does a few things (but only a few things) really, really well. While that's all well and good, there are dozens of important elements needed for a movie to be great. This film doesn't check all the boxes, so I'd consider this film good, but ultimately not as strong as it could have been.

Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating- 7



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