José Giovanni often found inspiration in his own life for his screenplays :he knew jail as the sound of his own name and he was once sentenced to death.His "Deux Hommes Dans La Ville" was first a plea against death penalty (after André Cayatte's "Nous Sommes Tous Des Assassins "(1952) and Claude Lelouch's "La Vie L'Amour La Mort " (1968)).The end of his movie depicted an execution in lavish details,with the sinister guillotine.This finale has remained memorable .
Whitaker takes on Alain Delon's part ,Dolorès Heredia Mimsy Farmer's ,and Harvey Keitel Michel Bouquet's.The probation officer who was a man in the French movie(Jean Gabin)with a whole family ,including a "May 68 " son,becomes a bachelor (which is perhaps a mistake ,cause the French hero becomes friend with all of them and it urges him to have his own family) vigorous woman.
As the background is entirely different from Paris,I had not even established the connection between the two movies ,although the sheriff reminded me of his French equivalent.And I was amazed when I noticed that the human officer -who tries in vain to let a terminally-ill man return and die in his native Ohio- listened to French singer Barbara .
Whitaker gives one of the most restrained performances of his career,most of the time straight-faced ,even when he is humiliated : in jail ,the convict often redeems himself by finding Bible and Jesus :here ,maybe influenced by Malcolm X or Mohammed Ali,he found Allah ,but it does not make a big difference .Keitel's part is not very interesting,being repetitive and finally dull:the actor deserved better material.On the other hand,Brenda Blethyn makes all her scenes count. Mrs Burstyn's short appearance is ,as usual,a lesson in acting ,but is she really credible as the hero's mom?
The desolate landscapes near the Mexican border are at least as impressive as the urban background of the French movie.It enhances Garnett's longing for a simple life ,and his desire to have a wife and children.That the ex-prisoner finds his sweetheart as soon as he is out of jail is somewhat unlikely,but it was already one of the flaws of the French model (Mimsy Farmer was also a bank employee in Paris).
This is not for action-packed movies buffs;it is actually more austere and slow-moving than Giovanni's original movie ;violence is kept to the minimum and sex is almost absent;it's certainly underrated,although the raison d'être of the 1972 version is wasted .
NB:As "Deux Hommes Dans La Ville" was a huge success in France,the title of the remake was changed into " La Voie De L'Ennemi" (the enemy's way)
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