classicsoncall I never thought a movie with Paul Newman and Lee Marvin in the leads could ever move this slow. Half the time they didn't seem to be employing the same page from the script in their scenes together, and it was well into the picture before I was able to figure out that Leonard (Marvin) was actually working with, and not against Jim Kane (Newman). Kane seemed to be conflicted over just about everything in his life, and Leonard used these exaggerated hand gestures every once in a while that seemed unconnected to any thought process he might have had at the time. Just very confusing.Then on top of that you have Strother Martin as their crooked employer and Wayne Rogers as something of a man in the middle to keep things well oiled between Kane and Garrett (Martin). What this all leads to is a massive 'failyuh to communicate', as a Martin character once stated to a Newman character in the much better "Cool Hand Luke".Sorry, but this one just didn't grab me the way I thought it would going in. Quite seriously, the only thing that really sparked my interest was Lee Marvin's musings about colored salt - that seemed to make a lot of sense to me for the reason he gave. When I heard it I wanted to say 'correcto' like the Mexican in the movie, but I never learned that one in Spanish class.

zardoz-13 Paul Newman pairs up with Lee Marvin in "Cool Hand Luke" director Stuart Rosenberg's lightweight but quirky contemporary western comedy "Pocket Money" with Strother Martin, Wayne Rodgers, and Hector Elizondo. This curious character study concerns a naïve but honest small-time livestock wrangler played by Newman who heads down to Mexico to round up rodeo cattle for a couple of shady types. Along the way, our simple-minded hero hooks up with his hard-drinking American friend played by Marvin who hangs out below the border. Together they encounter a series of hardships as Newman rounds up his cattle and brings them north to the border. Newman and Marvin make an odd couple in this innocuous movie that benefits from Laszlo Kovacs's first-rate cinematography. Pop music star Carole King warbled the title tune that came out on the flip-side of her 45 RPM release of "Sweet Seasons." The key to understanding "Pocket Money," which is entertaining but uneventful, is the writer. Terry Malick, before he acquired a reputation as an avant-garde director of "Badlands," "Days of Heaven," The Thin Red Line" and "The New World," penned the screenplay for this aimless but amiable saga from John Gay's adaptation of fifth generation Arizona cattleman Joseph Paul Summers Brown's novel "Jim Kane," published in 1960. Malick's screenplay ends suddenly and leaves you wondering what happened after watching this twosome tie into some nutcases for 102 minutes. Newman plays the kind of character who sometimes has to turn around in a complete circle before he can make up his mind about a decision. He speaks with a peculiar lisp. Indeed, he isn't the brightest bulb, but he is hopelessly honest to the point of lacking tact. At a carhop hamburger restaurant, Kane's ex-wife tells him that he is a 'baby,' in a none complimentary tone and that she cannot afford to hang out with a 'baby.' You know when he is heading for trouble long before he realizes that he is knee deep in it. This movie drips with dramatic irony. No, "Pocket Money" isn't a mainstream movie and it certainly doesn't qualify as 'an important work of cinematic art.' Jim Kane (Paul Newman) discovers as "Pocket Money" opens that the 30 Appaloosa studs and mares that he has rounded up must be placed in quarantine for six weeks because they have dourine, the equivalent of venereal disease for horses. Kane has a bank note due but the banker has enough faith in our hero to give him an extension with neither an argument nor a lecture. Okay, he does give Kane some advice that he should have bled his livestock before he crossed the Mexican border with them. Kane appreciates the advice. Kane's Uncle Herb (Fred Graham of "Arizona Raiders") offers to hire him to do his stock auction bidding while Kane waits for the quarantine to elapse. Kane knows nothing about bidding and turns down Herb's solid job offer of work. Kane gets a tip in a bar from a questionable friend named Stretch Russell (Wayne Rogers before starred in TV's "M.A.S.H.") about a cattle deal. Stretch introduces Kane as 'the Chihuahua Express' to an Amarillo rodeo buyer, Bill Garrett (Strother Martin of "Cool Hand Luke"), who needs 250 two-year old rodeo cattle. Uncle Herb doesn't think favorably of either Stretch or Garrett and warns Kane that they may be crooked. Kane ignores Herb's advice and follows his first impression. Garrett gives Kane a wad of cash and a bank draft and they agree to meet in Hermosillo, Sonora. Kane drives across the border in his pick-up truck. Kane looks up his old friend Leonard (Lee Marvin of "The Dirty Dozen") and Leonard tries to keep his friend out of trouble while in Mexico. Leonard arranges a deal between Juan (Hector Elizondo of "Cuba") and Kane for stock pens to hold the cattle. Kane and Leonard tool around in Leonard's old 1960's red Buick convertible make the rounds to find suitable livestock and haggle with the owners. At one ranch, Kane meets a woman named Adelita (Christine Belford) and they walk around a sunset, but nothing appears to happen romantically between the two of them. At one point, Kane argues with a Mexican worker Chavarin (Gregory Sierra) and fires him. Later, when Kane and Leonard come back to Leonard's hotel room, Chavarin jumps Kane and they tangle briefly doing more damage to the furniture than each other. Chavarin happens to be related to the local police chief and the authorities put Kane in jail when he refuses to pay off Chavarin. Leonard bails his buddy out of a Mexican hoosegow by selling Kane's pick-up truck. Afterward, Kane learns from Stretch that Garrett wants him to bring the cattle in a different way. Kane warns him that the Mexican authorities there will impound his cattle for ticks. Stretch assures Kane that Garrett has a fix put in and Kane will encounter no problems. Guess what happens? Altogether, "Pocket Money" is just small change. Newman is excellent as an eccentric cattleman with an impeccable reputation and Marvin is subdued as his pal with some really strange ideas, such as selling colored salt. Veteran western stuntman Richard 'Diamond' Farnsworth has a brief walk-on role when he informs the Newman character about his diseased horses. "Where'd you get those horses, from a cathouse?" Director Stuart Rosenberg and scenarist Malick never really let us in on the sly joke that this movie constitutes. We sit back and watch these guys and a lot of other guys make fools of themselves. No, "Pocket Money" possesses a plot but it has no point. You feel like you've been cheated for caring about a couple of fellows who get screwed in the long run.

MisterWhiplash Pocket Money is a good film, but I wonder if it would be with any other stars, or even simply one star as staying true to the book the movie's based on. The script is by Terrence Malick (yes that Malick, it was his first official Hollywood gig after all so he had to pay at least one due), and it offers some keen one-liners, some that are very subdued in the sense of humor, and an opportunity for an actor to play it how he will. It's also, akin to what's weaker about Malick, a little flimsy and aimless on plot and more about atmosphere of the situation. If Malick were directing it it might resemble one of those mythic modern westerns. Under director Stuart Rosenberg of Cool Hand Luke, who isn't an eccentric genius-artist filmmaker like Malick but a sturdy craftsman, it's a lot more simplistic, and ultimately isn't about much except two s***-kickers looking to buy some cows and get paid the money deserved.But as it stands, Paul Newman and Lee Marvin, even without the greatest material, can act the pants off of it and Newman somehow makes his character amiable and cool when not seeming to have it all upstairs except for livin' in the moment kind of thinking. Marvin fleshes his character out a bit more than Newman perhaps because, frankly, he's more of the comic relief however in slight and clever ways (watch as he is washing up and almost uses a pigeon to dry his face, or his rambling dialog when he and Newman are sitting atop the train). By the time it ends we might not feel like it can go much else, and it ends on a somewhat (though surprisingly good) ambiguous ending. But there's also the feeling that a lot has gone on, a lot of wheeling and dealing and almost nearing insight into the condition of greed and double-crossing in men. Almost. That and the sweet Alex North score that combines many forms of music.

asinyne This is an excellent movie. Everything is about character development here. Newman's character has a different name but its basically Hud a few years down the road and a lot worse for wear. Newman and Marvin are great as always. If you are looking for lots of action, car chases, or romance look elsewhere my friends. This is a character study and a very good one. Newman is a down but not quite out cowboy and Marvin is his hustler buddy. They try to pick up some quick cash by working a shady cattle deal. Strother Martin and Wayne Rogers are very good as a couple of fly by night businessmen that Newman has the bad luck to associate with. The scene where Newman shakes down Martins character is hilarious. Another great scene is when they tell some Mexican cowboys that they came to Mexico to buy some chili peppers. This is a true to life modern western with no six guns but its fully loaded with charm and real world insight. Great movie!!!! Good acting and writing throughout.