On P List of Movie Reviews
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Paul's Case (1980)
Rate:
4
Viewed:
11/25
11/25:
King of the Gypsies and Paul's Case provide an early
glimpse of Eric Roberts' talent before taking off in Star 80.
You may notice him looking different than usual. Rewinding a bit, Paul's Case ran on PBS on
one night, and Sandy Dennis happened to catch it. She became interested in the actor, and they eventually
struck a relationship. On June 4, 1981, he rammed through a tree after her dog acted out on him, and his face,
especially the nose, was smashed on top of traumatic brain injury.
Anyway, back to Paul's Case, it faithfully follows Willa Cather's short story that tends to be read in
high school. The trouble with the film is that it's slow and needs to be fleshed out more. I've seen guys
like Paul many times; why they fail in life is their ambition exceeding capability, causing them to be
eternally frustrated.
Had Paul been more inventive, he would've transformed himself into Tom Ripley as seen in
Plein soleil. His duplicitous ability to take on a new identity while
going to a different city proves it. Some readers said he's a closet homosexual, but I didn't feel that
way in the film. It may be that the party scene wasn't followed up as originally written. By the way, the
narrator is actually Henry Fonda, and it's a great one.
All in all, Paul's Case is high on atmosphere but short in meat.