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Second-Hand Hearts (1980)

Rate: 6
Viewed: 3/17

SecondHand
3/17: Second-Hand Hearts was made in 1979 but got shelved for two years.

For a test run, Paramount Pictures decided to release it in two cities: New York City and Los Angeles. When the news came in about the dismal box-office returns along with the mounting negative reviews, the company gave up and didn't release the film again until 2013.

After watching Second-Hand Hearts, I feel the massive failure, which is a first for Hal Ashby, is understandable. It's a bad movie, but I have to say the material actually got better over time based on the strength of Robert Blake's and Barbara Harris' performances.

What happened in the last fifteen minutes is the final clincher for my rating of '6' when I was thinking of '3' or '4'. It's Barbara Harris who shines the most. She saves the movie from being a total turkey. I suppose it's vintage of Hal Ashby if I think about how similar the feel is to Harold and Maude. Robert Blake and Barbara Harris play two loony, kooky characters, and everything that comes out of their mouths is pure rubbish. Yet I was never bored throughout. Perhaps it's Haskell Wexler's cinematography that did it.

There's uniqueness to their road trip, and how the two leads managed to survive it in that jalopy is what adds charm to the film, especially the sight of Barbara Harris carrying her kids. The amazing chemistry between her and Robert Blake therefore overcomes the lousy script.

During the filming, Hal Ashby was under heavy influence of drugs and had fights with screenwriter Charles Eastman. The script was probably so bad to begin with that it required a lot of rework in order to get the film done. By the time all was said and done, it turned out to be an unwatchable and therefore unsellable mess that ruined the careers of many involved. By the way, Shirley Stoler of The Honeymoon Killers fame makes her appearance as Maxy.

All in all, Second-Hand Hearts isn't for everybody, but Hal Ashby's filmmaking magic does succeed through Robert Blake's and Barbara Harris' winning performances as down-and-out losers.