Bobby Deerfield (1977)

Touches You

Instant Favorite.

Clever, believable, and super fun to watch. It totally has replay value.

Blistering performances.

Not a race car movie, but one that centers on a famous driver... The man, BOBBY DEERFIELD, especially after a fatal accident by another driver in his car, simply doesn't care much for humanity or even his own family, and only gets a personality after meeting, and then traveling aimlessly with, a beautiful woman in a hospital. But his real turnaround occurs after discovering, by accident, this mystery woman's deep, dark secret... Thus the free-spirited, spontaneous, sometimes rambling and obnoxious, insecure confidence of Marthe Keller's personality makes sense after this revelation, as does the film: which still meanders quite a bit, seeming more like a collection of lovely European snapshots than a flowing motion picture; this is his English-speaking Foreign Film. And you've heard of pretty boy actors having to prove their acting talents? Well for Pacino, this is the polar opposite. But he has some good dramatic moments... after all, he is Al Pacino. (cultfilmfreaks.com)

I made a special effort to see this movie and was totally disappointed with the outcome. On paper, the script seems hopeful, and the choice of actors leaves one with hopes - I liked Pacino in Scent of a Woman and have seen Anny Duperrey and Marthe Keller in several French and other films of the 70s/80s. But I had forgotten how important a part dialogues can play in a film, and in this film they are absolute ..... trash ! The filming locations were also attractive but the hopeless, pretentious and forced dialogues pulled the whole thing down to sub zero level. In addition to that, I am pretty allergic to the world of motor racing and find no interest in this sport. Even the inelegant dialogues in "Love Story" were better than the ones in this film (and that's saying something !!). I was really expecting better from this film and was very disappointed to have been let down so much.

I love this film! Very underrated, I really don't understand why people hate both this and Author Author so much! I just re-watched this with my mom, & we both loved this and Author Author, I gave both films a 10/10 rating. However, I have to disagree with some people's assessment that Pacino was living through his racing. I believe that he may have had a fuller life or at least, had a life when he was younger. He would do impressions of Mae West as a kid, w/c is a clue to how this lifeless man became a race-car driver & how he had lost himself in the process. But I believe racing was what eventually sucked him dry or his approach to racing. It was mentioned that he had many friends who died in their profession, & Lillian commented that he lived his life, trying to 'not die'. I believe there is no truer statement said about Bobby, I never really considered it, even when we were shown him lamenting (well, not really lamenting but you know what I mean) & fussing over how his peer-racer died. It made sense that he was concerned, for all I know, he did this occasionally but the moment she said those words, it became a revelation to Bobby and his life. It was true, he may have had more substance before but as soon as he became more meticulous with death & its prevention, he at the same time, learned to numb himself around that concept & to everything around him. Numbing himself or this self-detachment was the only way he knew how to cope with the high risk job he had undertaken (he couldn't even muster any facade of feeling for his ailing mother, his brother went to France, all the way from Nework just to plead for him to visit their mother, how sad is that?). He couldn't really think about death & racing 24/7 w/o a coping mechanism of sorts, numbing himself was his defense, defense from fears involved with the job. To be able to live through it, & at the same time, go over its possibilities/prevention schemes, to be able to function, to self-preserve amidst the fear. We see him & his life w/ his devoted girlfriend, a lifeless & empty existence, & we contrast this to Morrelli & hers. Bobby has lived with death for so long, he became accustomed to it & it became a shadow he had to live with in his life, Lillian was newer to the experience & handled it differently. Lilian & 'her manly hands', her strong masculine features were the embodiment of life or the 'opposite' Bobby needed, as Lillian commented, Bobby was more delicate, effeminate even, and I just loved that not only was their characters different, their physicality attested to that fact, it was the embodiment of these 2 opposing forces drawn together. Towards the end, at the tunnel, I expected or was waiting for Bobby to scream, but he never did, that to me spoke more than anything, Bobby had reverted to his old life, or to his lack of life, & yes, this was not only a tragic love story, it was tragic for Bobby. To have experienced vibrancy (Lillian), to have learned & changed, only to revert back to before there was a Lillian. I imagined he went back to his girlfriend & they could've married, had children even. He was as hollow and as empty as he ever was, a lifeless corpse w/o a Lillian to give him life! So in the end, Lillian didn't only die, the Bobby that developed/was born through her, died with her as well.:(

As long as I can remember faces and names, I am a fan of Pacino. Scarface, the Godfather...and later his lesser known roles like S1m0ne and People I Know. First, when I read about this one and saw the pretty low score, I was a bit afraid to watch it.I am from Europe and with each one I see, I only get more convinced that European cinema might simply be better than Hollywood. Bobby Deerfield is an American film, but it can also be watched by those that dislike Hollywood. It's very soft, quite deep and very VERY well acted.Al Pacino stars in this. He delivers his role with lots of charm. He plays a man that does not really know how to live, but he never says so. We can only read it in his eyes, and it becomes even more clear when he meets Lillian Morelli.Martha Keller plays Lillian. I must admit that I don't know her, nor saw one of the movies on her list. I cannot say much about her, besides that she acts very convincing. After seeing her in this, I want to check out some of her other work.Supporting cast including Romolo Valli is convincing. The overall casting is very well done.Sidney Pollack was already known to me as a very convincing actor. With acting like this, pacing and the feeling within this film, I must say he did a very good job.The story is very romantic. I like it and the way it's told. And not only the actors tell their part, since there is always the scenery. Italy, Switzerland and France are more than just backgrounds. Every frame seems carefully created, each shot is good.Normally I don't like Dave Grusin. After this one, I like him a little bit more. Maybe I will get hated after saying this, but Grusin scores this the same as Ennio Morricone would have. Still, if there is one sound belonging to Europe, it's the Morricone sound, so he did a very good job.So what can I say? I will give it and 8. There are no real things that I disliked, and 9 is little bit too much (just considering the scores I gave to my alltime favorites). 8,5 doesn't exist, so 8 it is.....one note to those that want see Pacino see some power acting; him playing Bobby Deerfield might not be the most dominant person ever to appear on the screen, but it sure is one his best 'concealed' characters.A film not in the spotlight, but it should be there no the less.