John Chard

Offbeat? Knockabout? Well yes it is, but view it as such and it works. Jim Kane is broke and in debt, he seems to permanently be chasing the dollar. He gets an opportunity to earn some cash by collecting some Rodeo Cattle from Mexico for shady rancher Bill Garrett, he grabs his old pal Leonard, and they set about delivering the goods without incident, but all roads are not as straight forward as they had hoped. It's something of a dream pairing, dashing blue eyed Paul Newman and gritty grizzled Lee Marvin together in an off kilter Western, sounds just delightful, but sadly the film doesn't meet the expectations of the two stars blustering reputations. But that doesn't mean the film is a total washout, because it isn't, it's got a charm and gentile comedy riff to it that makes it enjoyable to those prepared for something, well, off kilter. Based on the J.P.S. Brown novel titled Jim Kane, Pocket Money finds Newman playing against type, his Jim Kane is a simple minded {but top line honest} fella, he bumbles his way thru life seemingly unable to halt the misfortunes that come his way. Lee Marvin also plays against the roles he is known for, his Leonard here is shifty and sweet, nervously twitchy with a misadventure glint in his eye, and certainly comical and vociferous in equal measure. Both Jim & Leonard on the surface seem to be a very odd couple, but they really compliment each other, be it good or bad, they are like two peas in a pod. There some lovely shots in here to enjoy, director Stuart Rosenberg (Cool Hand Luke) nicely portrays perhaps the soon to be dying art of cattle driving across the vast plains, the closing shot is particularly fabulous and a fitting closure. The supporting actors work tremendously hard to keep the movie afloat. Strother Martin is sadly under used as the sleazy Garrett, but his time on screen isn't wasted in the slightest, Wayne Rogers as Garrett's right hand man, Stretch Russell, almost steals the film with attention holding scenes, whilst Hector Elizondo as usual does the solid work that was his trait. Pocket Money is in the main forgettable once viewed, but for me it never felt like it had wasted my time, and I personally got the feeling that both Newman & Marvin enjoyed working on the picture, they had fun, and so should the majority of the viewers if slipping into a quirky mindset. 6/10