Another Look at The Late Show (***1/2)

The Late Show
Released 1977
Written and Directed by Robert Benton
Starring Art Carney, Lily Tomlin, Bill Macy, Eugene Roche, Joanna Cassidy

This viewer has always been partial to the work of Lily Tomlin. Family members had her early albums and her movies made a good transition into film. Part of this was her film selection. It varied from good dramas like Nashville to funny and memorable comedies including 9 to 5 and All of Me. Being picked to work with Robert Altman was a gift, and that gift shows here.

That Altman produced this Robert Benton film based on a story by Rodolfo Sonego shows in every scene Tomlin inhabits. Most of her dialogue feels off the cuff as any of the work she did for the films he directed. Carney, on the other hand never overplays his hand. Every line is on cue.

Despite this, the film works on a level of old vs. young circa 1977. Carney plays Ira Wells. He is a hobbled, hard-worn Private Investigator. He is drawn into one last case after the death of a friend. Tomlin is Margo Spelling, a hippy dippy twentysomething who hires Ira to find her cat.

That the two cases will intertwine while the two get used to one another goes without saying. Watching Carney’s Wells hobble from scene to scene is humanizing. Tomlin’s take on aimless youth is a source of intrigue.

There are puzzling scenes here and there. Tomlin’s reaction to being chased in her van (with Wells) is puzzling. It goes counter to all of her reactions to that point.

Still Benton gets the most out of both leads and a litany of silly character performances. The film did not age as well as my memory, but it’s still good enough for the time.

(***1/2 out of *****)