On the F1 race tracks of film podcasts, Fear and Loathing in Cinema sets itself apart with its irreverent blend of pop culture critique, nostalgic deep-dives, and a razor-sharp, at times almost uncomfortably candid, dissection of cinematic relics that were once scorned but now, with the benefit of time, seem worthy of a second look. Hosted by a group of unpredictable yet undeniably insightful voices; Bryan Kluger, a media director with a sharp sense of irony of offensive things; Dan Moran, a lawyer who brings an often absurd legal perspective of the film industry and Kevin Costner; Preston Barta, a film critic with a taste for the heart-warmingly obscure branch of cinema; and Chelsea Nicole, a culture critic who digs into the nuances of social dynamics and horror; Fear and Loathing in Cinema Podcast thrives in that rare space between sincere analysis and gut-busting humor.
On Episode #124 of Fear and Loathing in Cinema, we revved our engines for a fast-paced thrill ride and instead crashed gently into a velvet-lined existential romance with Bobby Deerfield, Sydney Pollack’s 1977 film that stars a post-Godfather, pre-Scarface Al Pacino; looking like a haunted Calvin Klein ad and speaking at a volume normally reserved for guided meditation tapes. Our usual pit crew was one man short; Dan went MIA, possibly off racing in Austin; but we were lucky enough to be joined by The Atkin Report’s own Hillary Atkin, beaming in from L.A. and gamely taking the passenger seat with me, Preston, and Chelsea as we coasted through this curious cinematic detour. You’d think with Formula 1 in the first scene of the film, and the actual F1 racing legends behind the wheel, this would be something in the vein of Rush or whatever high-octane trailer just dropped for Brad Pitt’s shiny new speed flick. But no. Bobby Deerfield is not so much about racing as it is about… lingering. Lingering glances, lingering silences, and lingering shots of Pacino brooding in a pristine European villa like a man who forgot what he was brooding about.
This Week’s Highlights:
As always, the hosts of this podcast stray far from the beaten path, sidetracking in ways that somehow feel more entertaining than the very movie they’ve gathered to dissect. The absurdities that unfold become a crucial part of the show’s charm, its conversational energy the perfect counterpart to the movie under scrutiny. Among the many bizarre diversions in this week’s discussion:
- They screened the unaltered version of Star Wars finally and everyone is saying how bad it looked. Should they release it?
- Al Pacino Met the Pope for his Maserati movie.
- Will Smith rejected Nolan’s Inception because he didn’t get it.
- The Naked Gun reboot looks amazing.
- Darren Aronofsky and The Rock to make The Breakthrough that sounds like Jonestown.
- Harold and Kumar 4 is happening.
And, of course, the gang winds up pondering the most ridiculous hypothetical of all: What’s the best “bad guy realizes it’s over” moment in a movie? If that’s not a moment of podcast gold, I’m not sure what is.
Movie Analysis: Bobby Deerfield (1977)
The verdict? Mixed. We debated whether the film’s tragic romance worked as a slow-burn meditation on love and mortality, or if it just ran out of gas somewhere in the Alps. The plot flutters between two speeds: pensive and aimless. Which is not to say it doesn’t have its charms. There’s something oddly transfixing about watching a young Pacino in a fireproof jumpsuit wrestle with the meaning of life and death while wooing a dying woman who seems to exist solely to teach him how to feel things again. Also: he looks fantastic in a bathtub. Like, distractingly fantastic.
Is this Pacino’s quietest role? Quite possibly. He whispers his way through the film like someone trying not to wake a baby in the next room. It’s both a baffling and bold choice, and we sort of love it.
There’s a sweetness to Bobby Deerfield; a slow, melancholic earnestness; that feels like a relic from another time. It might not satisfy your need for speed, but it does scratch an itch you didn’t know you had: the desire to see a man find himself not through racing glory, but through a doomed European affair, metaphors about flight, and long, uninterrupted shots of the Italian countryside.
In the end, Bobby Deerfield is less about the thrill of the chase and more about the slow, sad realization that nobody knows what they’re doing; even the guy with the best jumpsuit in Monaco. And maybe that’s the real finish line.
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Thank you for listening.
WRITTEN BY: BRYAN KLUGER
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