They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? (1969)
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They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? Movie Review
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? is a 1969 historical melodrama film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Jane Fonda. It’s such a disappointing, very weak movie.
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“Maybe it’s just the whole world is like central casting.
They got it all rigged before you ever show up“
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It focuses on a group of characters trying to win a dance marathon during the Depression Era. I adore the 1930s, both the serious, harsh dramas and the fun films of its period and the movies that are about this period. That’s why this movie came as a huge disappointment for me because I was bored to death and I really did not care for it, despite its great time period.
The main problem this movie has is that it’s rather pretentious. It tries to present this dance marathon as a metaphor for the entire society of its time and it just doesn’t work and it rang false for me personally. Also, for a movie about a marathon, it’s never exciting and it actually becomes as exhausting to watch as it is for those characters participating in it. I guess maybe that was the point, but that’s not an excuse when I was bored and frustrated throughout.
The characters are all okay, if not the best developed. But they serve their purpose. The standout of the picture and the best reason to see it by far is the acting with stellar performances from each and every member of the cast. Jane Fonda actually gave one of her best performances in a very strong role and all of the others are very good too.
I also found the soundtrack terrific as the movie incorporates many classics of the thirties and was thus quite well detailed and carefully done. The same goes for the costumes and the overall look of the movie. So yes, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? is technically strong, but it has no heart and its melodramatic plot points felt overdone, overly manipulative and too depressing.
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It actually holds the record for the most nominated movie in the history of the Academy Awards without a Best Picture nomination and it didn’t deserve it in my opinion. As for the nominees, the acting nods are fine for the most part, but the editing and screenplay nods are ludicrous.
They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? is technically strong with a particularly good soundtrack and excellent performances across the board with Jane Fonda being the most memorable member of the cast. But the movie is otherwise very weak on all fronts with the melodramatic elements being forced, overdone and depressing, the metaphor being pretentious and the film plays like that dance marathon in it – it becomes pointless and exhausting way too quickly.
