I don't care how you feel or what you want or don't want. What did I tell you? You’re a professional and you play whether you’re in the mood or not! You're not some high school kid, you're-- The hero of today's film is an elderly man Al Percola, who works as a scout in the baseball league. I must say that Al Percola is not the nicest person. He is greedy, cunning, egotistical and, in addition to everything, he has a well-hung tongue, thanks to which he can fool honest workers and impose his will on the latter. As usual, Al Percola manages to outsmart himself when he invites a young and ambitious young man Tommy Lacey to the big leagues, who has a superstitious fear of a large group of people. And of course, Tommy manages to embarrass himself in front of the stands, after which the high authorities send Al Percol into exile and not somewhere, but to Mexico. It would seem that everything, the career of a cunning and dodgy scout is over and all that remains for Al is to vegetate in the country of spicy food, goats and unsanitary conditions, but fate decided to give our hero another chance. It's called Steve Nebraska and he's the best baseball player Al's ever seen. In spite of the young man with three boxes, Al takes the young man back to America, being firmly convinced that Steve Nebraska will be his chance to get rich.
Honestly, this film causes quite contradictory emotions. On the one hand, we have an interesting idea, which is quite atypical for such films. Ultimately, how often do you see a picture where the main character is a selfish scoundrel who is not going to change under the influence of circumstances and will continue to use people for their own selfish purposes? Quite often? Yes, you are right, but such a plot is typical for crime thrillers, but not for dramas. And in the dramas, which I've seen more than enough, a similar plot move is new to me. On the other hand, after Al finds Steve, the script frankly sags. This is evident in everything from the fact that in his native Mexico Steve did not feel the discomfort of being popular, and in New York he does not like being surrounded by reporters and fans. No, don't get me wrong, I like ambiguous characters in movies, but I like this ambiguity when it is caused by the characters' characters, and not by the desires of the writer's left heel. Steve Nebraska says nothing about his life, his relationship with his father, who his mother was and how he ended up in Mexico. And again, I like when there is some mystery in the hero, it gives space for the flight of fantasy, but one thing is a mystery, and quite another when the character is not really worked out. Yes, I do not dispute that there is a psychiatrist in the film who will casually mention Steve’s problems, but what a matter, the psychiatrist herself is not a full-fledged hero who somehow influences the plot. A psychiatrist is what in the literature is called a “royal in the bushes”, which should explain the behavior of a hero instead of himself, and then calmly retire. Thus, Steve Nebraska is not a full-fledged hero, but just a curious blank that could become a favorite of the audience if the writers bothered to properly prescribe the character and biography of the hero. Same thing with Al Percol. At first, the hero of Albert Brooks looks interesting, and the actor plays, which is called from the heart, but a little later you realize that the character of Al Percol was not paid due attention. After all, to show an interesting and memorable hero, capable of evoking a whole range of feelings in the soul of the viewer, although not always positive, you need something more than just to say that this guy does not care about the problems of other people, and all he wants is to earn as much money as possible. And the point here is that a similar plot move works with Glumgold from Duck Story. He works with Zorg from The Fifth Element. But he doesn't work in this movie. Why? Because Al Percol is not an obstacle in the way of the main characters, he is the main character, and therefore it was necessary to show how the hero came to life this way and why he stopped believing in people and began to believe in dirty green papers. And so, Al Percol, like the hero of Brendan Frazier, is just an interesting workpiece, but not a living character.
Summing up, I want to say that this picture perfectly conveys the atmosphere of America of those years, there is a fairly good albeit not outstanding sound, as well as a beautiful picture, but only the plot of the film is not really worked out, as not worked out and the characters, and for this reason I would still recommend refraining from watching. Good luck and all the best.
5 out of 10
