1/28: Harry and Tonto

On day number 5, during my 34 days of Oscar, I saw the 1974 movie "Harry and Tonto". This movie was nominated for 2 Academy Awards: Best Original Screenplay and it won the 1974 Best Actor award, given to Art Carney.

"Harry and Tonto" is the story of Harry, a 73yr old man who is evicted from his apartment and goes to live with one of his kids. While staying at his son's house, he decides to take a trip to see his other 2 children and heads out on a road trip with his pet cat, Tonto. The majority of "Harry and Tonto" takes place on the road and with the various people Harry comes across on his trip. Besides Carney, there are also appearances by Ellen Burstyn, Geraldine Fitzgerald and Larry Hagman as people Harry and Tonto come across on their cross country road trip.

Art Carney does a great job and was nominated for the subtleties he brings to the character of Harry. On one hand, his character has a laid back approach to life, never acting worried or out of place. He also beings a hint of sadness to his character as you see that he has outlived all of his old friends and that Tonto may just be the last best friend he has. I don't think he deserved to win the Best Actor award for this role, but I can see why he was nominated. I should mention that Carney beat out Jack Nicholson for "Chinatown and Al Pacino for "Godfather 2" at these Academy Awards.

The screenplay was nominated for Best Original Screenplay, and I can see why it didn't win. The biggest beef I have with this movie is the last 15 minutes. I won't tell you the ending, but it felt too rushed and insincere. I think the script and the performance by Carney let the ending of the movie down. I blame the script more than Carney's performance for the flat ending, but I was expecting something better than what I got.

I give "Harry and Tonto" 2.5 out of 5 stars. The script made me laugh at times and Art Carney gave a great performance, but the ending made me feel somewhat cheated. It was a good movie with good performances, but very middle of the road.