Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins

Directed by Dick Richards, Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins follows Alan Arkin’s alcoholic Rafferty as he embarks on a decidedly eventful road trip with a couple of hitchhikers (Sally Kellerman’s Mac and Mackenzie Phillips’ Frisbee). There’s little doubt, ultimately, that Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins grows more and more interesting (and compelling) as it progresses, with the movie, which suffers from an admittedly lackluster opening stretch, certainly benefiting quite substantially from Arkin’s often mesmerizing turn as the increasingly sympathetic central protagonist. (It doesn’t hurt, either, that both Kellerman and Phillips eventually manage to transform their seemingly one-dimensional characters into compelling, interesting figures.) The episodic bent of John Kaye’s screenplay admittedly does pave the way for a somewhat hit-and-miss midsection, and yet it’s equally clear that the narrative’s increasingly infrequent bumps are smoothed over by the captivating camaraderie and chemistry between the trio of affable heroes. By the time the conventional (and completely satisfying) final stretch rolls around, Rafferty and the Gold Dust Twins has cemented its place as a compulsively watchable piece of work that establishes and sustains a mostly impossible-to-resist atmosphere of easygoing breeziness.

*** out of ****