They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?

Directed by Sydney Pollack, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? follows an assortment of down-on-their-luck figures, including Jane Fonda’s Gloria, Michael Sarrazin’s Robert, and Bruce Dern’s James, as they participate in a marathon dance contest that persists for days (and weeks). It’s an intriguing premise that’s employed to mostly spellbinding effect by Pollack, as the filmmaker, working from a script by James Poe and Robert E. Thompson, does a superb job of establishing and developing the disparate protagonists without ever resorting to flashbacks or overt instances of character-based exposition. (The picture, with the exception of the opening and a few brief flash-forwards, transpires entirely within the confines of the rundown hall in which said contest is transpiring.) There’s little doubt, as well, that the instantly-compelling atmosphere is perpetuated and heightened by Pollack’s dynamic visuals and a series of spellbinding performances, with, in terms of the latter, Fonda’s top-notch work here matched by a stellar roster of periphery players that includes Bruce Dern, Gig Young, and Red Buttons. (Buttons is, in particular, quite spectacular as the competition’s oldest participant.) And although the movie’s somewhat overlong running time paves the way for a second half that’s perhaps not quite as taut as one might’ve hoped, They Shoot Horses, Don’t They?, which boasts an astonishingly electrifying mid-movie race sequence, ultimately closes with a satisfying (albeit surprisingly grim) final stretch that cements its place as a solid adaptation of Horace McCoy’s novel.

*** out of ****