Husbands

As I mentioned in my article on The In-Laws, Peter Falk was well-known for his work in the films of John Cassavetes. I was interested to learn, though, that before making the film Husbands in 1970, the two hardly knew each other. Cassavetes didn't really know the other star of the film, Ben Gazzara, either, but he knew he wanted them to star in his film about middle-aged men facing mortality.

Falk, Cassavetes, and Gazzara are all suburban, married men with kids. They are three-quarters of a foursome, although we only see the fourth man in photos taken at a pool party. The action then cuts to a cemetery, where that man is being eulogized. The remaining three friends are so rattled by his death that they go on an epic bender that takes them to London, where they each try to score with a woman.

This is not an easy film to watch. It's well over two hours long, with long, improvisational scenes that appear to meander into meaninglessness. One of them is in the back room of a bar, where a group of people are drinking and singing songs. A woman is singing but the three leads mock her mercilessly.

The third act, which is in London, is so rife with misogyny it's hard to know what Cassavetes was up to. I would imagine that it his response to the blooming feminism of the period. But are these men to be pitied or despised? Pauline Kael called the film "offensive and infantile," and I see her point. Jay Cocks of Time called it the greatest film one is likely to see, while Roger Ebert responded that never had such a bad film received such a great review from Time.

It would be hard to understand a woman enjoying this film. Falk, at one point, tells Cassavetes that he won't shower if doesn't want to. "If I want to stink, I'll stink...If I want to be dirty, I'll be dirty. You have to be free. You have to be an individual." This makes me think that it's all a joke from Cassavetes, that he realizes that this macho, cave man approach is dying, and thank god for that. He subtitles the film, "A Comedy About Life, Death and Freedom."

But there is just too much nastiness to recommend this film. Gazzara knocks around his wife and mother-in-law, Cassavetes date-rapes an English woman (who is still with him at breakfast) and Falk's encounter with a Chinese girl is really creepy. Compare this film to The Hangover, which is entirely different in tone, yet also presents men as clueless pigs. At least the latter film makes no pretense about it.