My Old Man (1979) by director John Erman is standard tv movie fare concerning a young girl getting to know her father better after being abandoned by him many years before. This film is definitely a big step down for all of the acting talent involved who find themselves trapped in this routine television melodrama.
Jo Butler (Kristy McNichol) is a young girl that has just lost her mother and has never known her father. Her father, Frank Butler (Warren Oates), a gambling and hard drinking horse trainer comes back into her life because he wants his daughter back after many years of absence. Disregarding the wishes of her family Jo decides to go with him for the summer because she wants to get to know this man, a man that she really knows nothing about. Frank takes her with him on the racing circuit. He is attempting to make a comeback and become a great trainer again after falling on hard times; but that is not an easy thing to do because he has ruined his reputation and has also made some enemies within the racing community. While trying to get back on his feet Frank runs into Marie (Eileen Brennan), an old flame that is still in love with him. He and Jo move into Marie's home to the disapproval of his new daughter, but eventually she comes to like her dad's friend and they become friends too. In the meantime Frank has got himself a good horse that can maybe put him back on top again. Jo begins helping her father with the training and before long the two of them have a horse that they know can be a really big winner if they could only get a good jockey to ride him. But before their dreams of winning big can come true tragedy befalls them when Frank is seriously injured. Jo must carry on alone and win the big race; not only for herself but for her father too.
This is a movie that at its very best moments is just a run of the mill made for television tearjerker that is hardly worth the effort of all the talent involved. With performers like Kristy McNichol, Warren Oates, Eileen Brennan and "based on a story by Ernest Hemingway" you might expect that this little production would rise above its tv movie limitations and become something special; it doesn't. While it does have some interesting and endearing moments they are few and far between, as a whole this movie defines the word mediocre. Everyone involved just seems to be walking around the movie on autopilot and going thru the motions, none of the performances in this film seem even vaguely interesting. Everyone appears to be waiting around to collect their paycheck so that they can go home (or to the next movie). Even Kristy McNichol's performance seems uninspired, definitely not the compelling work that she is usually known for. Director John Erman is spectacularly unspectacular in how he handles this film and his actors; while he never was the greatest director in the world he has done a lot better than this production, which could be his worst effort. Of course the lazy and predictable script is no help either while the film's sappy and overbearing tv movie soundtrack actually manages to make things worse, it seems to intrude at the just the worst times in the film; ruining what few interesting and poignant moments that this movie could have had. Despite all of the big name talent this is a movie that is for only the most ardent fan of Kristy McNichol or Warren Oates, and even then you'll probably find yourself bored as well as disappointed by all of the wasted opportunity.
Buying note: This film was available on full screen VHS tape, it has been out of print for a while but still should be easy to find on the internet or at other used video outlets. It is also now available on full screen DVD and should be easy to find on the internet as well as from other sources.
3-20-2006
