Award-winning Dutch filmmaker Rudolf van den Berg almost manages to pull this unlikely romantic drama off, if not against all odds then at least against quite a few. First of all, Burt Reynolds plays an ageing hippie. Reynolds was probably further from the hippie culture than most Americans his age in the '60s and '70s. Second of all, Julie Christie plays a Moroccan woman. That's borderline preposterous. And on top of that, young Carmen Chaplin (Charlie's granddaughter), who was in her mid-20s here, turns into some sort of love interest for old Burt. Admittedly, he was still handsome and charming. So it's somewhat surprising that it's actually the scenes between these two characters, Larry and Aïsha, which carry the film and give the unlikely plot the necessary weight and warmth. Van den Berg's work is simultaneously sensitive and corny, clever and flawed. I cannot decide whether the film could have been so much better, or if it actually turned out as good as it possibly could. But as usual, Reynolds gets ample opportunity to demonstrate his wonderful comedic timing and line delivery.
Review of Snapshots
