Journalist David Locke (Jack Nicholson) travels the Sahara Desert and meets gunrunner David Robertson. He finds the lookalike gunrunner dead and switches identities. He tries to fly away but others believing he's the real Robertson want him to deliver. In Barcelona, he meets a girl (Maria Schneider). Meanwhile his old colleagues are looking for Robertson to do a story on Locke's last days.
It's very naturalistic, slow, long scenes, lots of nothingness and rather ponderous. The first half is a real drag. Maria Schneider comes in after an hour. She's able to inject a little bit of energy, a very little. At least, Jack Nicholson has somebody to truly interact with. That's my main objection to the first half. It's all about trying to figure out what the heck he's doing. There is the fascinating single shot scene near the end. It's interesting to see the only true saving grace. At least, this is director Michelangelo Antonioni's style. It just isn't mine.
It's very naturalistic, slow, long scenes, lots of nothingness and rather ponderous. The first half is a real drag. Maria Schneider comes in after an hour. She's able to inject a little bit of energy, a very little. At least, Jack Nicholson has somebody to truly interact with. That's my main objection to the first half. It's all about trying to figure out what the heck he's doing. There is the fascinating single shot scene near the end. It's interesting to see the only true saving grace. At least, this is director Michelangelo Antonioni's style. It just isn't mine.