"The trout season begins in May. The deer season begins in September. Today it's open season for people!"
Budget:$0
Revenue:$0
Release:2/28/1971
Genres:Comedy
Original language:English
Spoken languages:English
Countries:United States of America
Overview:
The wealthy members of an exclusive backwoods retreat face an existential threat from both a disgruntled former manager as well as a subversive, anarchistic current member.… Expand
THE SPORTING CLUB (1971) - Businessman James Quinn (Nicolas Coster) sets out for a peaceful getaway of hunting, fishing, and drinking at the Centennial Club, a backwoods retreat whose wealthy members all value insularity and tradition. All, that is, except for Vernur Stanton (Robert Fields), a simmering provocateur and anarchist whose favorite pastime is engaging in Alexander Hamilton/Aaron Burr-style gun duels. When Earl Olive (Jack Warden), the Club's new manager, is injured in one of these wax-bullet showdowns, the perpetually stoned Olive - with assistance from his rowdy biker buddies - declares literal class warfare on the Club and its members. Since its satiric concerns revolve around issues which are so prevalent in American politics today - namely hyper-partisanship and the privileged versus the proletariat - you would think that this would resonate more powerfully today than when initially released by a clueless AVCO Embassy (who actually promoted this in some markets as a MOST DANGEROUS GAME (1932)-style human-hunting tale). Unfortunately, the story starts to gradually lose focus; the approach becomes heavy-handed and obvious; and interest starts to wane before the big orgy finale. (Yes, you read that right.) With an interesting, folksy score by Michael Small; a source novel by Thomas McGuane; and a cast full of fine character players who would become familiar faces on television over the next decade, this is one instance where the whole is quite a bit less than the sum of its parts.… Expand
Lorimar Motion PicturesUnited States of America
