If you are going to make a film about a Walter Mitty type who dislikes himself to the point where he must constantly assume alternate identities then you would think the tone would be, at the very least, bittersweet, if not sharply critical. Certainly, this is what directors Wendell B. Harris Jr and Steven Spielberg realized in their later, better retellings of this basic story. Unfortunately, the director of this too long movie, Robert Mulligan, and his scenarist, Liam O'Brien, pretty much ignore the sad/funny and in its place insert the silly sit com along with the over the top drama. Only in the scenes with Karl Malden as a wistful priest trying to steer the title character into more mentally healthy channels over ice cream sodas is the proper tone achieved and these scenes are all too fleeting. Solid C.
PS...Rarely, if ever, has a Henry Mancini score been this annoying.
PS...Rarely, if ever, has a Henry Mancini score been this annoying.