Ken Kesey writes a letter to Paul Newman after watching the movie.
Dear Paul,
I hope you realize that I worked my ass off on this novel.
The Stampers were supposed to be larger than life characters who represented rugged American individuality. But your film reduced them to a bunch of ordinary nobodies. The characters of Henry and Hank Stamper deserved more close ups. Instead, you had scenes where they simply occupied the screen with everyone else. Was I supposed to use my imagination? The relationship between Hank and Leland Stamper was very important. It ought to have been foregrounded. I was baffled that you ignored the epic fight between the two of them in the end. What happened to that part, dummy? Their rivalry over the women and their opposing views about life were very interesting. The final scenes where they get together and stick it to the union guys would have been more believable if you had let them fight, thereby exorcising the women.
And what about the bar fight scene? Jesus Christ man! Why did you leave out all the best parts of my novel? And I hated the background score. Yes, absolutely hated it. Mancini has produced so many great scores for American cinema. These characters deserved an edgier score. These are tough men, Paul. But the whiny country music thing simply did not work.
Best Regards, Ken.
(5/10)
Dear Paul,
I hope you realize that I worked my ass off on this novel.
The Stampers were supposed to be larger than life characters who represented rugged American individuality. But your film reduced them to a bunch of ordinary nobodies. The characters of Henry and Hank Stamper deserved more close ups. Instead, you had scenes where they simply occupied the screen with everyone else. Was I supposed to use my imagination? The relationship between Hank and Leland Stamper was very important. It ought to have been foregrounded. I was baffled that you ignored the epic fight between the two of them in the end. What happened to that part, dummy? Their rivalry over the women and their opposing views about life were very interesting. The final scenes where they get together and stick it to the union guys would have been more believable if you had let them fight, thereby exorcising the women.
And what about the bar fight scene? Jesus Christ man! Why did you leave out all the best parts of my novel? And I hated the background score. Yes, absolutely hated it. Mancini has produced so many great scores for American cinema. These characters deserved an edgier score. These are tough men, Paul. But the whiny country music thing simply did not work.
Best Regards, Ken.
(5/10)