What’s Aged the Best?
Failed negotiation; period music, disputed; Strasberg’s advice; Baltimore; Aggie; petty offenses; early cast roles
In the discussion (8)
Approx. transcript time · 00:44:48Read transcript
- The late 1970s-to-early 1980s synthesizer, trumpet and jazzy soundtrack is proposed as a period feature but criticized for not fitting the action; Grusin’s later Firm score is favorably contrasted.
- The failed attempt to talk an armed man down before he stands and is shot is an effective tragic trope and a crucial step in Arthur’s breakdown.
- The period soundtrack’s saxophones, congas and disco elements remain enjoyable despite earlier reservations.
- Strasberg reportedly urged the improvising Pacino to learn his lines, advice Pacino later appreciated.
- Levinson’s Baltimore setting anticipates his later work and the systemic concerns of The Wire.
- Aggie is treated with surprising sensitivity for 1979, with dignity and humanity central to Arthur’s defense rather than merely a joke.
- The film questions devoting punitive institutional resources to petty offenses while more serious abuses persist.
- Early roles for Tambor, Lahti and Nelson are praised as strong discoveries, alongside Jewison’s broader filmography.