This section of the site features original and previously published articles by George Pelecanos.

Cinderella Liberty, directed by Mark Rydell (1973)
Caan plays John Baggs, a Navy lifer who meets barroom prostitute Maggie (Marsha Mason), while on forced shore leave in Seattle. The alcoholic Maggie lives with Doug, her illegitimate, mixed-race son in a ghetto apartment. Baggs, an inarticulate, confused, but decent man, is looking for something in life and willing to give family a try. Because this is a movie, the fact that the lonely, spiritually adrift Baggs falls in love with Maggie is not a surprise. That Baggs becomes whole through his growing sense of responsibility and affection for the boy certainly is. Director Mark Rydell (The Cowboys) goes for the naturalistic touch, perfect for the material. Add plain-spoken dialogue and inside-Navy touches (from writer Darryl The Last Detail Ponicsan), frank scenes of sexuality, neon-drenched location cinematography by Vilmos Zigmond, as well as stellar turns from the talented and lovely Mason, Eli Wallach, Burt Young, Dabney Coleman, Bruno Kirby, and, most remarkably, Kirk Calloway as Doug. Caan shines in his role as the everyman Baggs. This is the kind of quiet, intelligent, adult, and unexpectedly moving film that you could readily find in that era but unfortunately is so rare today. There are missteps: awful Paul Williams "songs" and some looped, feel-good dialogue in the last scene, obviously tacked on by the studio brass. But this is a good one, and well worth your time. Check it out on cable if you come across it unedited (the Fox Movie Channel shows the R-rated version straight up). Cinderella Liberty is currently unavailable on DVD.

The Gambler, directed by Karel Reisz (1974)
The life of a degenerate gambler, directed by Karel Reisz from a script by James Toback. Caan plays Axel Freed and delivers the finest, most deeply affecting performance of his career. Freed is a lowlife, but it is to the filmmakers' credit that you are also complicit in his actions. So when he asks for the hit on eighteen at a blackjack table, and says, "Gimme the three," that is the card you are praying for. And when he listens to a basketball game over the radio, his mother's life savings and his own life on the line, you too feel the slow twist of the knife as the opposing team makes their run. With Paul Sorvino, Lauren Hutton, Jacqueline Brookes, Vic Tayback, Stuart Margolin, and Burt Young as the friends, lovers, shylocks, and family members who are swallowed up in Axel's wake. The ending, in which Freed takes the ultimate gamble and goes up against a knife wielding pimp (Antonio "Huggy Bear" Fargas), baffled some audience members and critics upon the film's release, but is just right. In Peter Biskind's Easy Riders, Raging Bulls, neither Karel Reisz nor this film are mentioned, perhaps the director does not fit neatly into Biskind's rise-and-fall-of-the-young-rebel-auteur hypotheses. But make no mistake, this is one of the very best pictures of the 1970s.

The Killer Elite, directed by Sam Peckinpah (1975) Assassin-for-hire Mike Locken (Caan), working for an arm of the CIA, is betrayed and kneecapped by fellow agent and friend George Hanson (Robert Duvall), who then blows the scalp off the man they were hired to protect. The crippled Locken goes into extensive rehab, trains in the martial arts, and takes a job bodyguarding an Asian diplomat (Mako) who has been targeted by the now-rogue Hanson. Caan hires pals Mac (Burt Young) and Miller (Bo Hopkins) to assist in the job, but what's really on his mind is revenge. The theme of rehab and resurrection is brought to the forefront of the film, not coincidental as director Peckinpah had become a pariah in Hollywood and was thought to be down for the count when he filmed Elite. Fans of The Wild Bunch will recognize the threads of friendship, loyalty, betrayal, violent redemption, and men who "came too late and stayed too long." Caan injects humor into the proceedings, even as he maintains an air of cool, and displays the athleticism here that was a trademark of his early career. Check out Young's business with his hat, and give a standing ovation to Hopkins' Miller, "the patron saint of the manic depressives." It all ends with a jaw-dropping action sequence (a masterful blend of image and sound, edited by Monte Hellman) filmed on the deck of a mothballed Liberty Ship in San Francisco's harbor, involving ninjas, grease guns, swords, and Caan's deft use of his cane. Some Bloody Sam aficionados don't care for this film, but I think it works in a major way. Rest in Peace, Sam Peckinpah.

And:
Tae Guk Gi: The Brotherhood of War, directed by Je Gyu Kang (2004) Two brothers, the older and protective Jin-Tae (Jang Dong-Gun) and Jin-Seok (Won Bin), are recruited to fight for the South in the Korean War. Jin-Tae, in a deal he makes to save his younger brother, volunteers for suicide missions and becomes a hero, losing much of his humanity in the process. Eventually, the brothers end up on different sides of the conflict, and meet on the battlefield. This is an epic, tragic indictment of war and its toll on the human spirit. Don't be put off by the foreign production or subtitling, as this is one of the finest films of its kind you will ever see. The final battle of Doo-Mil-Ryung, with brutal hand-to-hand combat, firepower, and air bombing, is hyper-visceral and astonishing. Yes, the storyline and acting can be melodramatic, inherent in the art of the culture, but you'll lose yourself in the film, and you will be moved. A graphic, emotionally wrenching film.

Music
Z, by My Morning Jacket
Readers of this website know that I have been a fan of this group from the get-go, and have been waiting for the one great record that I felt leader Jim James and company had in them. This is it. James eschews that jam-band tendencies of the earlier records and comes up with one tight, adventurous, ten-song set. The first three tracks, "Wordless Chorus," "It Beats 4 U," and "Gideon," set the mood and quality quotient. "Off the Record" (combining reggae, space-rock, and the theme from Hawaii Five-O) and "Anytime," two radio-friendly cuts, are still to come. But the record is worth owning alone for track 8, "Lay Low," with James delivering extreme, impassioned vocals and a closing guitar solo that recalls, in spirit and dexterous beauty, Birds of Fire-era John McLaughlin. The last track, "Dondants," has James going out with blues and grace. Trust this: "Lay Low" is one of the great rock band performances of the decade. Time to stop the Neil Young comparisons. Jim James is an original.

Cold Roses, by Ryan Adams and the Cardinals
The inlaid cover displaying a blue rose and titles like "Magnolia Mountain" have caused others to opine that this is Ryan's Grateful Dead move, but it's more an influence than a sound. American Beauty and Workingman's Dead were both pioneering works of country rock (not alt-country) but they worked primarily because the songs and the players were so good. With Cold Roses, Adams audaciously releases a double "album" (the CDs are fashioned as vinyl records) and for the first time in his career makes sure that every track counts. Fans think Heartbreaker was his best, but it's way too quiet for my tastes, and Gold was only one half a of a great record. Cold Roses is the one Ryan has been threatening to make since embarking on his own, and the Cardinals, the tightest band he's ever fronted, make the difference. Great songs that rock, evocative instrumental touches, and good songwriting. A double for the price of one makes this the buy of the year. Cold Roses is the best record Ryan Adams has recorded since his days in Whiskeytown. And no, you don't have to like him to like his music.