Peter Gent Critical Essay | Critical Essay by John Simon

Critical Essay by John Simon

[The film] North Dallas Forty is based on Peter Gent's autobiographical novel, which he adapted for the screen with the help of Ted Kotcheff, the director, and Frank Yablans, the producer. I am told that the book is much tougher and seamier than the script, but I doubt whether the book's greater seaminess is ipso facto more valuable than the film's greater seemliness. I am willing to concede that there remains some exposé value in the film; but what if the things exposed are predictable and unmomentous? The quasi-religious overtones—of the players as sacrificial victims; indeed of Christ and Judas figures—that some have perceived here strike me as unconvincing, unearned. As for the rather stilted love story between Phil and Charlotte,… it is tossed into the script rather like a wild pass into the bleachers. (p. 1165)

John Simon, "From Pigskin to Pigsty," in National Review (© National Review,...
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