Rating: 3.5/5
Rocky (Robert Walker Jr) drives off in a yellow convertible, leaving Mara (Rita Hayworth) at the gas station, crying in the pouring rain. His car dies, so he hitches a ride to the police station. Riding back with the cop, Rocky tells his story on the road to Salina. Or is it Jonas telling the story?
By pretending to be Rocky, Jonas gets himself entrenched in the life of Mara, Rocky’s mother, with the promise to Warren (Ed Begley), Mara’s friend, that he’ll never leave them again
Once Rocky’s sister Billie (Mimsy Farmer) arrives, we learn of the investigation into Rocky’s disappearance, and Jonas worries he may have entered a game whose rules he doesn’t know. Still, he commits to solidifying his life as Rocky, and all of the covert measures that require — including the scenario where the real Rocky shows up
As Billie and Jonas grow closer, their relationship grows weirder, and we’re left wondering if this dynamic — and the brief mentions of Linda (Sophie Hardy), Warren’s daughter, who caused a riff between Billie and Jonas — has anything to do with Rocky’s disappearance
“So it starts up all over again,” says Mara
The twists and revelations continue as Jonas grows more entangled in these people’s lives. Salina, the supposed destination, holds all the answers, but the cost of learning them may be too high
I’m used to these mistaken identity movies being played for laughs, so it’s hard not to laugh at the scenes where people ask Jonas to recall their shared past. As always, they are more than willing to fill in the gaps and let Jonas save face
I ended up enjoying this a good bit. It’s nothing exceptional, but I was engrossed throughout
Stray Thoughts
- Robert Walker Jr looks like Clint Eastwood’s stunt double
- The lounge jazz version of Bouree is so funny
- Wow, this is the first Rita Hayworth movie I have watched — I didn’t realize