Going Home (1971)

(On Cable TV, November 2022) I started watching Going Home for Robert Mitchum, and as the film ended, he remained the only reason to watch the film. In a long career playing compelling cads and dubious anti-heroes, Mitchum is already at home as a freshly released convict who tries to reunite with his son after murdering his mother (his wife) a decade and a half before. Considering that grim premise and the film’s origins in the thick of the New Hollywood era, you can already have, sight unseen, an accurate picture of the film’s grimy atmosphere, dark-on-black cinematography and an utter lack of interest in being likable to mass audiences. Further compounding the problem, studio meddling led to cutting off several minutes of content, leading to a choppily edited result. So, no, commercial flop Going Home is still not a good time at the movies: it’s dark and brutal and tonally suspect. But the reason to watch the film, as usual, is Mitchum himself—now clearly older and with mileage that matches the world-weariness of both the actor and the character. For Mitchum completists, Going Home offers a chance to see the actor in grimier surroundings than usual, playing more for drama than genre thrills. The result falls short of him, but Mitchum is why Going Home still gets eyeballs five decades after its disastrous release.