Bobby Deerfield (1977)
This romantic drama was critically panned when it came out in 1977, but there’s a case to be made that Bobby Deerfield deserves more respect than it got.
It’s about a famous American race car driver, Bobby Deerfield, who falls in love with Lillian Morelli, a terminally ill Swiss woman played beautifully by Marthe Keller. But it’s not nearly as somber an affair as you might assume. From the moment they meet, Lillian immediately starts poking fun at Bobby and challenging his cynical view of the world in a way that he finds… “irresistible.”
Bobby Deerfield starts out slow, but once it picks up stream, it becomes something really special. Pacino shines in his ability to give us real, convincing character development. Come for the Formula 1 scenes, stay for Pacino’s endearingly goofy Mae West impression.
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