Rent Husbands (1970)
3.5 of 5 from 68 ratings
2h 11min
- General info
- Available formats
- Synopsis:
The trailblazing independent auteur John Cassavetes pushes his raw, uncompromising emotional realism to its limit in this unflinching portrait of masculinity in crisis. Cassavetes joins Ben Gazzara and Peter Falk - both of whom would become key collaborators of the director's - playing a trio of middle-aged Long Island family men who, following the sudden death of their close mutual friend, channel their grief into an epic, multiday bender that takes them from Manhattan to London in a desperate, debauched quest to feel alive. By turns painfully funny and woundingly perceptive, this "comedy about life, death, and freedom" (as its tagline stated) stands as perhaps the most fearless, harrowingly honest deconstruction of American manhood ever committed to film. - Actors:
- Ben Gazzara, Peter Falk, John Cassavetes, Jenny Runacre, Jenny Lee Wright, Noelle Kao, John Kullers, Meta Shaw Stevens, Leola Harlow, Delores Delmar, Eleanor Zee, Claire Malis, Peggy Lashbrook, Eleanor Cody Gould, Sarah Felcher, Bill Britten, Arthur Clark, Gwen Van Dam, John Armstrong, Charles Gaines
- Directors:
- John Cassavetes
- Producers:
- Al Ruban
- Writers:
- John Cassavetes
- Aka:
- Husbands: A Comedy About Life, Death and Freedom
- Genres:
- Classics, Comedy, Drama
- Collections:
- People of the Pictures, Remembering Gena Rowlands
- BBFC:
- Release Date:
- 08/06/2020
- Run Time:
- 142 minutes
- Languages:
- English LPCM Mono
- Subtitles:
- English Hard of Hearing
- Formats:
- Pal
- Aspect Ratio:
- Widescreen 1.85:1
- Colour:
- Colour
- BLU-RAY Regions:
- B
- Bonus:
- Audio commentary from 2009 featuring critic Marshall Fine
- New interviews with producer Al Ruban and actor Jenny Runacre
- New video essay featuring audio recordings of actor-director John Cassavetes discussing his approach to working with actors
- The Story of "Husbands" - A Tribute to John Cassavetes (2009), a half-hour program featuring Ruban, actor Ben Gazzara, and cinematographer Victor J. Kemper
- Episode of 'The Dick Cavett Show' from 1970 featuring Cassavetes, Gazzara, and actor Peter Falk
- Trailer
- An essay by filmmaker Andrew Bujalski
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Reviews (1) of Husbands
Cassavetes and the Male Condition - Husbands review by griggs
Looking for an escape from suburban malaise, three middle-aged friends embark on a boozy odyssey that’s equal parts liberation and self-destruction. Cassavetes captures something uncomfortably true about male friendship—the way grown men revert to adolescent cruelty when confronted with mortality. Ben Gazzara, Peter Falk, and Cassavetes himself deliver performances that feel less like acting than eavesdropping on actual breakdowns.
The film’s notorious length works both for and against it. Extended scenes of drunken singing and bathroom confessions create genuine intimacy, but also test patience like a house guest who won’t leave. Recently, I’ve heard it said, that Cassavetes is a misogynist. I really don’t believe that to be true. In his character studies, he observes some who are misogynists, and no more than in Husbands. These men aren’t heroes—they’re specimens under his unflinching microscope.
The result is cinema that’s simultaneously magnetic and exhausting, like the friends it depicts. Flawed but fearless filmmaking.
1 out of 1 members found this review helpful.