Ray Winstone’s undying love for the movie he called “the most boring film you’ll ever watch”
There’s something inherently counterintuitive about someone saying the most tedious movie they’ve ever seen is one that profoundly affected them and became an instant favourite, but that’s exactly how Ray Winstone feels about an Academy Award-winning drama that he found thoroughly tedious.
While some people find themselves unable to stop watching something once they’ve started because they’ve already committed, others have no issues either leaving the cinema or switching it off once they realise it isn’t for them. If Winstone were of a similar mind, he would have missed out on a picture that had a huge impact on how he approaches his career.
As much as he knows where his bread his buttered, which is largely playing archetypal geezers and tough guys in performances that aren’t necessarily a stretch for the barrel-chested hardman, Winstone isn’t one of those actors who’ll sign on for something without reading the script. He was for a while, until Sydney Pollack’s They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? permanently altered his perspective.
Nominated for nine Oscars, including ‘Best Director’ for Pollack and ‘Best Actress’ for Fonda and winning one thanks to Gig Young’s ‘Best Supporting Actor’ prize, the literary adaptation sees the latter stage a dance marathon for a cash prize, which forms the bulk of the plot.
“It’s probably the most boring film you’ll ever watch for 90% of the film,” Winstone told Mr Feelgood. “And seeing it kind of ruined things for me, because I have to read the script to the end now, in case it gets good.” For most of its running time, the star was on the verge of falling asleep, but he was glad he persevered.
“The dance goes on, and it’s fucking boring,” he said. “I mean, the director, Sydney Pollack, was so brave to make this film, the way he made it, because I’m going, ‘Come on, let’s have something, let’s do this.'” That didn’t happen until the end of the third act, when Fonda’s Gloria Beatty abandons the competition, pulls a gun from her handbag, gives it to Michael Sarrazin’s Robert Syverton, who shoots her in the head.
Having spent the better part of two hours watching next to nothing happen and becoming increasingly frustrated with the empty narrative, Winstone was stunned. “You think, ‘Fuck, what happened there?'” he marvelled. “You’ve just watched a film for two hours that you were bored silly with, but it’s the bravest film I’ve ever seen.”
He preferred his films to have a bit more energy and urgency, but the slow-burning style of They Shoot Horses, Don’t They? left him staggered. From that point on, Winstone wouldn’t toss away a meandering screenplay that didn’t get to the point quickly enough for his liking, just in case it delivered a jaw-dropping ending that had even a remotely similar impact to Pollack’s acclaimed drama.
Admittedly, it’s unusual for anyone, especially an actor, to say one of the most boring pictures they’d watched became a touchstone and a favourite, but that final scene completely and utterly rocked Winstone to his core.
