Max, who served six years in prison, and Francis, an ex-sailor, meet randomly on a road as they travel from California to Pittsburgh. Max plans to open a car wash with the money he saved in the Pittsburgh bank, while Francis wants to see Annie again, with whom he had an affair, but then left for a ship voyage while she was pregnant five years ago. Max and Francis first stop at Max's sister Doley and her friend Frenchy. When they get arrested for a fight outside a bar, Max and Francis are sent to a prison for a month. A convict tries to force Francis to give him a blow job, Francis refuses and is beaten up. Released again, Max and Francis arrive at Annie's house in Detroit. Francis phones her, but Annie tells him she married someone else in the meantime and lies she had a stillbirth even though her boy is fine. Francis feigns he is alright, but then loses his mind, falls into a catatonic state and is hospitalized. Max buys a ticket for Pittsburgh.
Legendary actor Gene Hackman achieved a rare feat in 1973-74 when he starred in two movies that won the Golden Palm in Cannes twice in a row, Jerry Schatzenberg's "Scarecrow" and Coppola's "The Conversation". Today forgotten and not that fresh anymore, "Scarecrow" is an episodic road movie that seems to deliberately want to defy the classic three-act structure in movies, instead opting for a messy, wild and unpredictable flow assembled out of five separate stories, akin to "Five Easy Pieces" and the raw-organic 'New Hollywood' movement in general. Hackman and Al Pacino are excellent in the leading roles as Max and Francis, and speak their lines with more conviction and dedication than such bland writting sometimes warrants. Several episodes just come and go, without much inspiration, and some scenes seem to lack a point, and thus Schatzenberg manages to build the best bits during those episodes which are focused and clear in their intent. One of them is the segment where Max and Francis land in prison for a month, and a convict is suspiciously much more friendly to Francis than he should be. The finale is the highlight: all the loose ends are finally tied up and offer three consecutive moments of intensity in a row, starting from the eerie fountain sequence. The final act is where Hackman and Pacino excel, giving an emotional roller coaster, yet the entire movie is nowhere near as good as up to that point.
Grade:++
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