Young runaway Donna (a sly and seductive portrayal by Jodie Foster in the role that enabled her to make the tricky transition from child actress to adult one) leaves her dull waitress job to join a traveling carnival. Although Donna proves to be a quick sturdy, she nonetheless still disrupts the friendship between smooth con man Patches (a solid and charismatic performance by Robbie Robertson) and antagonistic bozo Frankie (robustly played with trademark lip-smacking gusto by Gary Busey), who urges local yokels into dunking him into a water tank.
Director Robert Kaylor vividly captures the grotesque appeal, seedy atmosphere, and underlying violence and danger of the carny scene as well as presents a real moving compassion towards society's oddballs and misfits. Foster, Busey, and Robertson all do sterling work in the lead roles; they receive sturdy support from Meg Foster as the sassy Gerta, Kenneth McMillan as huffy no-nonsense owner Heavy St. John, Bert Remsen as jolly strip show barker Delno Baptiste, Elisha Cook Jr. as loony old coot On-Your-Mark, Bill McKinney as sleazy mobster Marvin Dill, Tim Thomerson as fast-talking hustler Doubles, Woodrow Parfey as the crusty W.C. Hannon, and Craig Wasson as Donna's hot-tempered boyfriend Micky. While Thomas Baum's uneven, but still interesting script offers a nifty array of colorful idiosyncratic characters and astutely pegs the touching camaraderie amongst the carnies, it alas falters at the end by trying to wrap things up a bit too neatly at the conclusion. Harry Stradling Jr.'s sharp cinematography provides an appropriately garish look. Alex North's eerie and unnerving score hits the spooky spot. A rather flawed, but overall worthwhile film.
Director Robert Kaylor vividly captures the grotesque appeal, seedy atmosphere, and underlying violence and danger of the carny scene as well as presents a real moving compassion towards society's oddballs and misfits. Foster, Busey, and Robertson all do sterling work in the lead roles; they receive sturdy support from Meg Foster as the sassy Gerta, Kenneth McMillan as huffy no-nonsense owner Heavy St. John, Bert Remsen as jolly strip show barker Delno Baptiste, Elisha Cook Jr. as loony old coot On-Your-Mark, Bill McKinney as sleazy mobster Marvin Dill, Tim Thomerson as fast-talking hustler Doubles, Woodrow Parfey as the crusty W.C. Hannon, and Craig Wasson as Donna's hot-tempered boyfriend Micky. While Thomas Baum's uneven, but still interesting script offers a nifty array of colorful idiosyncratic characters and astutely pegs the touching camaraderie amongst the carnies, it alas falters at the end by trying to wrap things up a bit too neatly at the conclusion. Harry Stradling Jr.'s sharp cinematography provides an appropriately garish look. Alex North's eerie and unnerving score hits the spooky spot. A rather flawed, but overall worthwhile film.