By William Wolf

LOOKING FOR PALLADIN  Send This Review to a Friend

Ben Gazzara has long been a fascinating actor, and his presence in “Looking for Palladin” gives the film its prime source of interest. Written and directed by Andrzej Krakowski, the film packs an overstuffed plot that is often predictable, and yet it has abundant atmosphere of Guatemala, where it is set and where it was shot. And there is Gazzara.

Palladin refers to Jake Palladin (Gazzara), a one time Hollywood star who has retreated to a small town in Guatemala, where he works as a cook in a café, a local hangout. He is involved with a lady friend, Talia Shire as Rosario, who works as a waitress. Palladin lives comfortably in his house, and is working with friends trying to produce a modest movie. He seems content to let the past alone and enjoy his life away from it all.

But into his world comes brash Josh Ross, a talent agent played brazenly by David Moscow. Suffering through various misadventures, he is hunting for Palladin to offer him a lucrative role in a remake of one of his famous productions. We learn that Palladin was once married to Ross’s late mother, and that Ross is Palladin’s stepson. Got it?

The film has a long way to go in sorting out the emotional complications, in Ross overcoming his dislike for Palladin, and in Palladin getting to know his stepson. Each has something to learn from the other, of course, and the past cannot be swept under the rug. How it all works out accounts for much exposition and turmoil.

Through it all, however one feels about the tale, there is the chance to see wily Gazzara at work again, and no doubt about it, he still has presence. A Wildcat Releasing release.

  

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