Bobby Deerfield is a 1977 American romantic drama film directed by Sydney Pollack and starring Al Pacino and Marthe Keller. Based on Erich Maria Remarque's 1961 novel Heaven Has No Favorites, it is about a famous American race car driver on the European circuit who falls in love with an enigmatic Swiss woman who is terminally ill. Pacino was nominated for a Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama. The movie uses clips from the 1976 Formula One season.

Plot

Formula One auto racer Bobby Deerfield is a calculating, control-obsessed loner who has become used to winning the checkered flag on the track. But when he witnesses a fiery crash that kills a teammate and seriously wounds a competitor, he becomes unsettled by thoughts of death. During a visit to the survivor, Deerfield's world is further set askew when he meets Lillian Morelli, a quirky, impulsive woman who is racing against time after being diagnosed with terminal cancer.

Cast

Reception

Critical response

The film has a 29% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on 14 reviews. Critics panned Bobby Deerfield as an over-the-top melodrama with a plodding story line; audiences reportedly laughed at scenes intended to be dramatic. Race-film fans, expecting another Grand Prix or Le Mans, were disappointed that the story did not play out on the race track. However, the action footage was filmed by racing cinematographers during the 1976 Formula One season and featured actual drivers, including Carlos Pace, Tom Pryce, James Hunt, Patrick Depailler and Mario Andretti. Vincent Canby of The New York Times said that it "may turn out to be the year's most cynical movie made by people who know better, including Sydney Pollack, the director, and Alvin Sargent, who wrote the screenplay". Time Out magazine stated that it was a "classic example of a Hollywood director being struck down by a lethal 'art' attack as soon as he sets foot in Europe".

Box office

Bobby Deerfield grossed $9,300,000 in the United States.

Awards and nominations