There are some actors (Barbara Stanwyck, Trevor Howard) who I would watch in anything. Alan Arkin is almost one of them. This is an incoherent mess of a film, with an incomprehensible plot, brutal cops presented positively, acres of stupid car and and cycle chases. Its one saving grace is the relationship between the Arkin and Caan cop characters and some of their dialogue. If you are an Arkin or Caan completist, watch if you can, otherwise ... I cannot think of a bigger waste of time. Caan is as good as the material lets him be, Arkin's sense of timing and Zen presence are a joy, and one of two scenes i which the dialogue seems from a different, better film are not, alas, enough.
Review of Freebie and the Bean
