Punch and Jody

Punch and Jody (1974)

** (out of 4)

Made-for-TV drama centers on circus performer Punch (Glenn Ford) who gets a visit from an old friend telling him that the wife who left him years earlier has been killed in a car wreck. She then informs him that when the wife left she was secretly pregnant and now the daughter (Pam Griffin) wants to spend some time with the father she never knew. The two hit the road for what's supposed to just be a week to see if something can blossom between them. PUNCH AND JODY wastes two very good performances in a film that's just one cliché after another and by the time you hit the ten-minute mark you know every step the picture is going to take. The predictable aspect of the story is just so strong that even the great performances can't make you forget that you can see what all is coming. Obviously everything is just leading up to one big finale but the problem is that everything before this is just so familiar to anyone who has seen a movie that there's just no energy or life here to keep it working. As I said, both Ford and Griffin are excellent in their roles. Ford really took me by surprise because it seems this here would be the type of picture that a distinguished actor would sleepwalk through. Instead he really gives it his all and delivers a very memorable performance because not for a second did I not buy him in this role and he really did make you feel as if you were watching someone who had spent their life in the circus. Griffin is also excellent in her role and the chemistry she has with Ford is what keeps this movie from completely falling off the tracks.