For such a celebrated actor, Ernest Borgnine's final film, The Man Who Shook the Hand Of Vicente Fernandez, didn't get much of a sendoff.
Two theaters, and if you look on Amazon, you'll note that the distributor couldn't even be bothered to put up a poster images.
So for me, going in, I wasn't expecting much since if a distributor doesn't seem to be bothered to do much of their job, then it usually is a film they don't have much faith in.
Lowered expectations are the answer for this film where Borgnine plays Rex, a retired radio DJ who's always dreamed of being a Western movie cowboy.
He suffers a back injury which places him in a nursing home that's held in the wicked hands of local businessman Mr.
Walker (Barry Corbin) and his righthand guy Dr.
Dominguez (Tony Plana).
Yes, it has the sound of an old style western, and I think that's where this could have been really fun movie goes awry.
It tried too hard to be an old style western and Borgnine is able to hold it together pretty well.
As older people are portrayed in movies, Rex delivers ethnic slurs that offends the Latino staff until they learn that he met, although briefly, their most revered singer, Vicente Fernandez.
He is considered Mexico's Frank Sinatra.
He suddenly becomes a celebrity and the owner is none to happy.
Naturally, Rex sees the power structure of the nursing home and challenges it leading to happy endings for all.
Many times, the film feels like it could have been made by the Hallmark Channel with the acting be spotty sometimes, but event hey know how to set a tone to a film and keep it from being erratic.
As we know, with film it's all about editing and it feels like this editor needed an editor.
It's not a horrible film, but an actor of Borgnine's standing deserved a much better sendoff.
Movie Rating: D For this being Ernest Borgnine's final film before his death, you would have hoped for a much more memorable film, but not so with The Man Who Shook the Hand Of Vicente Fernandez.
The director tries to give an homage to the spaghetti western but rather than giving us al dente perfection, we're left more with just a limp noodle.
Starring: Ernest Borgnine, Nathalie Kelley, Dylan Kenin, Audrey P Scott, Dale Dickey, Barry Corbin, Robert Morse Directed By: Elia Petridis