There's a viewpoint here, but the script is too muddled to make it clear. The world (or at least the US) is going to seed. While a few people care, most don't. Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, Anthony Perkins and others populate a particularly depressing New Orleans in this sad movie. Newman takes a job at a right wing radio station run by Pat Hingle while lost soul Woodward slowly slips away. Perkins, an out and out madman, is, ironically, the only one onto what Hingle's radio station is all about. Stuart Rosenberg directed and while there are a lot of great scenes, there's also a real lack of cohesion. Many characters simply have no motivation for what they're doing. Nevertheless, the acting is not dulled. Newman is great and Woodward is even better. Perkins is excellent, stealing the film as a true idealist, whose disillusionment leads him to insanity. The supporting cast includes Cloris Leachman, Bruce Cabot, Don Gordon, Wayne Rogers (very creepy as one of Hingle's goons), and Laurence Harvey as a preacher/grifter. There's a really good music score by Lalo Schifrin.
Review of WUSA
