Ms Kathleen's Movie Review

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The movie is done in a voice-over narration where the voice of Joe Gillis (voiced by William Holden) promises to tell us, in a unique flashback structure, the real story of what happened during his last six months of life. One of the key themes to this movie has to do with the emasculation of Holden's character, Joe.

The story flash back six months earlier, when Joe, a struggling, down-and-out, hack screenwriter, finds that he is unable to sell his scripts and is behind three payments on his car. Working from his one-bedroom apartment Joe is interrupted by the door buzzer. At the door are two Repo men come to take Joe's car. Joe is dressed in a terry cloth robe which immediately puts him in the inferior position when confronted by the two fully-clothed men. The men are looking to repossess Joe's car as he is in arrears $300. To be a man without a car is one of the most emasculating things to have happen, especially in Hollywood where everything is about perception.

Not too many actors could have pulled off this scene as well as William Holden did. There is an apparent feminine quality to his character but he's always a man's man as he plays this part so convincingly. And as his character develops along with the story we see this "regular guy" go through some profound changes.