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Not great by any specific measure, but The Rat Race is an interesting viewing experience to see two big movie stars trying to desperately to expand their range and move beyond their personas. But neither of the two stars are able to overcome their default modes and create the necessary grit and texture required for the parts. Same could be said of the script, which takes a fairly basic conceit and stumbles around for a fresh spin on these beats. Hell, a lack of a fresh viewpoint could be easily forgiven if the film had been able to competently traverse the material. Director Robert Mulligan plays the film straight, which is great for developing nuance in spots, but can’t smoothly handle the various inherent problems with the narrative.
But the main reason to watch The Rat Race is to see Debbie Reynolds and Tony Curtis struggle to develop as actors and escape their sunny, comic personas. Curtis is cast wildly against type as a naïve youth from the country who has moved to the big city to try to make it as a musician. Curtis cannot suppress his New York accent, and it continuously pokes through. Neither can he hide the innate jadedness, that edge that made his comedic work in Some Like It Hot swing, which sinks his characterization before it even begins. Reynolds on the other hand simply cannot hide her movie star giddiness and sheen. This is a woman who made her career playing perky, can-do women with enough energy and verve to power a large city. The Rat Race asks her to dim that down and play someone beaten down, and she almost gets there if it weren’t for her movie star charisma. Reynolds would later go on to become a gifted character actress, her work in the recent Behind the Candelabra is a winner. The Rat Race is never truly terrible, but it’s also not very good. It’s mostly just a fascinating failure/lesser known title in everyone’s filmography.
