In the mid- to late 1970s, Richard Dreyfuss was among the hottest — if unlikeliest — actors in Hollywood. He had co-starred in the blockbuster Jaws (1975), become the youngest recipient of the Best Actor Oscar for the comedy The Goodbye Girl (1977) and starred in the sci-fi classic Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). To follow these triumphs he chose to produce and star in a small scale, character-driven detective movie: The Big Fix (1978).
Dreyfuss portrays a down-on-his-luck private investigator named Moses Wine, who is trying to make an honest living and retain a semblance of his family life sharing custody of his two sons with his ex-wife (Bonnie Bedelia). Then an old flame (Susan Anspach) lures him into a new case involving a political race, which really complicates everything.
What really works in this movie is the balance between Moses’ attempts to maintain ties to his family and the ever-increasing demands of the career he has chosen. It is clear that his ex-wife frowns upon his profession and would prefer that their kids be shielded from its seamier aspects. It’s both amusing and quite believable when Moses is forced to pick up his kids at the political campaign office because his ex-wife needs him to care for them.
Another asset is the genuine feeling of loss that is conveyed for the excitement and danger of the 1960s. Several of the film’s characters are nostalgic for a time when they believed that what they were doing actually mattered, and seem lost in the modern age. The dramatic friction between one’s desire to live in the past and one’s need to move on is subtly and smartly depicted in Moses’ struggle to conform.
The political story that Moses is investigating is related to the background for the first half, then suddenly springs to the foreground to dominate his time — just like in real life. It takes some odd turns, yet remains compelling because of the central focus on Moses and his efforts to solve the mystery, protect his family and do something positive with his life.
The film’s supporting cast is strong: John Lithgow, Nicolas Coster, Ron Rifkin, Fritz Weaver, F. Murray Abraham, and, in a tiny role, Mandy Patinkin as the Pool Man. It was his film debut. But the whole show is Dreyfuss, who inhabits his character like a comfortable sweater. It’s one of his best performances in a career full of highlights. My rating: ✰ ✰ ✰. (8:4).