Bobby Deerfield

Bobby Deerfield is an American racing driver competing on the European circuit. After a fellow driver is killed in a crash, Bobby visits a clinic to learn more about the accident, and there he meets Lillian, a woman he gradually comes to love. Her illness hangs over the relationship, and Bobby struggles to face what is happening to her, drawing closer to Lydia, a woman who follows his career.

Sydney Pollack directed and produced the film, working from a screenplay by Alvin Sargent. It was his seventh film as director, following Three Days of the Condor in 1975 and preceding The Electric Horseman in 1979. Al Pacino plays Bobby, with Marthe Keller as Lillian, Anny Duperey as Lydia, Walter McGinn as the brother, Romolo Valli as an uncle and Van Doude as a flutist. Twenty-seven performers receive credits.

Made by Columbia Pictures and First Artists on a budget of six million dollars, the film took about nine million dollars worldwide. It is a drama with a romantic focus, running 124 minutes. Its ratings are modest across the board: 5.8 out of 10 on IMDb from roughly five thousand two hundred votes, and the same average on TMDB from a little over a hundred. A critics' score of 4.4 out of 10 from fourteen reviews places professional response somewhat below even those audience figures.