Art Carney was spectacular in this movie. He deserved all the accolades he received. Touching theme, sad ending.

Always was a fan of Art Carney, and a cat person as well, so this movie
hit home. Very enjoyable "feel good" movie. How an old man relates to his children and grandchildren as he and his beloved pet cat travel across the United States.

The 70's is such a wild film period and there are so many types of films from that era. 'Harry and Tonto' is a 70's film and that doesn't mean this is a good thing. While I enjoyed this film and Art Carney's performance, I don't feel it was worthy of an Oscar. It's not that I don't feel Carney is deserving of an award, but there were some pretty great performances that year it was up against. It's a very good film, but it's not great. It has a TV movie quality to it.....in a good way.

Let me start by being completely honest with you. Art Carney does a very fine job in the title role as Harry Coombes. He's effectively warm and tender in his scenes, layering the `at times rather annoying' Harry with enough human realness that he becomes a genuine person and not just a hollow caricature. That said, no matter how good he was, he was no where near the brilliance that was Al Pacino or Jack Nicholson. Honestly, how he was nominated let alone crowned the victor in the 1974 Oscar race is far beyond me to comprehend. It's madness to even suggest that this merely `good' performance is even on the same level as Pacino or Nicholson's masterclass work.

That said; I will do my best to review this film without any prejudice whatsoever.

Harry Coombes is a retired schoolteacher who has just recently been evicted from his apartment. He moves into his son's home along with his dear cat Tonto. When living under the rules of another grow tiresome for Harry he decides to up and leave, traveling cross-country with his cat to see his daughter. He has an eventful journey indeed, and in the end he seems to find a small part of himself he thought was lost forever.

It's a sweet story and it's told rather well, but in the end it is really nothing more than that; a sweet story. Carney does some nice work, keeping Harry believable (although at times rather ridiculous) despite his obnoxious tendencies. His refusal to conform to modern society is an outward statement about the fall of society in general, a world that has no respect for those who came before us. It's written well, although it could have been written better.

It reminds me a lot of `The Trip to Bountiful' except that movie actually managed to develop it's points rather soundly.

In the end the film is a good film that could have been a great one had the script been a little more intuitive. It seems that the film kind of carries a predictable calculated relaying of events. As `interesting' as some of Harry's encounters may seem, they never feel as `interesting' as we are to believe they are. They all feel rehearsed and even average; expected almost. When Harry is arrested for peeing on the outside wall of a building it doesn't have the tinge of fresh humor it was going for. It feels rather expected and kind of leaves a `been-there-done-that' feel in the back of your mouth. Carney elevates the film in areas and helps keep us interested, but in the end this movie does little more than entertain.

It's no where near and poignant as it wants to be.

So, with all prejudice aside I say that this is a B- kind of movie. It is sweet and adequately executed, but it is no where near the best in anything, and Carney, while effective, is not even nomination worthy here. There is a list of at least ten names that come before him for me, six of which weren't even nominated.

Yes, it is entertaining following Harry's cross country adventures - especially picking up the hooker in the desert on the way to Las Vegas...
But my favorite scene is the meeting between Harry (Carney) and "wheeler dealer" son (Larry Hageman) in Hageman's LA apartment. In reality the son is soon to be evicted for non-payment of rent. The interplay between the two is riveting - watching Hageman gradually crumble emotionally after failing to entice his father to share his apartment (mainly for financial reasons). Hageman finally has to disclose his true financial condition to his formerly proud father (Carney) after initially putting on a "big time" front driving a somewhat vintage Cadillac convertible and constantly discussing pending successful real estate sales "deals".

Great acting scene between two pros....it made the movie special for me.