I edited my original post since my husband and I watched it tonight. I don't think he found him dull, exactly. I don't think he understood him -- but you described Blythe's character perfectly. He did, on his first raid of food goodies, make sure that his odd roomie managed to have the milk he craved for his tea. And they both played chess, so there's a bond right there. I loved the look Garner gave Pleasence when he called "Checkmate!" on Garner. It was almost like an affront.
I'm a big Garner fan, and his acting ability has been greatly underrated. This character was drawn from his days as the scrounge for his company in the Korean War. Yes, he always sprinkles his roles with some of the characteristic Garner charm, which took far more acting than we'll ever know -- his wife, after his death, said he was the saddest man she'd ever met. If you knew his history of emotional abuse as a child, you could understand why.
But Garner could do some of his best acting by reacting. His first job was on the Court Martial panel of The Caine Mutiny, done as a stage play with Henry Fonda in the lead. He had no lines, so he had to learn to listen and react to keep it fresh.
It was wonderful to run into this, since my husband had been wanting to watch this for some time, and there are few Garner movies I can pass up. And yes, this was more Attenborough's and McQueen's movie than Garners.
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