Not Scorsese's best, but an interesting effort. The Stappert IMDb review is very good. I would also note that Burstyn, Ladd and Lutter are very strong. Jodie Foster is fascinating in her brief role, as one compares her appearance here with her personal history and how public her life has been.
Scorsese has made a film with some likeable characters (unlike much of his later work). He uses music well, although the soundtrack in the early part of the film reflects some poor choices. There is some good camera work here as well that presages later films such as "Goodfellas." (He has several interesting shots of bar fronts and interiors.) Harvey Keitel ALMOST fools the audience here, and Kristofferson is...well, Kristofferson.
I saw this on an old videocassette, and it seems to have had the sound edited and some cuts made to the print, so I rated it a "7." It is definitely NOT a comedy, and is worth watching with "An Unmarried Woman." It's unfortunate that the insipid TV show resulted from this much stronger original effort.
One additional comment/complaint. Like "An Unmarried Woman," men seem to fall into two classes here: Complete psychos or s***s, or men who have some faults but seem to be open and almost desperate to possess the central female character. Is this a true reflection on the gender, or just another Hollywood convention?
Scorsese has made a film with some likeable characters (unlike much of his later work). He uses music well, although the soundtrack in the early part of the film reflects some poor choices. There is some good camera work here as well that presages later films such as "Goodfellas." (He has several interesting shots of bar fronts and interiors.) Harvey Keitel ALMOST fools the audience here, and Kristofferson is...well, Kristofferson.
I saw this on an old videocassette, and it seems to have had the sound edited and some cuts made to the print, so I rated it a "7." It is definitely NOT a comedy, and is worth watching with "An Unmarried Woman." It's unfortunate that the insipid TV show resulted from this much stronger original effort.
One additional comment/complaint. Like "An Unmarried Woman," men seem to fall into two classes here: Complete psychos or s***s, or men who have some faults but seem to be open and almost desperate to possess the central female character. Is this a true reflection on the gender, or just another Hollywood convention?