My thanks goes out to Eric (http://www.epinions.com/user-lynus) for hosting this write-off. I was a late entry and he squeezed me in! I thought is was such a great idea and something everyone could have fun with.

When Sheila (http://www.epinions.com/user-skbreese) chose this movie starring Liza Minelli, I thought "Great, stick me with a musical." I'm not a musical person at all and I just figured this was going to be boring for me all the way around.

First came the problem of securing the movie for the review. Netflix doesn't carry it and I don't know if it's been released on DVD. I started using the Blockbuster website to see if the stores near me carried the tape. No luck there. However, my husband works in Manhattan, and I still though we were talking about a Liza Minelli musical - surely the stores near The Village would carry it. No luck there.

I had two choices at this point. Either I could purchase the VHS or I could go back and say I can't get the film. I trotted over to Amazon.com and managed to find it used for about $5 including shipping. I figured I'd put it back out there to sell when I was done.

Imagine my surprise when I sat down to watch it and realized it's not a musical at all. Well, maybe this won't be so bad, then.

And it was far, far from being bad. I don't think I'm going to be selling that tape.

Alan J. Pakula directed the film. It's a name that should be familiar to many people (not just Long Islanders as he was killed about 4 years ago on the L.I.E. when a pipe was thrown up by the vehicle in front of him and went through the windsheild of his own vehicle) for his work on features like The Pelican Brief, Sophie's Choice, Starting Over, Klute and as a producer of the classic To Kill A Mockingbird.

Minelli portrays Pookie Adams, an unconventional girl off to her freshman year of college. On the bench at the bus stop, she meets Jerry Payne (portrayed by Wendell Burton). Her pushy nature leads them to become boyfriend and girlfriend.

But Pookie is masking a whole host of problems. It seems to be that her mother died when she was young. Her father, unable to cope, turned to alcohol and neglected his daughter. How much is true of what Pookie tells of her life is uncertain as she seems to drift back and forth between this world and another. However, that innocent-like persona is actually masking a girl who knows what she wants and has set out to get it. That is not to say she has malicious intent, but she wants a companion for the world and decides that Jerry is the one for her. If she has to manipulate him a bit to get him to stay by her side, then so be it.

It is obvious from the beginning that she never fit in with her peers in high school. She carries a Holden Caulfield-like disdain for them, labeling them "weirdos" to his "phonies". At the same time, Jerry is finding acceptance where he might not have ever had it before. It doesn't seem that we are ever given a complete background into the two characters. However, I believed that their initial drifting together was also due to Jerry being used to being on the "outside" as well.

In the high school halls - In the shopping malls - Conform or be cast out
In the basement bars - In the backs of cars - Be cool or be cast out...

That is the choice the two of them must make. Pookie can be endearing at times, and make you crazy with her actions in the next moment. While she yearns to be a part of the "cool" world, she has no desire to change to fit in. Her irreverent personality will never fit in. And Jerry is slowly sliding towards that world and away from her.

Oh she tries, on any number of occasions, but it's just not her. And as she senses Jerry drifting from her, she tries any of a number of situations to get him back to her. At one point she suggests that she is pregnant, then a few months later announces "It went away". We have no idea - and neither does Jerry - if there ever truly was a baby. To his credit, he does not seem to doubt her at all.

Burton's performance as Jerry is tremendous. He could have become just someone who uses Pookie until he moves into the "cool world" and discards her once he's arrived. But he isn't; we see that Jerry truly cares for Pookie and wants her in his world. The realization slowly dawns on him that the two will never fit, but he doesn't stop caring for her. This is shown when Pookie herself disappears from her college after he suggests they spend time apart. His concern as he speaks with other students - knowing that she was not friendly with any of them - trying to get any little bit of information about her. He does not carelessly discard her when he's done, and is truly concerned.

The movie is character driven and focuses on the relationship between the two of them. Does it seem to drag at times? Yes. However, after watching it the second time, all these bits are needed to build what is going on between the two of them; to illustrate the nuances of a relationship - any relationship - that exists in our world. Pakula is showing how a wide variety of factors can bring two people together, and then how they can be torn apart.

Minelli's performance is Oscar worthy. Pookie is hanging onto Jerry by the skin of her teeth, and Minelli conveys throughout the film that she knows this as she tries everything to make him love her and stay with her. She tries to turn herself into whatever he wants, but it's just not in her personality to change like that. One of her first performances, I also believe it was one of her finest.

Unlike other films, though this was released in 1969, it does not seem dated. Well, except maybe for the pull-tabs on the beer cans. We all know people like this who we went to high school or college with. Some of us might have even been a little bit closer to the character of Pookie than we would like to admit. It is an excellent, fantastically poignant piece of film-making.



Thanks to the band Rush for the inspiration. I was debating how to tackle the review and happened to hear "Subdivisions" while driving home and it just fell into place from there. That's where the lyrics quoted above are from.

There are gonna be some great reviews out there in this write-off! Please check out the writings by: dedemw, jankp, shadow8, scigamer, tbthorn, mfunk75, BigJack, KatM, jackai, susidee34, gaelkm, thepremier, dragonfire88, MrsNormanMaine, kristinafh, patiche, Stephen_Murray, cripper, artbyjude, skbreese, shaithis, Vormancian, jstlawrence, psychovant, danifilth, Pffrdfdus7, granniemose, annecal, JackSommersby, Aruzenchin, cletta1201, tigger500, darkmistress, lifestar, mark_dujsik, tjmackey, Simply_Crispy, and our host lynus.


© 2002 Patti Aliventi

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: VHS
Video Occasion: Better than Watching TV
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older