If the psychedelic visuals here have any purpose, it's to make me forget about the horrendous use of classic film clips in the following year's "Myra Breckenridge" which I consider one of the most pointless films of all time. I've now found a close second in this bizarre film that I wish I could categorize. Comedy? Musical? Perhaps horror film. At least in the career of Jennifer Jones, that would be close. with all her problems in the late 60's, her decision to return to the screen with this dribble is as laughable as the memory of Claire Trevor in "Two Weeks in Another Town", Eleanor Parked in "An American Dream", Elizabeth Taylor in "Boom!" and Lana Turner in "The Big Cube", hideous examples of legends overacting. Susan Hayward in "Valley of the Dolls" can rest easy with her performance as an aging Broadway star when compared to Jones' faded movie star who once did stag films and is now stuck in a marriageto the powerful Charles Aidman who flaunts his affairs with men in her face.
The narration by their daughter Holly Near indicates that she doesn't believe that her father is homosexual, but it's right in front of her face. At her coming out party, near literally falls for folk singer Jordan Christopher who takes her out for an adventure, removed her virginity, and introduces her to his weird friends which include Roddy McDowall and Lou Rawls. They return to nearest mansion where the cult-like group interlopes in the family in various bizarre ways that will have you either gasping or laughing, and with it, not at it.
The only thing I can say about Holly Near's performance is that she resembles a young Ricki Lake from "Hairspray" and Divine as Dawn Davenport in taffeta in "Female Trouble". Unfortunately, this doesn't have to lovable quotient of John Waters early films, and when it attempts to be gentle, it is obviously fooling itself and the audience who falls for that. These aren't performances. They are cartoonish examples of characters who have never existed, and if this is any representation of the late 1960's, I'm surprised that the world lasted until the 80's. The script is filled with one idiotic line right after another, but it is too fun to hear the stars of this film come out with one lou-lou after another.
Certainly it's glorious to look at as a time capsule, but it is embarrassing for fans of Jones who remember her for her glory days that were just a few years before. references to pop icons of the time only dated further, and the use of a large changing painting with strange visuals just makes it all the weirder. the fact there is really no structure to the story, just a series of ridiculous situations right after another and leading to an improbable outcome, makes this a work of art that has far too many colors on the canvas that makes the outcome truly tacky.
The narration by their daughter Holly Near indicates that she doesn't believe that her father is homosexual, but it's right in front of her face. At her coming out party, near literally falls for folk singer Jordan Christopher who takes her out for an adventure, removed her virginity, and introduces her to his weird friends which include Roddy McDowall and Lou Rawls. They return to nearest mansion where the cult-like group interlopes in the family in various bizarre ways that will have you either gasping or laughing, and with it, not at it.
The only thing I can say about Holly Near's performance is that she resembles a young Ricki Lake from "Hairspray" and Divine as Dawn Davenport in taffeta in "Female Trouble". Unfortunately, this doesn't have to lovable quotient of John Waters early films, and when it attempts to be gentle, it is obviously fooling itself and the audience who falls for that. These aren't performances. They are cartoonish examples of characters who have never existed, and if this is any representation of the late 1960's, I'm surprised that the world lasted until the 80's. The script is filled with one idiotic line right after another, but it is too fun to hear the stars of this film come out with one lou-lou after another.
Certainly it's glorious to look at as a time capsule, but it is embarrassing for fans of Jones who remember her for her glory days that were just a few years before. references to pop icons of the time only dated further, and the use of a large changing painting with strange visuals just makes it all the weirder. the fact there is really no structure to the story, just a series of ridiculous situations right after another and leading to an improbable outcome, makes this a work of art that has far too many colors on the canvas that makes the outcome truly tacky.