Folk singer Holly Near ("Slaughterhouse-Five") plays Tara Nicole Steele, the plump teenage daughter of a very rich couple; her mother Astrid (Oscar winner Jennifer Jones ("The Song of Bernadette"), in her penultimate film role) is a former stag star who married well. At her "coming out" party, Tara Nicole meets a charismatic rock star named Bogart Peter Stuyvesant (Jordan Christopher ("Brainstorm")). After he has deflowered her, she becomes part of his group of followers. This group also includes ever-wonderful Roddy McDowall ("Fright Night"), singer Lou Rawls ("Leaving Las Vegas"), and sexy blonde Davey Davison ("The Strangler"). Then she is understandably thrown for a loop when Bogart also hooks up with Astrid.
The brainchild of noted screenwriter / director Robert Thom (whose other writing credits include "Wild in the Streets", "Death Race 2000", and "The Witch Who Came from the Sea"), this comes off as very dated 52 years later. It's very much a product of its time, and a lot of the characters, performances, and "hip" dialogue are an acquired taste. It blends surrealism, a wealth of imagery (the collages are by Shirley Kaplan), an admittedly cool rock soundtrack, some breathtaking sky diving sequences, and a lot of philosophical musing as Bogart and his gang talk about their perception of American ideals.
A highly offbeat, fairly interesting fable, complete with pretentious narration by Near, this is obviously not to all tastes, even as it attempts to illustrate both culture clashes and the generation gap. Some fans of Ms. Jones may be dismayed by her appearance here (she definitely looks uncomfortable), and shocked at hearing her utter some rather colourful lines. Still, she looks quite glamorous, and gets to play a flashy character with a fondness for jewelry.
The film does have its amusements, but definitely doesn't play as well nowadays. People who lived through this era may find more value than the contemporary movie watcher.
Six out of 10.
The brainchild of noted screenwriter / director Robert Thom (whose other writing credits include "Wild in the Streets", "Death Race 2000", and "The Witch Who Came from the Sea"), this comes off as very dated 52 years later. It's very much a product of its time, and a lot of the characters, performances, and "hip" dialogue are an acquired taste. It blends surrealism, a wealth of imagery (the collages are by Shirley Kaplan), an admittedly cool rock soundtrack, some breathtaking sky diving sequences, and a lot of philosophical musing as Bogart and his gang talk about their perception of American ideals.
A highly offbeat, fairly interesting fable, complete with pretentious narration by Near, this is obviously not to all tastes, even as it attempts to illustrate both culture clashes and the generation gap. Some fans of Ms. Jones may be dismayed by her appearance here (she definitely looks uncomfortable), and shocked at hearing her utter some rather colourful lines. Still, she looks quite glamorous, and gets to play a flashy character with a fondness for jewelry.
The film does have its amusements, but definitely doesn't play as well nowadays. People who lived through this era may find more value than the contemporary movie watcher.
Six out of 10.