Stephen Boyd/Mike Rice just creeped me out lol
His "lost friend"/Pied Piper monologue at the company picnic was just... weird.
shareActually, I found Stephen Boyd to be extremely attractive.
I was rooting for Mike and Carolyn and was very happy with the ending.
Stephen Boyd's character was pretty much the only gentleman - the next being Sidney, although he was married. I think Boyd was handsome and talented and it's a shame that he died rather prematurely. Yes, I rooted for Caroline and Mike too.
Rona Jaffe, herself, didn't much like how Boyd's character turned out, basically being made to be the "conscience" of the film who holds it against Caroline for being career-driven despite his basic alcoholism being a problem. In the book, he was apparently just a drunk who never even had a serious relationship with Caroline.
Not that Mr. Shalimar's character, or Eddie's character, or Dexter, were that much better, but it doesn't excuse Mike's patriarchal attitude with Caroline. Again, the speech just came off as weird coming from someone who has no business expecting much from Caroline, lecturing her like a child. The only "horrible" character was Dexter, I think - Shalimar, Eddie, David, and Mike were just typical men of the period, I guess.
But, if his good looks absolve his acting like a reprobate then so be it, lol.