There is virtually nothing to like about this movie. Plenty of movies from the era are sophisticated so I do not buy the "... for the time it was made in ..." excuse. The only thing I remember liking was the detective Clint kept lying to.
Everyone in the film is insane and/or bland. And the jazz festival scenes are worthless, long, and conspicuous.
2/10
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Well, that's one person's opinion. I can respect it because you state reasons for not liking it. My problem with your opinion is that you state it as though it's somehow a fact....
I do buy the "... for the time it was made in ..." excuse.
I buy it because I saw it with many other people in a theater at the time. Many of us thought it was a fun little thriller. Many people I know still think this is a pretty good Eastwood film. Not perfect, but on the edge of your seat good.
You also get great shots of the beautiful place that is Carmel,California back in the early 70s.
You also get to listen to a some great Jazz!
7/10
The only fact I am pushing is the fact that I found the movie to be meandering and disenchanting. I don't fault anyone for their enjoyment. The love story could almost pass for the 70's standard romance of the time but they gave me no reason to believe in it. Clint just had an inexplicable attraction to her and even less reason to continue to tolerate her psychosis in dull medicated fashion. Throughout the movie unrealistic actions are taken. I felt like I was expected to overlook it all because of the song and the blurry picnics. And then in the middle of me gawking in disbelief at the screen, suddenly I'm in a real footage jazz festival. Like someone mistakenly spliced a documentary into the middle. In all fairness, it has been decades since I saw it so maybe a 2nd watch would soften my memory of it. But I hold it near the bottom of Clint's movies if not the very bottom.
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I can understand what you are saying. I suppose that when you look at all of the movies he has made, this could be considered near the bottom.
I like the thriller aspect of this though. Jessica Walter is scary. This is my kind of movie rather than a story about a gun toting cop/cowboy.
The good news? I hated Bridges of Madison County. That has to be one at the very bottom of the list.
It's a good film all things considered, but especially because it's Clint's directing debut. I agree that his inexperience was transparent a few times, like with the Monterey Jazz Festival scene. That's Clint indulging his personal love for jazz. But it wasn't entirely useless so far as the narrative goes. I think the point was to show that Dave had a good life outside his numerous female conquests, thus amplifying the disruptiveness of Evelyn's insanity and inviting more sympathy for Dave than the viewer otherwise might have.
shareIt is one of the weaker Clint movies - I would give it a 6.5/10. There is a lot of padding.
shareFour reasons I love this movie:
- Jessica Walters was exceptional as the psycho
- early 70s was awesome
- cannonball adderley with joe zawinul in the festival scene
- I watched this movie riveted with my mom on TV in 73
A lot of filler but a fun early Clint directed film