A rare swing and a miss for me when it comes to these counterculture films of the 70's--of the BBS Production films. I'm still left scratching my head, in search of what this film was trying to say and why it stuggled so hard at doing so. Pretty much anything involving Hector and Karen Black I had no interest in whatsoever, especially when the pitch for this movie is as compelling as it is.
We're told this is about a college basketball star whose roommate is becoming more and more radicalized against the war in Vietnam. And like... yeah i guess that's happening but it really feels too much like two separate movies competing for screentime. The film takes no time to define the characters or their relations to one another. I found myself asking several times, "Who the hell is this guy?"
And, my god, William Tepper... talk about a performance dragging down an entire film. I don't like to focus on these things too much unless they're egregious. Case in point: Tepper. The script doesn't do him any favors either. He makes so many decisions that seem suddenly out of character, but then again, what even is his character? What are his beliefs?
Conversely, Michael Margotta's performance was electrifying and i couldn't look away from the screen whenever he was on it, screaming his lungs out. I kept begging the film, "let this guy be the focal point," and "let's get back to Gabriel!" But even then, his turn near the very end was so jarring and, again, seemed out of character.
6.4/10
A rare swing and a miss for me when it comes to these counterculture films of the 70's--of the BBS Production films. I'm still left scratching my head, in search of what this film was trying to say and why it stuggled so hard at doing so. Pretty much anything involving Hector and Karen Black I had no interest in whatsoever, especially when the pitch for this movie is as compelling as it is.
We're told this is about a college basketball star whose roommate is becoming more and more radicalized against the war in Vietnam. And like... yeah i guess that's happening but it really feels too much like two separate movies competing for screentime. The film takes no time to define the characters or their relations to one another. I found myself asking several times, "Who the hell is this guy?"
And, my god, William Tepper... talk about a performance dragging down an entire film. I don't like to focus on these things too much unless they're egregious. Case in point: Tepper. The script doesn't do him any favors either. He makes so many decisions that seem suddenly out of character, but then again, what even is his character? What are his beliefs?
Conversely, Michael Margotta's performance was electrifying and i couldn't look away from the screen whenever he was on it, screaming his lungs out. I kept begging the film, "let this guy be the focal point," and "let's get back to Gabriel!" But even then, his turn near the very end was so jarring and, again, seemed out of character.
6.4/10
