For years I've wanted to see this movie despite (though maybe because of) it's bad reputation, but it didn't seem to be available anywhere. But it aired on TCM recently, and I finally got to see it.
After watching it, I can say it's not as bad as it's been made out to be... but all the same it doesn't work. The biggest problem with the movie is the character of Sheila Levine. It's frequently hard to get into the head of this woman. The movie seems to start at chapter two, not giving us an explanation as to why she decided to move to New York or what her ambitions are. Later in the movie, she all of a sudden is seen living elsewhere and with a new job. Huh? What happened? Further problems with the character include that she often comes across as dumb, which makes her unsympathetic. It doesn't help that Jeannie Berlin, who plays this character, has pretty much no charisma.
The script can't make up its mind as to whether the movie is a comedy or a drama. That by itself is not an instant problem, but the movie's level of humor is mostly lame, and the serious portions aren't that much better handled. With all these bad ingredients, it's no wonder director Sidney J. Furie can't do much, though he does manage to portray 1970s New York in an appropriately dingy and dirty look, which is how it was before it was cleaned up. And he does occasionally throw in extremely long takes without any edits, which are effective and must have been very hard to rehearse and set up.
I admit that I wasn't bored by what I saw despite the almost two hour running time, which in part does save the movie from being called one of the worst movies of the 1970s. But the movie just doesn't work as a genuine comedy, an unintentional comedy, or as a drama. You can safely skip it.
After watching it, I can say it's not as bad as it's been made out to be... but all the same it doesn't work. The biggest problem with the movie is the character of Sheila Levine. It's frequently hard to get into the head of this woman. The movie seems to start at chapter two, not giving us an explanation as to why she decided to move to New York or what her ambitions are. Later in the movie, she all of a sudden is seen living elsewhere and with a new job. Huh? What happened? Further problems with the character include that she often comes across as dumb, which makes her unsympathetic. It doesn't help that Jeannie Berlin, who plays this character, has pretty much no charisma.
The script can't make up its mind as to whether the movie is a comedy or a drama. That by itself is not an instant problem, but the movie's level of humor is mostly lame, and the serious portions aren't that much better handled. With all these bad ingredients, it's no wonder director Sidney J. Furie can't do much, though he does manage to portray 1970s New York in an appropriately dingy and dirty look, which is how it was before it was cleaned up. And he does occasionally throw in extremely long takes without any edits, which are effective and must have been very hard to rehearse and set up.
I admit that I wasn't bored by what I saw despite the almost two hour running time, which in part does save the movie from being called one of the worst movies of the 1970s. But the movie just doesn't work as a genuine comedy, an unintentional comedy, or as a drama. You can safely skip it.