Jennifer on My Mind

I first saw this film in a theatre as a teenager and recalled it as perhaps the worst movie I'd ever seen. It was on TMC a few days ago, so I watched again to give it a second chance. I wanted to see if it WAS truly hideous or if it was just a teenage opinion that I'd outgrown. The movie is basically unwatchable, it is unbelievably atrocious! In some societies in might be termed cruel and unusual punishment! However, I do have to give credit to the cinematography, which was very interesting. That would've been something I would've never noticed as a teen. This movie should be viewed only with the sound off!

Erich Segal's screenwriting career never really took off after his big success with 1970's "Love Story" for reasons that might be neatly summed here: he's terribly fond of impulsive decisions that change lives forever, montages that substitute for substance, pretentious dialogue dotted with high-brow references ("She didn't even say goodbye. She was gone, like the mermaid Ondine"), and grown-up young people acting like children (which plays into the sudden impulse factor). Segal's adaptation of Roger L. Simon's novel "Heir", directed by Noel Black and starring Michael Brandon and Tippy Walker, begins with vintage photographs of immigrants arriving in America while Brandon tells us in voiceover about his family's money vis-à-vis his girlfriend's. Aside from the fact both kids are well-supported, it's like a "Love Story" redux. We even get another tragic death--this time by way of drugs (for that trendy touch). Brandon and Walker sight-see in Italy, leap with abandon into the Canal from a gondola, then separate; he tracks her down back in the US, following her into the swimming pool fully-clothed. The movie isn't even 30 minutes old and it's already reviving itself! Watch for a scruffy Robert De Niro (billed without a space in his surname) as a gypsy cab driver. * from ****

From the writer of LOVE STORY comes another somber slice of downbeat romance as a man looking for love gets mixed up with a selfish and free-spirited blond hippy-chick junkie. It starts with her already dead and we look back on how they met and her mental decline to the inevitable overdose on heroin. The guy hides her body in his piano and then his car trunk until he can figure out a way to get rid of it. There's potential here for some dark humor but it's never really exploited as the film stays on its tragic trajectory to an ending that at least does bring closure to the story. The film has a slow deliberate pace which makes this film really boring because who cares about these people, especially the girl. The best part was an early appearance by Robert De Niro as a high-strung gypsy taxi driver which is about as far removed from Travis Bickle as you can get. See it if you love obscure counterculture cinema of the late 60s/early 70s.

Upper class Jew Michael Brandon meets upper class WASP Tippy Walker while both are touring Venice in this sloppy, sentimental movie written by Eric Segal.

Segal is, of course, remembered for writing LOVE STORY, the story about the problems of being rich and in love at Yale; it was turned into a movie that was the TITANIC of the era. I was not impressed by its rich kitsch schmaltz, but it had Arthur Hiller directing, and Ryan O'Neal and Ali MacGraw in the leads, and Ray Milland in a supporting role, so at least the studio spent the money for a first class production. In this one, although parts of it are shot in Venice - the one in Italy - the cinematography by Peter Laszlo never bothers to show us any vistas.

Kim Hunter was cut out of the final print, lest it be too arty. At least you have Barry Bostwick in his screen debut as 'Nanki'.

Apparently a commentary on the clash of backgrounds. addictive, extreme drug use in the 1970s. stars relative unknowns Michael Brandon and Tippy Walker. also has Robert DeNiro (the cab driver) , Peter Bonerz( the psychologist), and Jeff Conaway. Viewers will recognize Conaway from Taxi.. he died in 2011, but still has two films coming out in 2021. and ... this was the very first appearance for Barry Bostwick. (before rocky horror.) Marcus (Brandon) meets Jennifer (Walker) in venice, and they hit it off, running around the piazza san marcos and swimming in the canals. lots of "us against the establishment" talk. and when Marcus needs help with something, he blackmails his friend into helping. and a funny scene where Larry Dolci searches all the containers in his fridge for the hidden hash. story is so similar to Skidoo... the story itself is all over the place. a lot of darkness in here. also adventure. getting high. Jennie treats Marcus like crap and he wants her more than ever. because its a psychadelic 70s flim, we're not really sure just what's going on, but that's part of the ride. and a wild ride it is. Directed by Noel Black. he was nominated for best short film in 1966. Story by Roger Simon. whatever.