I've always been fond of this film. The seemingly intentional mis-marketing as a raunchy comedy is not uncommon for the time, and is really damaging to what is essentially a look at sexual relationships and sexuality. There's a sweet naivety about the films perspective, caught up in the era in which is was released. Not much raunchiness, innuendo base titillation is more the course. As for the comedy there are a few laughs, and they do help alleviate some of the melancholy moments. For me it's in the emotional twists and turns that the film really shows interest and variety.
The Kinks wrote and performed the soundtrack. The songs are well constructed with some touchingly sentimental moments. An appreciation of The Kinks would most certainly aid ones appreciation the film, the lyrics embellishing he drama considerably.
I'm really surprised this film has been rated so low. How much of that is related to the mis-marketing and an under appreciation of the soundtrack?