Rivals

Watching Rivals, I found myself alternating between moments of intense desire to see what happens next, on the one hand, and a mix of boredom and annoyance on the other.

Widowed mother Christine (Joan Hackett) is providing inconsistent discipline to her 10-year-old prodigy son Jamie (14 y.o. Scott Jacoby), who resents her dating anyone. Jamie's attachment to his mother may be partly sexual, or he may just be spoiled, not wanting anyone to have what he can't have, as shown when he drives a wedge between his baby-sitter and her boyfriend. When Christine remarries, to the much more happy-go-lucky (and annoying) Peter (Robert Klein), Jamie slowly succumbs to psychopathy, and events go poorly for everyone.

The story line is very believable, other than portraying prodigal mental ability as linked with precocious sexual interest and development. (This may just reflect the state of 1970s science). Hackett and Klein provide their usual top professional performances. And young Scott Jacoby does a terrific job playing a much younger boy, even when he acts out as more childish to manipulate the adults. Some viewers may complain about the make-out scene between Mary and 10-year-old character Jamie, although the actual content is relatively mild (limited contact, primarily implied or simulated) and the actor (Jacoby) is actually 14. Jeanne Tanzy Williams comes across very credibly as Mary, a teen girl facing the always difficult sexual quandary of When Will I, and With Whom.

Another director might have made an almost-great film out of this. Unfortunately, periods of not much happening, intended to show relationships having time to grow, last way too long and don't provide side benefits such as character development. Even more annoying were several frantic video montages that were too disjointed to convey plot points coherently and too rapid to place in context. And the soundtrack, as many reviewers have noted, was bizarre, ranging from saccharine to pseudo-funkadelic; it rarely adds and often detracts from the experience. Still, the acting and story line make this film worth watching once.

Joan Hackett--usually a strong, dependable actress--gets saddled with a silly role this time, playing a single mom who falls in love again, only to have her deranged pre-teen son interfere in her newfound happiness. Foolish soap opera is given a slight boost by Robert Klein (!) as Hackett's new beau, but Scott Jacoby is lost in the one-note role of the peculiar youngster. Wobbly low-budget film never seems sure what it wants to be: Oedipal thriller, relationship melodrama, psychological tragedy. In the end, it is none of the above, with a crippling final act that is played for the sensational. The jazzy background score by Peter Matz (!), complete with a romantic opening tune, is woefully out of place in this mother-son mishmash. Strictly for curio value. *1/2 from ****

I first saw this on TV when I was a teenager, a few years after it was made, and it made quite an impression on me. Now, 30 years later I was able to finally see it again on an old VHS tape, and it still impresses. It would be easy to dismiss it because of it's low budget, bland music, and occasional pretensions, but it nevertheless tells a classic story: a humorless, frustrated divorcée finds a fresh romance with a young man who is so outgoing he borders on being obnoxious. He's very different from her former husband, but may be just what she needs. But her precocious son starts to act out against this intrusion on his relationship with his mother. He despises everything about the new boyfriend that his mother finds so refreshing -- with tragic results. This film represents one of those rare instances when a low-budget actually enhances a film, and makes it more authentic and believable. Contrary to some of the other reviews here, it is not a "Bad Seed" kind of movie. A sex scene in the movie, involving the boy and his sitter, would probably result in criminal charges today. Scott Jacoby was an extraordinary young actor. BAXTER! is another film of his I haven't seen in 30+ years. I would love to see it as well.

Highly offbeat story about a very unusual relationship between a mother and son. This comes to a point when the mother remarries, which makes the son fall into all sorts of jealous and dangerous behaviors. Jacoby, as the son, is quite good, but the film misfires. This is partially due to a very choppy pacing that jumps from the lighthearted, to the dramatic, to the suspenseful, to the completly bizarre. Also has a awful, awful music score that sounds like it was taken from " Sesame Street".

An underrated classic - superbly done. Scott Jacoby as "the bad seed" is eerily on target. Robert Klein is great as the neglected stepfather. Joan Hackett gives one of her best performances as a woman who's torn between her son and her spouse. No spoilers here: Just keep in mind that this was filmed in 1972. This movie (with a tragic ending) was way ahead of it's time.