Four friends. Who will be left standing as time goes by over a nearly 25 year period? The film starts with the arrival of mother and son in America, father already having settled there from Yugoslavia. The young boy grows up to be Craig Wasson, the main character, and the only one of the friends to really have a big story. He becomes involved with a rich girl from a troubled family which results in a shocking tragedy, something that is easy to see coming because the girl's father is obviously molesting her. He has issues with his own father, an old fashioned European immigrant with old fashioned conservative values, berating his son violently for being a coward and even beating him six months in order to goad him into striking back. It's a very disturbing view of the so-called great generation, with the wives and mothers obviously in the background, as seen being played by two terrific character actresses from the stage and screen, Lois Smith and Elizabeth Lawrence.
The other three friends are Michael Huddleston, Jim Metzler and Jodi Thelen, with the three men all in love with the quirky single mom Thelen who keeps her love from Wasson hidden. The segment of wealthy Julia Murray and possessive dad James Leo Herlihy is certainly creepy, but it gives a very good scene to veteran actress Lois Smith that is quite haunting. Smith went on to great acclaim from already previous a plan, and in her nineties, became the oldest Tony winner ever. Ironically, she had appeared with costar Elizabeth Lawrence on the soap opera "The Doctors" just a few years before. Lawrence took a break from her Emmy nominated role as Myra on "All My Children" to star in this film, and while she appears onscreen quite a bit unfortunately does not get a lot of dialogue.
There really isn't a strong linear storyline, no plot line really to keep the film with a tight structure, so it is basically a character study of one man and his tragedies that recur through his life. Miklos Simon, as Wasson's father, also gives a good performance, but his character is rather dark. This film has so many of those dark moments to it that is certainly not one that people are going to revisit, but it is certainly recommended as a work of art, flawed but a definite time capsule that is sort of on this opportunity. With better structuring and more focus on underdeveloped characters, this could have been a classic, especially under the direction of the genius Arthur Penn.
The other three friends are Michael Huddleston, Jim Metzler and Jodi Thelen, with the three men all in love with the quirky single mom Thelen who keeps her love from Wasson hidden. The segment of wealthy Julia Murray and possessive dad James Leo Herlihy is certainly creepy, but it gives a very good scene to veteran actress Lois Smith that is quite haunting. Smith went on to great acclaim from already previous a plan, and in her nineties, became the oldest Tony winner ever. Ironically, she had appeared with costar Elizabeth Lawrence on the soap opera "The Doctors" just a few years before. Lawrence took a break from her Emmy nominated role as Myra on "All My Children" to star in this film, and while she appears onscreen quite a bit unfortunately does not get a lot of dialogue.
There really isn't a strong linear storyline, no plot line really to keep the film with a tight structure, so it is basically a character study of one man and his tragedies that recur through his life. Miklos Simon, as Wasson's father, also gives a good performance, but his character is rather dark. This film has so many of those dark moments to it that is certainly not one that people are going to revisit, but it is certainly recommended as a work of art, flawed but a definite time capsule that is sort of on this opportunity. With better structuring and more focus on underdeveloped characters, this could have been a classic, especially under the direction of the genius Arthur Penn.