Rating: PG
Movie Release Date: December 20, 1971
DVD Release Date: June 27, 2000
Plot 411: A young boy obsessed with death meets an older woman full of life who opens up his world and helps him to live for the first time.
Review: This was weirdly moving in a way that I find very difficult to describe. Harold (Bud Cort) comes from an aristocratic world to which he doesn't seem to relate. He is constantly acting out suicides using different methods. This practice is so common that his mother no longer reacts to them. It seems his behavior is merely a ploy for his mother's attention. She tries her best to engage him in the world (by signing him up for a dating service or requesting that his uncle, a military man, recruit him), but obviously this isn't fruitful. Harold continues to foster an obsession with death and attends funerals for the joy of it. He meets Maude (Ruth Gordon) at several funerals and she becomes his first real friend. Maude, who is going on 80 years old, lives life to its fullest and with no regrets. Her outlook captivates Harold and as their friendship develops, he slowly opens up to the idea of life. Maude teaches him that life, love and attachments are transient and to make the best of everything by doing whatever it is you want to do. Don't let society's rules prevent you from feeling joy through whatever means necessary. In addition to that nice little message, there are tons of funny moments throughout the film that are definitely worthwhile to see. Gordon is like a lively sprite, singing and dancing her way into your heart.
Movie Release Date: December 20, 1971
DVD Release Date: June 27, 2000
Plot 411: A young boy obsessed with death meets an older woman full of life who opens up his world and helps him to live for the first time.
Review: This was weirdly moving in a way that I find very difficult to describe. Harold (Bud Cort) comes from an aristocratic world to which he doesn't seem to relate. He is constantly acting out suicides using different methods. This practice is so common that his mother no longer reacts to them. It seems his behavior is merely a ploy for his mother's attention. She tries her best to engage him in the world (by signing him up for a dating service or requesting that his uncle, a military man, recruit him), but obviously this isn't fruitful. Harold continues to foster an obsession with death and attends funerals for the joy of it. He meets Maude (Ruth Gordon) at several funerals and she becomes his first real friend. Maude, who is going on 80 years old, lives life to its fullest and with no regrets. Her outlook captivates Harold and as their friendship develops, he slowly opens up to the idea of life. Maude teaches him that life, love and attachments are transient and to make the best of everything by doing whatever it is you want to do. Don't let society's rules prevent you from feeling joy through whatever means necessary. In addition to that nice little message, there are tons of funny moments throughout the film that are definitely worthwhile to see. Gordon is like a lively sprite, singing and dancing her way into your heart.
Watch It: For an amazing and memorable performance by Ruth Gordon.
Skip It: If the idea of an octogenarian and a twentysomething in bed together makes you retch.
Trailer:
7 comments:
actually enjoyed this one a lot.. Ruth Gordon is one of my all-time faves.. she could have been playing herself in this.. bud cort plays the creepy young guy well and has gone on to have a substantial, if undistinguished, career in film and TV for over 40 years.. nice pick..
I thought Gordon was outstanding in this movie. I don't recognize her from anything else I've seen though. This one touched the depths of my little dark heart LOL
sky..
Ruth had a long and successful career..
Most notably in more recent times, she appeared with Clint in the Any Which Way series.. playing, ummmm, Ruth Gordon..
also wrote movies with her husband Garson Kanin, notably Pat and Mike for Tracy and Hepburn, allegedly a reflection of Ruth and Garson's own marriage..
I definitely have to watch some of her other movies. She's pretty great - kinda like that one crazy aunt we've all got in the family who is just way out there.
sky..
that's certainly "the part" she's playing so well, but when you look closer at her life you find that she was part of the NY film & literary intelligentsia, along with her hub, who hung out with Frank Capra on the film side and Thornton Wilder and Ring Lardner on the literary side..
she's still a charming wacko, but one grounded in genius.. (which is nice)..
Hmm, so a true artist and not one of the posers so common in Hollywood these days. That's actually really refreshing.
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