I had high hopes for this classic and was terribly disappointed. It puzzles me how a film revolving around two characters as one-dimensional and uninteresting as these could come to be regarded so highly. There is truly little imagination going on in this story as we are assaulted with the same transparent message over and over again in uninspired, absurd ways. More drama than comedy, this film fa... read more
Description:T
T
0
0
Amazon.com essential video
Black comedies don't come much blacker than this cult favorite from 1972, and they don't come much funnier, either. It seemed that director Hal Ashby was the perfect choice to mine a mother lode of eccentricity from the original script by Colin Higgins, about the unlikely romance between a death-obT
T
0
0
Amazon.com essential video
Black comedies don't come much blacker than this cult favorite from 1972, and they don't come much funnier, either. It seemed that director Hal Ashby was the perfect choice to mine a mother lode of eccentricity from the original script by Colin Higgins, about the unlikely romance between a death-obsessed 19-year-old named Harold (Bud Cort) and a life-loving 79-year-old widow named Maude (Ruth Gordon). They meet at a funeral, and Maude finds something oddly appealing about Harold, urging him to "reach out" and grab life by the lapels as opposed to dwelling morbidly on mortality. Harold grows fond of the old gal--she's a lot more fun than the girls his mother desperately matches him up with--and together they make Harold & Maude one of the sweetest and most unconventional love stories ever made. Much of the earlier humor arises from Harold's outrageous suicide fantasies, played out as a kind of twisted parlor game to mortify his mother, who's grown immune to her strange son's antics. Gradually, however, the film's clever humor shifts to a brighter outlook and finally arrives at a point where Harold is truly happy to be alive. Featuring soundtrack songs by Cat Stevens, this comedy certainly won't appeal to all tastes (it was a box-office flop when first released), but if you're on its quirky wavelength, it might just strike you as one of the funniest movies you've ever seen. --Jeff Shannon
“I had high hopes for this classic and was terribly disappointed. It puzzles me how a film revolving around two characters as one-dimensional and uninteresting as these could come to be regarded so highly. There is truly little imagination going on in this story as we are assaulted with the same transparent message over and over again in uninspired, absurd ways. More drama than comedy, this film fails at both. The films attempt at bold, black humor simply cannot make up for lazy, contrived story-telling. The love story exists only as a flat, static IDEA that never truly comes ALIVE on screen. Still curious as to what I might have missed in this one I looked up Roger Ebert's review (worth a look if youre interested) after finishing this movie. I was satisfied to find that he disliked it, and” read more
roomforthought added this to a list 3 years, 3 months ago
Explore
Forums
Join Listal
Movies
TV Shows
DVDs
Music
Books
Games
Lists
Reviews
Images
I queue
A.F.I./Oscars List (DVDs I Own) 
