Smartorhypo Highly Overrated But Still Good

Curapedi I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Adeel Hail Unshakable, witty and deeply felt, the film will be paying emotional dividends for a long, long time.

Staci Frederick Blistering performances.

Jay Harris This 1973 film directed by Alan J Pakula & written by Alvin Sargent (two top names in film) has finally been released to DVD.I could have waited another 36 years to see it.It was made in Spain & the cinematography & settings are excellent, This is the only reason the rating is this high.The script is atrociously bad, 16 minutes into the film it is telegraphed that Maggie Smith has a deadly illness.SPOILERS AHEAD.We first meet Timothy Bottoms (he was 22 at the time) as an aimless college student about to go off & find himself in Spain. Of course they meet,Maggie has a bad first impression (thts a cliché isn't it),They fall in love & shortly after fall in bed with each other (another cliché). They are two of many clichés,including a tiny trailer that leaks in a' downpour.I do not like telling spoilers BUT the script is so bad,it is my duty to tell.The acting by both Maggie & Timothy is first class.It is a shame they are in a third class film. The film is a very long 110 minutes, The rest of cast are either very minor or 2 cameos by two Spanish stars.Again I say beautiful sets & scenery with good acting by the 2 stars.Ratings: ** (out of 4) 63 Points (out of 100) IMDb 5 (out of 10)

csmclean Boo hoo- I can't imagine why this movie is not available..!! It truly lives up to the title-- covering love, pain and 'the whole damned thing' much in the way depth comedies like Harold and Maude or A Thousand Clowns (Jason Robards) did. I still remember certain humorous 'Maggie' scenes after 30+ years since my first viewing -- and had no idea I'd have any trouble finding the film to add to my comedy classics collection!! With Maggie in full bloom these days - even with the younger set (via Harry Potter), there is no excuse not to have one of her funniest available!! (The toilet paper stuck-on-her scene was great!) Timothy did VERY well,too-- just right, in fact and I remember this film and The White Dawn as two of his best films. Besides comedy and pathos and great scenery (eg Spain) there was a touch of Harold and Maude in this film. Maggie was cast as the endearingly disbelieving love object of Timothy Bottoms deepening devotion, and in certain scenes wherein his father tries to talk him out of the preposterousness of being in love with an older (and dying) woman, there are echoes of similar scenes between Bud Cort and those trying to dissuade Harold from the (supposed) foolhardiness/repulsion factor of loving Maude!)

nancyjomo This is a delightful film of coming of age, and coming to life. The one, a young man, suffocated by his blue-blood family, finds himself in the eyes of an older woman. And she, a not-quite-middle-aged spinster suffocated by her roles in life, is yearning for something to live for as she faces a final illness. He falls in love with her unaffected realism; and she with his boyish enthusiasm and unashamed wonder at the world. Together they struggle with what they see as a lack of tolerable options for such an odd couple; while learning more and more to depend on each other for much more than friendship. Together they discover Europe, and life, and each other, and themselves ... and bring us all a little more to life when they do.

ravenesq I saw this film for the first time when it was coupled with "the main film"...The Dove. Fortunately this film came on first and afterwards, during the preview of The Dove, most of the audience left. They clearly had come to see Maggie Smith. This is an absolutely perfect film and I would love to share it with other people.