I certainly can’t call this movie any sort of favorite, and I can’t guarantee I’ll recommend it to other’s, but it ain’t all bad.
First impressions, before watching the film, were that this would be some cartoony overblown comedy with shamefully polite humor. From the get-go, the way Harold commits false suicides is not only a failed attempt at morbid humor, but it is also lacking in proper timing and remorse for the actress, Sunshine (whom I fell completely in love with as soon as I heard her speak… what an unappreciated character with such strange potential).
Most of the film has been boring so far, with hints of attempts to be zany of clever that did not work out, like the motorcop chase and Maude’s introduction. I can tell that scenes like this are intended to make the conventional viewer feel sly for getting away with watching these characters enjoy being careless, but I am not repressed and I have many thoughts beyond convention, so the plot seems… irrelevant. However, some very brief moments were enjoyable, and carried off with such sharm, but without the incredibly unbearable warm-ups from the previous scenes, I would have felt completely different about them. Thus far into the movie, the heart warming bits included Harold’s Jag/hearse scene, and Maude’s invitation to touch her sculpture (which had a feminine presence, due to some similarities to the vagina, that made me approach the scene as a metaphor for Maude’s open acceptance of Harold’s purity and quirkiness, and Harold’s naivety and obnoxious rush to get to the climax… and by that I mean to compare his quick rush to stick his head through the center, and his eagerness to enact death… I could go on comparing that very scene to the rest of Harold and Maude’s relationship throughout the film, but I won’t right now). I also loved, beyond doubt, the moment when Harold’s uncle tries to calm his crazed, sign swinging nephew, and wound up staring at his own reflection. I thought, perhaps this arrogant man can show som capacity for change, that there was a chance for him to redeem himself in my eyes, by seeing what a pathetic caricature he was. Such heart-fluttering stopped, when the possibility of this was dashed, an approach that I can only assume to be purposeful on part of the filmmakers.
On the matter of the two main characters’ relationship, I find it disturbing that the makers of the film found it acceptable to make Harold such a cartoon of suicidal teenagers, and Maude such of eccentric seniors. It’s very possible to make them realistic and accept that they would make such an endearing pair.
Music slightly reminds me of “The Graduate”’s Simon and Garfunkel soundtrack, and falls flat on the ground in comparison.
I am struck.
Having just witnessed Maude tell of her intentions for suicide, I have suffered a dark blow. A sign that despite the film’s shortcomings, I have grown attached to the characters enough to care about them as living beings.
This movie may not be the best, or the most touching, but like a banjo, it accomplishes the simpler approaches to a deeper and more meaningful outcome than most other simple instruments ever try to. A movie to be reckoned.
SCRIPT: respectable
CONTENT: alright
DIRECTION: respectable
ACTION: respectable
