Customer Reviews

The Pursuit of Happiness

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you enjoy the period details of the Sixties in Mad Men, you should check out this underrated (and largely overlooked) film by Robert Mulligan from 1970. Better than any movie I can think of, it captures the mindset of the generational gap of the Sixties. It is remarkable how the hero rejects the phoniness of the "Establishment" for its lack of honesty. Today's political climate and attitudes are so much more evil, full of lies, greed, and power grabs, that it makes 1970 look like paradise.

The product description is inaccurate. Pay no attention to it. The beauty of this film is in the details, the posters, the activism, the look of New York, the casual racism and sexism, the idealism of a sort no one has these days... Even the aerial shot of the Statue of Liberty is something that couldn't be filmed today, post 9-11.

Michael Sarrazin in a fine performance plays a young man who accidently kills a pedestrian with his car. He goes unjustly through the court and prison systems. His attitude is taken into account more than his actions. The radical mood of the movie is typical of its time. Barbara Hershey plays a supporting role as his pretty girlfriend. Ruth White gives a somewhat funny performance as his bigoted grandmother. 2.5 out of 3.

Saw this as a second feature on a double bill back in the 70s and it stuck in my mind. A bit dated but certainly the story is still relevant - a young guy (the "rebel") stands up for what he believes and gives up a privileged life as the price for his beliefs. Amazing to see Michael Sarrazin and Barbara Hershey when they were so young! As long as you're not expecting Shakespeare this movie provides a fairly entertaining 90 minutes.

Ignore the somewhat mocking suggestion of camp by the "Martini Movies" logo -- this is a fine movie about the American state of mind circa 1971, especially for a young man no longer sure of anything, other than his disdain for & despair over the phoniness of society. As portrayed by Michael Sarrazin in an understated but subtly intense performance, Billy Popper, unwilling scion of old money, has reached the point where even protest no longer seems worthwhile. The sheer absurdity of a life built on lies & empty appearances has worn down his soul.

And then his life is altered forever, as he accidentally runs down an old woman in a driving rainstorm one night. Suddenly his entire future is on the line -- but he seems to be the only one who doesn't much care, seeing this as one more accident in a universe that's apparently an accident. He's something of a more naive American cousin to Camus' Meursault, in a way.

I'll say nothing more about the story, except that it constantly goes in directions I didn't expect, wonderfully subverting the tired cliches of the standard Hollywood plot. Ably supported by a lovely Barbara Hershey as his girlfriend & Robert Klein as a slightly loose cannon of a best friend, struggling to negotiate the labyrinth of family & the law as represented by Arthur Hill, E. G. Marshall, Sada Thompson & Ruth White's acerbic firecracker of an obsecenely rich grandmother, Billy finally arrives at the only answer for him. It's one a lot of us will identify with, especially if we've had enough & too much of contemporary society ourselves.

It never made much of a splash, and it's been pretty much forgotten over the decades -- but here's a film that's honest about life in 1971, while managing to speak quite eloquently to the present as well -- recommended!

good movie if you like the older classics - good acting - not on the top of the list but worth buying if the price is right.

Somewhat interesting story about a man who's life suddenly turns upside down. Barbara Hershey is hot!

Not him personally, but whatever happened to his career? He seemed like such a fine actor in "They Shoot Horses, Don't They" and "The Reincarnation of Peter Proud." He's fine in this film too but once again, the 70s version of the "rebel" who won't conform to society (or society that won't conform to him) seems a little dated. One just has to view this film in the proper perspective in order to enjoy it.

i already knew what i was looking for, so i am very satisfied with the product . thank you

I almost bought it until I read the product description which gave away the whole story and even told how it ended, so why buy it?

The tape was a bit defective in that it had lines through it a lot of times and at times it would get large, then small then large, again, then to normal.