A dynamite performance by Tuesday Weld propels this extremely melancholy look at the empty lives of a bunch of Hollywood types wallowing in angst. Frank Perry and scriptwriters John Gregory Dunne & Joan Didion create a bitter expose with Weld as an actress and wife of director Adam Roarke, floating through life never quite able to figure out who she is. She finds little solace in empty affairs or her hedonistic friends (Anthony Perkins & Tammy Grimes). Perkins proves to be even worse off than Weld in what has to be one of the most depressing movie endings. This is probably Weld's finest performance. She peels back a lot of layers finding absolutely nothing. It's a bit of a stunner that she was not nominated for an Oscar as best actress. Perkins is excellent. The blindingly bright sunlit cinematography is by Jordan Cronenweth. There's no music score and frankly it's not missed. Ruth Ford & Tyne Daly are in it too.
28 Reviews
More Interesting than Entertaining
aimless-4621 April 2006
Joan Didion's novel "Play It as It Lays" is more interesting than it is entertaining and Frank Perry's 1973 movie adaptation shares this dynamic. Making one very hesitant to recommend either for anyone but your most inquisitive friends.
This is not really a feminist story although one of its two principle subjects could be considered an item on the feminist agenda, exploring the mysteries of female discontent. That subject differs somewhat from both the mysteries of male discontent and the mysteries of human discontent; the latter being the second of the film's subjects.
Tuesday Weld plays Maria, a not particularly successful film actress who finds herself essentially over-the-hill at 30ish. This is a uniquely feminist issue since the unfair fact is that males tend to have a much longer Hollywood shelf life. Although Hollywood likes to view itself as unique in most respects, it is pretty much the same thing throughout society; probably an evolutionary wiring type thing that makes middle age men like JV cheerleaders.
Combined with the fact that relative to boys and young men, girls and young women focus a lot more of their daily energy toward getting people (especially males) to respond to them. Since males enjoy responding to them everybody is happy, at least everybody but those women who men do not strongly respond to. This is where Hollywood comes in because an older woman's level of resentment is highly correlated with how much power she once enjoyed in the attraction arena. So much of Maria's identity was tied up in this dynamic that she is empty without it and unable to find an adequate substitute.
A more standard secondary theme is that of the young girl from the heartlands (in this case Montana where things are real) going to the illusionary world of Hollywood film-making (insert "Mulholland Drive" here). And throw in the power brokering of the Hollywood movers and shakers.
But "Play It as It Lays" is a complex story and also includes a more universal subject. Maria's Fitzgerald-like crack-up is paralleled by the Samual Clemens-like disillusionment of her best friend B. Z. (Anthony Perkins). He is a professionally successful producer who has begun looking around at this late point in his life and failing to find a meaning to existence. Maria is also catching on to this idea and it is not helping either of them find motivation. The title "Play It as It Lays" sums up the film's take on the human condition.
Like Kilgore Trout's existential answer to the universal question "why are we born only to suffer and die", Maria avoids B.Z. fate with the only answer possible: "why not".
This is a cynical film about people going to pieces, unable to find substitutes for essential things/beliefs that they have lost. Weld is probably the best actress of her generation but the role is so flat that it is not a particularly good showcase for her talent. That said, it would have been interesting to see Elizabeth Hartman's take on the character. Still Weld and Perkins manage to make the viewer care about their characters.
If you like "Play It as It Lays" you might want to check out Faye Dunaway in "Puzzle of a Downfall Child", a film made at approximately the same time with a similar story and an identical tone.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
This is not really a feminist story although one of its two principle subjects could be considered an item on the feminist agenda, exploring the mysteries of female discontent. That subject differs somewhat from both the mysteries of male discontent and the mysteries of human discontent; the latter being the second of the film's subjects.
Tuesday Weld plays Maria, a not particularly successful film actress who finds herself essentially over-the-hill at 30ish. This is a uniquely feminist issue since the unfair fact is that males tend to have a much longer Hollywood shelf life. Although Hollywood likes to view itself as unique in most respects, it is pretty much the same thing throughout society; probably an evolutionary wiring type thing that makes middle age men like JV cheerleaders.
Combined with the fact that relative to boys and young men, girls and young women focus a lot more of their daily energy toward getting people (especially males) to respond to them. Since males enjoy responding to them everybody is happy, at least everybody but those women who men do not strongly respond to. This is where Hollywood comes in because an older woman's level of resentment is highly correlated with how much power she once enjoyed in the attraction arena. So much of Maria's identity was tied up in this dynamic that she is empty without it and unable to find an adequate substitute.
A more standard secondary theme is that of the young girl from the heartlands (in this case Montana where things are real) going to the illusionary world of Hollywood film-making (insert "Mulholland Drive" here). And throw in the power brokering of the Hollywood movers and shakers.
But "Play It as It Lays" is a complex story and also includes a more universal subject. Maria's Fitzgerald-like crack-up is paralleled by the Samual Clemens-like disillusionment of her best friend B. Z. (Anthony Perkins). He is a professionally successful producer who has begun looking around at this late point in his life and failing to find a meaning to existence. Maria is also catching on to this idea and it is not helping either of them find motivation. The title "Play It as It Lays" sums up the film's take on the human condition.
Like Kilgore Trout's existential answer to the universal question "why are we born only to suffer and die", Maria avoids B.Z. fate with the only answer possible: "why not".
This is a cynical film about people going to pieces, unable to find substitutes for essential things/beliefs that they have lost. Weld is probably the best actress of her generation but the role is so flat that it is not a particularly good showcase for her talent. That said, it would have been interesting to see Elizabeth Hartman's take on the character. Still Weld and Perkins manage to make the viewer care about their characters.
If you like "Play It as It Lays" you might want to check out Faye Dunaway in "Puzzle of a Downfall Child", a film made at approximately the same time with a similar story and an identical tone.
Then again, what do I know? I'm only a child.
Grows On You If You Can Stay With It
IanIndependent5 July 2020
This is a film that tries hard to be provocative. It attempts to hit you hard in places and to make you think. There are themes to do with breaking down the barriers between characters and the real life of people that play them and also about existence and life chances. This is all worthy and if you stay with the film it has something to offer even if that something isn't any answers.
Unfortunately, in trying to ask questions without answers and in trying to make the film unrepetitive by making it non-linear and move the story backwards and forwards between events it fails to carry the viewer. I was too busy for the first hour trying to make sure that I hadn't missed anything that I didn't settle into the film. Therefore it is not an easy watch and is not really substantial enough to be worth the effort.
However, the cast especially Tuesday Weld hold the film together well it is almost worth watching 'Play It As It Lays' for the performances.
Unfortunately, in trying to ask questions without answers and in trying to make the film unrepetitive by making it non-linear and move the story backwards and forwards between events it fails to carry the viewer. I was too busy for the first hour trying to make sure that I hadn't missed anything that I didn't settle into the film. Therefore it is not an easy watch and is not really substantial enough to be worth the effort.
However, the cast especially Tuesday Weld hold the film together well it is almost worth watching 'Play It As It Lays' for the performances.
Puzzling lack of respect for this gem
roobozart5 December 2003
The movie Play It as It Lays is, admittedly, not everyone's cup of tea. Even the book--as much as I liked it--was a hard sell to friends and family; most, especially those living outside the Southern California forcefield, simply could not grasp the essential Los Angeles flavor of Didion's dry economical language. The language of the Industry is spot-on (for a change) as are the depictions of the unusual alliances and estrangements of the characters in the film. One person I know who hated the film complained that it was too "faggy" and not like the real Hollywood at all (this person lives in Tucson); the B.Z. and Maria relationship at the heart of this movie may seem bizarre and pointless to auslanders, but it certainly reminded me of real life in LA circa 1972. Also of note is Tammy Grimes' performance as B.Z.'s wife--she got so many of the good lines ("Oh God my face--I can really see a difference"; "in what?"; "skipping my Lazslo for one day.") This movie should be available in VHS/DVD; does anyone know why it's been ignored? I'd love to know.
Hollywood Existentialism
ksmacy-213 October 2005
Warning: Spoilers
Tuesday Weld's model turned actress character Maria Wyeth should be easy to relate to, with a mentally challenged daughter in an institution, a director husband who treats her coldly and forces her to have an abortion, a suicidal best friend (Perkins), and nowhere to go to escape any of it. Unfortunately, the poor beautiful rich girl routine is taken to such an extreme that she can barely stand up by herself, and can't even eat without seeing a rattlesnake coiled up and ready to strike. She acts like a child who no one can take anywhere without her acting out. Still, she thinks she is better than everyone else (she practically says this in her final voice over), because she "knows what nothing is, and she keeps playing". Does she really think that no one else in Hollywood, who hasn't committed suicide, is dissatisfied? The "existential" point (as they say repeatedly) is supposed to be that plasticized Hollywood does that to people, but we don't see her break - she just skips right to the catatonia. The scenes are so short as to not even qualify as episodic, or scenes, really. Many of them just serve as excuses to say some of the novel's more poetic lines. I was so trying to relate to this movie that I found myself wondering if I would hate it so much if it were French, but, yes, I would. It felt a outdated and film school to me. Obviously, the acting, cinematography were better, but the pacing and concept, while as numbing as they intended to be, weren't relatable.
Engulfing
laffinsal16 March 2001
This film, as the previous reviewers have said, is a real gem, namely for two reasons. First off, it is basically a character study of an individual who has been consumed by the lifestyle which she has adopted for herself. In the part of this tortured person, Tuesday Weld gives an exceptional performance. Her body language and facial expressions all convey the feeling of a person lost in this world that she has come to loathe. Anthony Perkins is also excellent in his role of B.Z. and he, and Weld counteract with each other beautifully.
The other main reason why this film is so intriguing, is the way it is edited and pieced together. The viewer basically goes from one scene to the next without any serious concern for continuity. Because of this fractured, choppy approach to the storytelling, some really impressive sequences are pulled off simply, yet effectively. There is one particularly impressive sequence involving Weld's character driving down a freeway, while a camera above pulls back to show the twisted, snake-like formation of the southern California freeway system. There is also the final scene, with it's haunting final message, which is certain to linger in one's mind days after seeing the film. Indeed, a very unique and special piece.
The other main reason why this film is so intriguing, is the way it is edited and pieced together. The viewer basically goes from one scene to the next without any serious concern for continuity. Because of this fractured, choppy approach to the storytelling, some really impressive sequences are pulled off simply, yet effectively. There is one particularly impressive sequence involving Weld's character driving down a freeway, while a camera above pulls back to show the twisted, snake-like formation of the southern California freeway system. There is also the final scene, with it's haunting final message, which is certain to linger in one's mind days after seeing the film. Indeed, a very unique and special piece.
Very very boring, static.
RodrigAndrisan9 March 2021
It's only for those who love Tuesday Weld and Anthony Perkins, both very good actors, even in this very boring movie. I can't give it more than two stars, one for Weld, the other for Perkins. Everyone who gave it 9 or 10 stars and wrote superlative things, like the movie it's a super masterpiece, they're all snobs.
An American tragedy
threepines28 December 2006
I was 18 when I saw Frank Perry's Play It As It Lays during its brief opening run. It affected me powerfully. Blew me out like very few films ever have, actually. Completely intoxicating. I stumbled out into the afternoon sunlight afterwards rapt and bewildered, stunned and delighted, thoroughly alive. But in the years since I've never once met a single person who's even seen it, and the whole experience has become dreamlike and lost, a memory I'm no longer sure of.
However I did pounce on Joan Didion's blistering short novel when I found it. What a fine book! No wonder the effect of the film was so profound, telling that cruel, utterly remorseless story. (And of course I fell in love, fanboy-style, with Tuesday Weld, or perhaps more truly with Maria Wyeth, the doomed and heart-breakingly aware character she inhabited.)
But rather than attempt to analyse a film that plunged me in way out of my depth when I saw it 34 years ago, I simply want to add my voice to those of earlier and more capable reviewers calling for its release on DVD. It's exactly the sort of madly brilliant one-off that cries out for Criterion treatment. Well, mutters grumpily for it anyway.
And I'd most certainly like to recommend that if you ever do get the chance to see it, make sure you do. It might have vanished, but it always was an exceptionally interesting film, one of the very great "small" ones. Perhaps the best film Robert Altman never made.
However I did pounce on Joan Didion's blistering short novel when I found it. What a fine book! No wonder the effect of the film was so profound, telling that cruel, utterly remorseless story. (And of course I fell in love, fanboy-style, with Tuesday Weld, or perhaps more truly with Maria Wyeth, the doomed and heart-breakingly aware character she inhabited.)
But rather than attempt to analyse a film that plunged me in way out of my depth when I saw it 34 years ago, I simply want to add my voice to those of earlier and more capable reviewers calling for its release on DVD. It's exactly the sort of madly brilliant one-off that cries out for Criterion treatment. Well, mutters grumpily for it anyway.
And I'd most certainly like to recommend that if you ever do get the chance to see it, make sure you do. It might have vanished, but it always was an exceptionally interesting film, one of the very great "small" ones. Perhaps the best film Robert Altman never made.
Welcome to California
richardchatten22 July 2018
The title had led me to expect a comedy - although it proved anything but - and maybe Joan Didion's original novel explained what it meant (something to do with golf I believe, which figures). But the film left me none the wiser; as well as why I should care about these unpleasant, self-centred egotists, among whose luxurious homes and tennis courts Tuesday Weld sullenly trudges about when not riding in fast cars wearing clothes by costume designer Joel Schumacher.
I would have liked more of Mitzi Hoag's tart little cameo as roadhouse proprietress Patsy.
I would have liked more of Mitzi Hoag's tart little cameo as roadhouse proprietress Patsy.
A genuine rarity - an American art film
grahamclarke15 May 2003
For a short while, in the days when it was still possible; director Frank Perry valiantly attempted the making of an American art film depicting existential despair in the European tradition of Bergman and Antonioni. "The Swimmer" and "Play It As It Lays" remain fine examples of his work but both found little support within the industry and unsurprisingly failed to reach audiences. While "The Swimmer" is available on video and DVD owing to the clout of Burt Lancaster, the superior "Play It As It Lays" has vanished without a trace. Occasionally copies do surface but always of poor quality.
In "Pretty Poison" the curious but clearly evident chemistry between Tuesday Weld and Anthony Perkins did not go unnoticed. In "Play It As It Lays" this odd affinity is elevated to the level where by merely looking at each other, the total understanding and empathy these characters possess is revealed. The relationship is extremely tender, while asexual. These are soul mates sharing a common despair, which each will deal with in different ways.
One can only surmise as to the source of this truly rare chemistry. Tuesday Weld and Anthony Perkins had both been attractive young performers who were being groomed for a Hollywood stardom that had little, if not nothing, to do with the interesting, somewhat different personalities behind the image. Weld was put through such vehicles as "Rock Rock Rock" and "Sex Kittens Go to College" while an uncomfortable looking Perkins did "Green Mansions" and "Tall Story". The astute Hitchcock, a master at utilizing actor's personalities would stamp Perkins career until the end by casting him in "Pyscho". Weld and Perkins would always be outsiders in a system which largely misunderstood them.
"Play It As It Lays" is one of the few films in which both Weld and Perkins seem totally comfortable in their roles. They play their parts with great ease and utter conviction. It's as if they are not acting at all; they simply are Maria Wyeth and B.Z.. Surely there's no higher praise for actors. Their final scene together is unparalleled.
Adam Roarke too, reveals a power and intelligence missing in his previous films amongst which had been biker movies much like "Angel Beach" which his character directs. It's as if director Frank Perry is consciously affording the actors a chance to do something they really want to do, in contrast to many of their previous roles. They respond with performances containing a core of truth making "Play It As It Lays" a fascinating film.
Joan Didion's novel has been faithfully adapted. The emptiness of affluent America, or more precisely California, finds expression in the jarringly edited, puzzle like assembled work. By setting this piece in the world of filmmaking Didion not only sheds light on the void in the individual's life, but on the barrenness of the American film making process itself; something that all connected with "Play It As It Lays" would have close knowledge of, and clearly suffered from.
If ever a movie needed to be resurrected and reappraised it's this genuine rarity.
In "Pretty Poison" the curious but clearly evident chemistry between Tuesday Weld and Anthony Perkins did not go unnoticed. In "Play It As It Lays" this odd affinity is elevated to the level where by merely looking at each other, the total understanding and empathy these characters possess is revealed. The relationship is extremely tender, while asexual. These are soul mates sharing a common despair, which each will deal with in different ways.
One can only surmise as to the source of this truly rare chemistry. Tuesday Weld and Anthony Perkins had both been attractive young performers who were being groomed for a Hollywood stardom that had little, if not nothing, to do with the interesting, somewhat different personalities behind the image. Weld was put through such vehicles as "Rock Rock Rock" and "Sex Kittens Go to College" while an uncomfortable looking Perkins did "Green Mansions" and "Tall Story". The astute Hitchcock, a master at utilizing actor's personalities would stamp Perkins career until the end by casting him in "Pyscho". Weld and Perkins would always be outsiders in a system which largely misunderstood them.
"Play It As It Lays" is one of the few films in which both Weld and Perkins seem totally comfortable in their roles. They play their parts with great ease and utter conviction. It's as if they are not acting at all; they simply are Maria Wyeth and B.Z.. Surely there's no higher praise for actors. Their final scene together is unparalleled.
Adam Roarke too, reveals a power and intelligence missing in his previous films amongst which had been biker movies much like "Angel Beach" which his character directs. It's as if director Frank Perry is consciously affording the actors a chance to do something they really want to do, in contrast to many of their previous roles. They respond with performances containing a core of truth making "Play It As It Lays" a fascinating film.
Joan Didion's novel has been faithfully adapted. The emptiness of affluent America, or more precisely California, finds expression in the jarringly edited, puzzle like assembled work. By setting this piece in the world of filmmaking Didion not only sheds light on the void in the individual's life, but on the barrenness of the American film making process itself; something that all connected with "Play It As It Lays" would have close knowledge of, and clearly suffered from.
If ever a movie needed to be resurrected and reappraised it's this genuine rarity.
Yayyyy - he's dead!
Gangsteroctopus13 May 2022
Warning: Spoilers
SO much wasted talent. Anthony Perkins and Tuesday Weld, together again, after their terrific pairing in "Pretty Poison" 4 years prior. Director Frank Perry, cinematographer Jordan Cronenworth ("Blade Runner'). But if it ain't on the page...
Insufferable. Awful. Joan Didion - one of the most overrated literary 'talents' of all time.
Why, in God's name, are we supposed to care one whit for any of these insufferable a-holes? What is their PROBLEM? Boo-hoo! "I grew up in a crappy ghost town in East Egypt, NV and now I'm married to a movie director and live in a big mansion on Hollywood, but I still feel BAD about myself - waaaaaaHHH! I'm a widdle whiny baby! Sit and listen to my pretentious musings for an hour and a half." The only character I liked was Earl Scheib, seen briefly in a commercial on TV. Everyone else in this movie can eff off and die.
And guess what? One of them actually did me that courtresy! I almost stood up and cheered when Anthony Perkins died at the end, except that he didn't deserve my huzzahs because he went out like a complete wanker. Maybe if he'd thrown himself in front of a speeding Greyhound bus and we got to see him explode across its frontside, traumatizing all of the passengers inside by the sight of his splattered intestines being whicked away by the bus's windshield wipers...there, I just wrote a better (and funnier!) movie. You're welcome.
Insufferable. Awful. Joan Didion - one of the most overrated literary 'talents' of all time.
Why, in God's name, are we supposed to care one whit for any of these insufferable a-holes? What is their PROBLEM? Boo-hoo! "I grew up in a crappy ghost town in East Egypt, NV and now I'm married to a movie director and live in a big mansion on Hollywood, but I still feel BAD about myself - waaaaaaHHH! I'm a widdle whiny baby! Sit and listen to my pretentious musings for an hour and a half." The only character I liked was Earl Scheib, seen briefly in a commercial on TV. Everyone else in this movie can eff off and die.
And guess what? One of them actually did me that courtresy! I almost stood up and cheered when Anthony Perkins died at the end, except that he didn't deserve my huzzahs because he went out like a complete wanker. Maybe if he'd thrown himself in front of a speeding Greyhound bus and we got to see him explode across its frontside, traumatizing all of the passengers inside by the sight of his splattered intestines being whicked away by the bus's windshield wipers...there, I just wrote a better (and funnier!) movie. You're welcome.
..."I know what nothing is, and I still keep playing"...
MarieGabrielle20 April 2006
After having seen this film on Sundance several times, I will now have to read the book. This film is an excellent portrayal of a career/mid-life crisis, in its most existential form.
Not to be morbid, but if you ever read in the headlines about someone who "has it all" and just committed suicide,(and you are still mystified by this) you should watch this film. It is a version of "The Bell Jar" as experienced in Hollywood. Tuesday Weld and Tony Perkins are perfectly cast as two disaffected souls; tired of work, film, travel, meaningless trips to Vegas.
The photography is erratic and juxtaposed upon different layers of Weld's confused life. She goes to get an abortion, and the friend driving her starts talking about what sports car he should buy.
There are some beautiful scenes in the desert where her ex-husband is filming. The starkness, and randomness of life there are palpable. The relationship with her ex is a bit jumbled- but then, so is real life; nothing is clearly delineated; the dialogue is evasive and ominous.
The scene with Perkins and Weld alone are worth watching. She lulls him to sleep, talking about making preserves and relish, as he finally succumbs to the Seconal he carries around. The film, however, is not over-the-top; it is a believable account of people's lives- they just happen to be living in Hollywood, their lives are insular, but still not protected from despair. 9/10
Not to be morbid, but if you ever read in the headlines about someone who "has it all" and just committed suicide,(and you are still mystified by this) you should watch this film. It is a version of "The Bell Jar" as experienced in Hollywood. Tuesday Weld and Tony Perkins are perfectly cast as two disaffected souls; tired of work, film, travel, meaningless trips to Vegas.
The photography is erratic and juxtaposed upon different layers of Weld's confused life. She goes to get an abortion, and the friend driving her starts talking about what sports car he should buy.
There are some beautiful scenes in the desert where her ex-husband is filming. The starkness, and randomness of life there are palpable. The relationship with her ex is a bit jumbled- but then, so is real life; nothing is clearly delineated; the dialogue is evasive and ominous.
The scene with Perkins and Weld alone are worth watching. She lulls him to sleep, talking about making preserves and relish, as he finally succumbs to the Seconal he carries around. The film, however, is not over-the-top; it is a believable account of people's lives- they just happen to be living in Hollywood, their lives are insular, but still not protected from despair. 9/10
Scream
Ted_Morgan29 July 2008
Warning: Spoilers
"Play It as It Lays" impressed me at first viewing. For a decade, I waited to read a thumbnail review of it in "Sight and Sound." When I finally read one, the review disparaged the movie I most want to have on a DVD. Too bad.
Frank Perry directed several terrific films, including "Monsignor", "Diary of a Mad Housewife", and "The Swimmer." This is a movie I want to study in detail. I think it might belong on my top ten list; it is a faultless film version with a screen play by Joan Didion of her outstanding minimalist novel. The attention to nuance and detail reflects the same attention in the novel.
Every actor brings a subtle touch to his or her role. The editing is faultless. The cinematography by Jordan Croneweth is as matchless as his work in "Blade Runner" and "Handle with Care". Some think that Tuesday Weld merely played herself, but she has told us she is not the nihilist Maria is.
I recall with immense gratitude performances by Tammy Grimes, Adam Roarke, and Anthony Perkins, but everyone in this film is top notch I think this is the classic film about the moral and existential corruption of much American life. I will write more when I get to watch the film again. That final scream haunts me.
Frank Perry directed several terrific films, including "Monsignor", "Diary of a Mad Housewife", and "The Swimmer." This is a movie I want to study in detail. I think it might belong on my top ten list; it is a faultless film version with a screen play by Joan Didion of her outstanding minimalist novel. The attention to nuance and detail reflects the same attention in the novel.
Every actor brings a subtle touch to his or her role. The editing is faultless. The cinematography by Jordan Croneweth is as matchless as his work in "Blade Runner" and "Handle with Care". Some think that Tuesday Weld merely played herself, but she has told us she is not the nihilist Maria is.
I recall with immense gratitude performances by Tammy Grimes, Adam Roarke, and Anthony Perkins, but everyone in this film is top notch I think this is the classic film about the moral and existential corruption of much American life. I will write more when I get to watch the film again. That final scream haunts me.
The Female Brando
chetbakerrocks29 April 2006
Back in my college days I remember buying musician Matthew Sweet's classic rock album, "Girlfriend". Who graces this rock testament of unrequited love and heartbreak? Actress Tuesday Weld, wrapped in a fur jacket, beautifully shot at a California canyon location. I had never heard of her, although i was quite enamored of her beauty. Then, a month later I saw Weld in action in the film, "Looking for Mr.Goodbar". She played Diane Keaton's train wreck sister. She was incredible. A month ago, I saw Tuesday Weld in another incredible performance. The movie is called, "Play it as it Lays".
The opening sequence is stunning. Weld circles the outside garden of a mental institution, thinking of how she got there in the first place. No music, no histrionics, no special effects. Just the image of this beautiful, surprisingly small woman contemplating her life. Images of Maria, Weld's character, driving down a California freeway, shooting a gun at various street signs in an act of defiance. It is clear that Maria is no ordinary Beach Boy image of the Califronia Girl. Maria is very much her own person. A rebel. An angry young woman. It is not only an image of a woman losing her grip but one of a woman claiming her right for independence and for some kind of freedom. Clearly, this part was made for Tuesday Weld. The actress that playwright/actor Sam Sheperd called, "The Female Brando".
Weld is not the only great talent in this film. Director Frank Perry challenges the viewer with a film that provides no easy answers. Perry shows Los Angeles for what it can really be at times. Dense, loud, claustriphobic. Showing the smog and cloudiness that sometimes covers the sunny atmosphere and that often overcomes the land itself. Many critics panned the film for its quick cutting and fast paced direction, but this is important theme to the movie itself. It clearly shows what Maria is seeing of LA and how her life jumps from one incident to another. It shows Maria on her journey, even though it has no clear beginning or end. It is one drama quickly jumping to the other. Perry does this beautifully and with a clear intention for the story.
Maria is a person who is trying to question why things are so wrong with her life and the way she lives it. The other characters, during the film, at times mock Maria's quest for self investigation, for even thinking that she will find and understand her journey for truth. Perry is trying to show the importance of a person going on a journey for self discovery. He tries to show how the people surrounding us sometimes judge in order to justify their own empty lives. Maria may survive this journey, but there may be a price to pay.
Weld gives a performance of such depth, subtlety and nuance it is impossible to stop watching. I keep remembering Weld lying in bed as she discusses her pregnancy with her husband,and the possibility of an abortion. Weld doesn't cry, yell, she doesn't move at all, as she lies there almost perfectly still. But i remember the sadness on her face as she desperately tries to find reason, some kind of solution to the problem. As her husband beats her down emotionally, threatening her almost that he will take her daughter from her, we see how she is left heartbroken at her failed attempt at a resoulution. The vision of Weld, lying in bed, being so helpless but TRYING to resolve the situation is beautiful but ultimately very sad.
Simply put, Tuesday Weld's performance is a stunner. It never stops from film's beginning to end. Perry films her as a modern day female James Dean. Her blonde hair whipping in the air, as she speeds through LA on her defiant journey. Once again, comparisons of Dean and Brando abound. One scene has her pulling out a loaded gun, shooting at empty cans on her husband's film set. It is an image of freedom and of rage that is exciting to watch.
I know that the Sundance Channel has showed the movie a few times. This is no excuse that the movie is not on DVD yet. Well, after all, the movie was never released on VHS. It is definitely worthy of a Criterion Collection edition. It would be wonderful to get a behind the scenes look at the film, which is wishful thinking. And i think it would be incredible to get an interview with Tuesday Weld, although she doesn't strike me as someone to talk about her past on film. There are countless websites about the film, all over the internet. Most of these posing the same question as to why the movie is not available on DVD. These people are quite frustrated, as am i, that such an important film is not given its due. Perhaps after, what, thirty years, it is still hard to take for some viewers.
So, this leads me back to where i began, i suppose. Maybe seeing her on album covers, right? I don't want anyone to underestimate this incredible actress. It is clear that she has been an influence on many actresses, from Jessica Lange to Winona Ryder. Her acting brings a uniqueness to the craft, much in the way Jane Fonda and Faye Dunaway did in the early 70s. It is clear that Tuesday Weld rightfully deserves the same recognition as these actresses did in their day. We need the DVD release of Play it as it Lays and other Tuesday Weld films, so that she does receive this recognition. Others may not remember, but i for one, will never forget her.
The opening sequence is stunning. Weld circles the outside garden of a mental institution, thinking of how she got there in the first place. No music, no histrionics, no special effects. Just the image of this beautiful, surprisingly small woman contemplating her life. Images of Maria, Weld's character, driving down a California freeway, shooting a gun at various street signs in an act of defiance. It is clear that Maria is no ordinary Beach Boy image of the Califronia Girl. Maria is very much her own person. A rebel. An angry young woman. It is not only an image of a woman losing her grip but one of a woman claiming her right for independence and for some kind of freedom. Clearly, this part was made for Tuesday Weld. The actress that playwright/actor Sam Sheperd called, "The Female Brando".
Weld is not the only great talent in this film. Director Frank Perry challenges the viewer with a film that provides no easy answers. Perry shows Los Angeles for what it can really be at times. Dense, loud, claustriphobic. Showing the smog and cloudiness that sometimes covers the sunny atmosphere and that often overcomes the land itself. Many critics panned the film for its quick cutting and fast paced direction, but this is important theme to the movie itself. It clearly shows what Maria is seeing of LA and how her life jumps from one incident to another. It shows Maria on her journey, even though it has no clear beginning or end. It is one drama quickly jumping to the other. Perry does this beautifully and with a clear intention for the story.
Maria is a person who is trying to question why things are so wrong with her life and the way she lives it. The other characters, during the film, at times mock Maria's quest for self investigation, for even thinking that she will find and understand her journey for truth. Perry is trying to show the importance of a person going on a journey for self discovery. He tries to show how the people surrounding us sometimes judge in order to justify their own empty lives. Maria may survive this journey, but there may be a price to pay.
Weld gives a performance of such depth, subtlety and nuance it is impossible to stop watching. I keep remembering Weld lying in bed as she discusses her pregnancy with her husband,and the possibility of an abortion. Weld doesn't cry, yell, she doesn't move at all, as she lies there almost perfectly still. But i remember the sadness on her face as she desperately tries to find reason, some kind of solution to the problem. As her husband beats her down emotionally, threatening her almost that he will take her daughter from her, we see how she is left heartbroken at her failed attempt at a resoulution. The vision of Weld, lying in bed, being so helpless but TRYING to resolve the situation is beautiful but ultimately very sad.
Simply put, Tuesday Weld's performance is a stunner. It never stops from film's beginning to end. Perry films her as a modern day female James Dean. Her blonde hair whipping in the air, as she speeds through LA on her defiant journey. Once again, comparisons of Dean and Brando abound. One scene has her pulling out a loaded gun, shooting at empty cans on her husband's film set. It is an image of freedom and of rage that is exciting to watch.
I know that the Sundance Channel has showed the movie a few times. This is no excuse that the movie is not on DVD yet. Well, after all, the movie was never released on VHS. It is definitely worthy of a Criterion Collection edition. It would be wonderful to get a behind the scenes look at the film, which is wishful thinking. And i think it would be incredible to get an interview with Tuesday Weld, although she doesn't strike me as someone to talk about her past on film. There are countless websites about the film, all over the internet. Most of these posing the same question as to why the movie is not available on DVD. These people are quite frustrated, as am i, that such an important film is not given its due. Perhaps after, what, thirty years, it is still hard to take for some viewers.
So, this leads me back to where i began, i suppose. Maybe seeing her on album covers, right? I don't want anyone to underestimate this incredible actress. It is clear that she has been an influence on many actresses, from Jessica Lange to Winona Ryder. Her acting brings a uniqueness to the craft, much in the way Jane Fonda and Faye Dunaway did in the early 70s. It is clear that Tuesday Weld rightfully deserves the same recognition as these actresses did in their day. We need the DVD release of Play it as it Lays and other Tuesday Weld films, so that she does receive this recognition. Others may not remember, but i for one, will never forget her.
A Masterwork
TedMichaelMor8 June 2010
Warning: Spoilers
For years, I waited for a thumbnail review of "Play It as It Lays" in "Sight and Sound". After, perhaps, over a decade, such a review appeared. It panned this great film. That pan is wrong. Frank Perry's elegant film matches the exquisite novel and script by Joan Didion.
As commentators note, Tuesday Weld and Anthony Perkins seem transparent in their roles. Their final scene in the film defines one of the most beautiful in all cinema. I lack the means to name the intricacies that make this work. Symbol, form, dialogue, iconography, and cinematography work subtly with fine nuance and consistent tone. The editing in particular weaves complex cinematography to create a sense of intense visual alienation that intensifies the dialogue. Adam Roarke, Tammy Grimes, as well as every other actor in this work, seem in top form.
I think this an under-appreciated masterwork.Read the discerning review here by Graham Clark.
As commentators note, Tuesday Weld and Anthony Perkins seem transparent in their roles. Their final scene in the film defines one of the most beautiful in all cinema. I lack the means to name the intricacies that make this work. Symbol, form, dialogue, iconography, and cinematography work subtly with fine nuance and consistent tone. The editing in particular weaves complex cinematography to create a sense of intense visual alienation that intensifies the dialogue. Adam Roarke, Tammy Grimes, as well as every other actor in this work, seem in top form.
I think this an under-appreciated masterwork.Read the discerning review here by Graham Clark.
The Absurd as played out in Hollwood
katiekeene15 April 2006
Life in Hollwood in the early 1970s--an actress, any actress, rich and famous or not, is exemplified in existential angst in 'play it as it lays.' A compelling character study, Tuesday Weld plays Maria (pronounced Mar EYE'a) Wyeth, an actress much like herself. It is difficult to see where the actress and character begin and end, she is that good in this film. Maria drives her yellow Stingray from one Los Angeles freeway into another only to kill time because she can't kill herself.
Her film industry friends are LA's idle rich who have little else but money. Only a gay friend, played by Tony Perkins, truly cares about her. Maria searches relentlessly for meaning in a place that has none, although it resembles a utopia. The sun is always shining, everyone drives a German car and sips cocktails at their pool or Malibu beach home.
If Albert Camus, the French existentialist of the absurd, had lived in Hollywood, he would have written her story.
Her film industry friends are LA's idle rich who have little else but money. Only a gay friend, played by Tony Perkins, truly cares about her. Maria searches relentlessly for meaning in a place that has none, although it resembles a utopia. The sun is always shining, everyone drives a German car and sips cocktails at their pool or Malibu beach home.
If Albert Camus, the French existentialist of the absurd, had lived in Hollywood, he would have written her story.
Holding All the Aces, But What's the Game?
AZINDN8 June 2006
Warning: Spoilers
Play It As It Lays was made during the ambivalent post 60s culture revolution and reflects that era with characters who don't seem to know what to do with their successful and frivolous lives of blank meaning. Indulgent and indulged, Tuesday Weld as Maria, is an angle face star whose marriage to a celebrated edgy director, Carter Lang (Adam Roarke) is over, but she is unable to cut to cord and move on. Her relationship with in the closet gay friend, BZ (Tony Perkins) is made all the more pathetic because he is a eunuch to her needy selfishness and his own kept situation in a sham marriage. He eventually commits suicide by an overdose of Seconol on her bed, while she watches and cradles his head on a pillow as he succumbs. Maria wanders from the set of her husband's film, to the motel where the cast is quartered, to Las Vegas casino high roller suites, to tennis courts of Hollywood, never finding a wherefore or why. She is a lost little girl in the reality of the film making business. Her nothing existence is a challenge to the distracted woman whose only response to life is "why not?" Maria is the supreme victim to her own situations, e.g., failed marriage to genius film director, young daughter in mental institution on shock treatments, and parents who didn't love her, all of which she is more than aware that she created and perhaps knowingly instigated their failure. The game is just to play whatever hand is dealt. Maria's questioning of the game only lead to her detachment in flashback bits which are meant to convey a European style of film making that is now taken for granted. With voice overs between Maria and various characters, as if interviews were taking place with her, some of the existential angst and pointlessness of her life are revealed.
Weld is one of the most underrated actresses of the era. The strength of this performance is in the understated quietness in her movement and in the flawless, cuteness of her face most often without makeup. Weld was one of the few actresses able to carry off the natural look as well. Best however is her partnership with Tony Perkins in a wonderful give and take performance between two colliding neurotics, one sublime, the other Gothic. They ying and yang with a tempo that is pleasure to watch. Perhaps the film is too subtle for contemporary audiences to fully appreciate today, but in hindsight of older audiences, this film becomes a marker of the lost notion of 60s freedom, youthful ideals grown up and onward, and the disillusionment with the post-flower power commercialism that ruled society of the volatile peace and love generation. With a great supporting cast performances by Tammy Grimes rounds out a film rarely seen, but when viewed, is worthy of all attention.
Weld is one of the most underrated actresses of the era. The strength of this performance is in the understated quietness in her movement and in the flawless, cuteness of her face most often without makeup. Weld was one of the few actresses able to carry off the natural look as well. Best however is her partnership with Tony Perkins in a wonderful give and take performance between two colliding neurotics, one sublime, the other Gothic. They ying and yang with a tempo that is pleasure to watch. Perhaps the film is too subtle for contemporary audiences to fully appreciate today, but in hindsight of older audiences, this film becomes a marker of the lost notion of 60s freedom, youthful ideals grown up and onward, and the disillusionment with the post-flower power commercialism that ruled society of the volatile peace and love generation. With a great supporting cast performances by Tammy Grimes rounds out a film rarely seen, but when viewed, is worthy of all attention.
Aching for a decent copy
ohmemercylard21 January 2007
I watched this movie a lot during the first decade+ after it was released. It would show up occasionally at rep houses in NYC or SF, and I always tried to see it. The last few viewings were at the Roxie in SF, and the boom was always visible in that print; I hated that, b/c people laughed at the movie. i'm a huge didion fan (love the book), an equally huge tuesday fan. this movie captures a moment in my life, a naive moment when I tho't these chars. represented glamour and sophistication; now, having lived, I see how depressed they were. Still, it's full of great lines & has an odd nostalgic pull for me. TV versions were always tragically aborted (so to speak), and it's never been avail. to possess in any format. i shudder to think that there's no extant print, what w/studio not having one & perry gone. i've hoped to own it for so long. i was sick to hear it's on Sundance this wkend (which I don't get). why are so few people interested in seeing this movie become available? it's one of the few left on my wish-list never to be released. should any reader ever hear news of its release, please please let me know! thanks.
Almost excruciatingly accurate...
moonspinner5513 October 2015
Jagged, pessimistic view of the denizens of Hollywood, circa 1972. Troubled movie actress, conflicted over her recent divorce from her director-husband, is finding herself slowly becoming alienated from her show business circle; unselfconscious--and still hopeful things will work themselves out--she's unable to reconnect the lost threads of her past, and begins feeling numb and catatonic. Joan Didion's novel, adapted by Didion with her husband, John Gregory Dunne, has been entrusted to director Frank Perry, and he digs right to the core of this material. It isn't just the bitchiness of the business that is wearing our heroine down, it's the blasé apathy with which the business is handled that strikes her both curious and sad. Tuesday Weld gives a deliberately low-key, thoughtful performance in the lead; her Maria Wyeth can be as tart in her repartee as her competitors (she's no shrinking violet), and yet the numbness she feels creeping in frightens her. Weld is reunited with her "Pretty Poison" co-star Anthony Perkins, excellent as a gay producer trapped in a business-marriage to a woman. The two share a quietly devastating scene in a motel room near the end that brings the narrative full circle while also showing the depth of feeling in the material (some may think the film superficial, but this is deceptive). The quicksilver editing may actually be too canny and clever, with many scenes seeming smug or half-finished (and usually ending on a rueful line or look). I think Perry means to shake the audience up with his herky-jerky structure, but perhaps the movie (with its feeling of an open wound) left too many viewers behind. A forgotten picture, it remains one of the most acidic portraits of lotus land ever captured on film. ***1/2 from ****
A subversive Seventies classic, unjustly neglected
NORDIC-213 June 2014
Warning: Spoilers
Nominally framed as a "Hollywood novel," Joan Didion's 'Play It As It Lays' (1970) is, in essence, an existentialist tale concerning a fragile but perceptive young woman battling alienation, aimlessness, and despair as she tries to navigate the spiritual and moral wasteland of modern America. Not long after the book was published—and garnered rave reviews—Didion and her husband, John Gregory Dunne, struck a production deal with director/producer Frank Perry ('The Swimmer'; 'Diary of a Mad Housewife') to make a film version. Already experienced screenwriters, Didion and Dunne ('Panic in Needle Park') did the adaptation themselves, thus assuring a high degree of fidelity to the literary text. Also fortuitous was the casting of the prodigiously talented by shamefully underrated Tuesday Weld ('Pretty Poison') as Didion's protagonist, Maria (pronounced Mir-Eye-a) Wyeth Lang, and Anthony Perkins ('Psycho'; 'Pretty Poison') as B.Z., a suicidal, closeted-gay movie producer who is Maria's only close friend. (Tammy Grimes plays Helene, B.Z.'s faux wife.) As she recuperates in a psychiatric hospital after a nervous breakdown, Maria, a washed-up 30-year-old movie actress, surveys her life to date in a fragmented series of flashbacks: her childhood in rural Nevada; her stint as a model in New York City; her semi-successful acting career; her failed marriage to a hotshot film director named Carter Lang (Adam Rourke)— which produced a brained-damaged daughter—numerous casual affairs; aimless wanderings; an abortion; the suicide by overdose of her friend, B.Z. Though almost unremittingly bleak, 'Play It As It Lays' does end on a note of modest hope. Brought to the edge of despair by the stark realization that life conceals a terrifying emptiness at its core, Maria nonetheless opts to live: "Why not?" she somewhat arbitrarily concludes. Expertly scripted and beautifully shot on location in L.A., Malibu, and the Mojave Desert by Jordan Cronenweth ('Brewster McCloud'), 'Play It As It Lays' features bravura acting by Tuesday Weld and Tony Perkins. Indeed, Weld's stunning performance earned her a Golden Globe nomination but the AAMPAS ignored her at Oscar time because the film failed commercially and subsequently sank like a rock. Sometimes shown on television (most recently on the Sundance Channel) 'Play It As It Lays' has never made it onto VHS or DVD: a real travesty that demands redress.
brilliant existential anatomy
dmmsj018 November 2017
Thank you, threepines, for a lovely homage to this amazing film. I, too, saw it when young and was altered by it. It got some oddly bad reviews when released, but then reviewers are often wrong-headed about brilliance (Citizen Kane also got bad reviews). I had seen Tuesday Weld as a girl in teenage sillies, so I was so impressed by her bravery to cast off that old baggage. Like Natalie Wood in another underrated film (though not as good as this one), Inside Daisy Clover (where Robert Redford plays a gay actor when no other Hollywood actor would have).
Mesmerizing Film
perrywins17 September 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I happened upon this film as an upload on YouTube, scrolling through movie lists from the 70's, trying to time travel back to a slice of my childhood. It was a cold, overcast gray, and rainy day, and I decided to watch Play It As It Lays without knowing anything going in and it blew me completely out of the water.
It's been almost a week since I've seen it and I'm still unable to shake it from my thoughts. This is remarkable filmmaking. This film made me uncomfortable, it made me think, it made me anxious, and it made me desperately sad for Maria (Weld). Her attempts to piece together memories of her parents, the subtle lies she tells her daughter, her matter-of-fact attitude about the absurdity of life, and her inability and/or unwillingness to "fit in" with the crowd, my goodness that hit me hard.
Also, it should be mentioned: Tammy Grimes was absolutely indelible in every scene she was in, voraciously consuming the screen, line by line, all the way down to her final scream. She was marvelous.
Modern day Hollywood studios and directors could never imagine being able to get away with making a film of this caliber today. I dare anyone to even try. They would be laughed out of the room.
I loved this film. The nostalgic stickiness of it, the cinematography, the dialog, the editing. Everything. I haven't read Didion's book, but now I think I never will. Tuesday Weld and Anthony Perkins encapsulated whatever the book may have been perfectly for me and I don't want to ruin that. This is a film that deserves all the praise and high ratings it receives. I feel like I found a treasure.
It's been almost a week since I've seen it and I'm still unable to shake it from my thoughts. This is remarkable filmmaking. This film made me uncomfortable, it made me think, it made me anxious, and it made me desperately sad for Maria (Weld). Her attempts to piece together memories of her parents, the subtle lies she tells her daughter, her matter-of-fact attitude about the absurdity of life, and her inability and/or unwillingness to "fit in" with the crowd, my goodness that hit me hard.
Also, it should be mentioned: Tammy Grimes was absolutely indelible in every scene she was in, voraciously consuming the screen, line by line, all the way down to her final scream. She was marvelous.
Modern day Hollywood studios and directors could never imagine being able to get away with making a film of this caliber today. I dare anyone to even try. They would be laughed out of the room.
I loved this film. The nostalgic stickiness of it, the cinematography, the dialog, the editing. Everything. I haven't read Didion's book, but now I think I never will. Tuesday Weld and Anthony Perkins encapsulated whatever the book may have been perfectly for me and I don't want to ruin that. This is a film that deserves all the praise and high ratings it receives. I feel like I found a treasure.
A Great Movie, but one I found really tough to take.
jackeugenebarry22 September 2013
Warning: Spoilers
I just watched this on DVD. (Yes, it is available now, at least at "Cinefile" the best video store in L.A.) And like some of the other reviews have said, it is indeed a work of art, done in the New Wave European style of the 60's & & 70's. It's rather slow and barren and bleak (like the world its characters move through), even when it's brightly-lit, well-shot, and cutting or moving fast. It's main themes and vibes are all about alienation, emptiness, futility, despair... The closest thing cinematically I can compare it to (and yes, I mean it as a huge and honest compliment) is the best of Antonioni's brand of exquisitely-realized alienation, in things like "L'Aventura" and "Red Desert".
Here you've got a 30-ish Hollywood actress, fading in beauty and belief, played so well by Tuesday Weld that when she's on screen (which is for most of the movie) you can just see and feel the energy and light going out of her right there in front of you.
The people around her aren't even particularly evil or mean; they're just THERE. But not there for her, or even for themselves. They're just self-consumed, petty, lost in their blase confusions and self-delusions. Her (ex-)husband film director, his lead actress, the wife and the mother of her gay film-producer friend (played awesomely by a quietly-aching Anthony Perkins), the cops who pull her over, her past and present f...k-buddies, the doctors at the loony-bin she ends up in, none of them hold any particular interest or key to anything for her. They're just hollow statues along her path, much like the generic road-signs she shoots at for no seeming reason while driving between the desert and L.A.
Alone in having any meaning for her is Perkins, the gay producer who is her only actual friend. But even he has nothing to offer her except "nothing", as that is what he has come to find the meaning of life to be. Their suffering chemistry together is palpable and painful to witness, culminating in their last shared time together and parting of ways...
This movie, quiet and painful though it is, is indeed a masterpiece of its kind. And not one that would ever be made today (with any studio-backing, at least... every now and then one like this, or "Requiem for a Dream" slips by). Unfortunately, LaLa Land (where I've lived for many years), and the world at large, haven't changed. I've known a few folks here who've been SO MUCH like these characters, and sadly suffered their same fates...
I hope I've made pretty clear why I think this is a difficult yet awesome movie, and let you know why you should or should not watch it. It's Really Good for "Nothing".
Here you've got a 30-ish Hollywood actress, fading in beauty and belief, played so well by Tuesday Weld that when she's on screen (which is for most of the movie) you can just see and feel the energy and light going out of her right there in front of you.
The people around her aren't even particularly evil or mean; they're just THERE. But not there for her, or even for themselves. They're just self-consumed, petty, lost in their blase confusions and self-delusions. Her (ex-)husband film director, his lead actress, the wife and the mother of her gay film-producer friend (played awesomely by a quietly-aching Anthony Perkins), the cops who pull her over, her past and present f...k-buddies, the doctors at the loony-bin she ends up in, none of them hold any particular interest or key to anything for her. They're just hollow statues along her path, much like the generic road-signs she shoots at for no seeming reason while driving between the desert and L.A.
Alone in having any meaning for her is Perkins, the gay producer who is her only actual friend. But even he has nothing to offer her except "nothing", as that is what he has come to find the meaning of life to be. Their suffering chemistry together is palpable and painful to witness, culminating in their last shared time together and parting of ways...
This movie, quiet and painful though it is, is indeed a masterpiece of its kind. And not one that would ever be made today (with any studio-backing, at least... every now and then one like this, or "Requiem for a Dream" slips by). Unfortunately, LaLa Land (where I've lived for many years), and the world at large, haven't changed. I've known a few folks here who've been SO MUCH like these characters, and sadly suffered their same fates...
I hope I've made pretty clear why I think this is a difficult yet awesome movie, and let you know why you should or should not watch it. It's Really Good for "Nothing".
The downside of success
GOWBTW2 December 2018
When you become wealthy after being an overnight success in anything you put your mind into? Well, success can make you, or even break you. In "Play It As It Lays", it's about the dark side of a successful actress. Tuesday Weld play Maria, a former model who has become a successful actress. But in Hollywood, she is anything but happy. Her daughter is institutionalized by her father because she is suffering from brain damage. The husband, Carter is a hot-headed movie producer who is not happy with. She meets with B.Z.(Anthony Perkins) who is also not a happy man himself. Just traveling around Los Angeles and in Nevada. Reminiscing about the times of her family. Mother committed suicide when she was young. Father owned a town in Nevada. So much to hear, nothing positive about anything.
Weld and Perkins are back again. They did "Pretty Poison" in 1968. In this movie, Perkins' hair is more spread out. Less Norman Bates looking, but his character is just as disturbing.
Both the book and the film are a classic example of the effects of success and substance can affect one's ability to see life around.
4 out of 5 stars
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