Phil Phlash

It would be impossible to make a stranger film. An LSD trip on film? Sure. This is IT. The most weird, strange, bizzare film I have ever seen, without any doubt. Would I like to see it again? Sure. I saw it when it was first released and I'd like to see it again, now. How? Where? I was surprised to see it come up when I did a search here!

I cannot remember the plot (was there one?), but I do remember the naked midgets! Maybe this says more about me than about the movie. I am open to that idea!

I can count on this movie to move me, to bring up feelings for me EVERY TIME I see it. Robert Anderson, the writer, nailed it, caught the essence of the difficulty children have relating to their fathers. Melvyn Douglas is outstanding as the father who, when his son (Gene Hackman) comes to visit falls asleep in front of the TV watching inane Westerns and then says to his son, "Gene, Gene are you leaving so soon? We hardly get to spend any time with you..." And the daughter says: "I am grateful to him (her father) because he taught me a very important lesson: This world is cold and lonely and uncaring and if you can't get the love and attention you need from your own father, who can you get it from? Yes, I am grateful to him..." This is powerful stuff. Great writing and acting except for the woman who plays Hackman's future bride. Bad casting there. The rest is superb. If you want to be moved (and some movies SHOULD move you -- that's another reason they're called 'movies,' right?!!), this is it.