EclecticCritic

Ah, I remember this show from my misspent youth. I had had six beers, most drunk in Grant Park, and I had visited my cousin (who has become an insufferable twit) at the high-rise in which he had recently moved. We watched at least some of this show, which I had commented on in my December 5, 1993 journal entry. I had only mentioned Meg Ryan and Julia Roberts in that entry. I left out the other three interviewees (Pfeiffer, Stone, and Jackson) for whatever reason. This was so long ago (it's June 6, 2023 as I lie here in the nude in my bed, typing this on my 2018 iPad (6th generation)) that I actually still liked Julia Roberts.

I believe that the interviews conducted by Mr. Sheehan did hold my interest at the time, in my inebriated state (ten beers in less than two hours; I had had four of my cousin's beers), and, since no one else had seen fit to leave a review, I felt compelled-nay, OBLIGATED-to let the world know that, yes, this show, which I can BARELY remember, WAS enjoyed by at least one person.

This is a surprisingly sweet, even wholesome movie about three young American men who are trying to get their rocks off north of the border in a Canadian bordello. It reminded me quite a bit of "The Summer of '42" in its tenderness and a little of "Losin' It" in its subject matter. It combined the best of both of those to create a thoroughly winning depiction of life as it was lived in 1969. The dialogue of the three friends is more realistic than what is heard in most movies, and the acting is spot on. If you are like me (and most of you are), you will feel an overwhelming desire to be friends with these regular guys. They each have their own insecurities (as we all do), which are manifested in very different ways. These insecurities make them even more endearing than they would otherwise be.

Of course, "The First Time" is best known as the film that made Jacqueline Bisset a star, in much the same way that "...And God Created Woman" had for Brigitte Bardot. Bisset had appeared in a number of earlier films, but this is the one that finally put her over the top, allowing the world to see that not only was she gorgeous and sexy (in that understated British way), but that she had the acting chops to carry a picture. She also displayed a warmth here that had not been as evident in those earlier flicks.

Bisset did not even appear in the first half of the movie, but from the moment the young men see her talking on the phone, the movie is hers. A scene in which she has just been told on the phone (a different phone and a different scene) by the married man with whom she has been having an affair that he can't continue to see her is heartbreaking in its poignancy. When she cried, I cried (and you will, too). Luckily, one of the young men, played wonderfully by Wes Stern, is there to make all her pain go away.

So...while this fine film is famous for making Jacqueline Bisset a star, it has much more going for it than that. If you have a chance to watch it, please do. You won't be disappointed. I guarantee it.