The Crazy World of Julius Vrooder

Troubled Vietnam vet Julius Vrooder (Timothy Bottoms) plays pranks on his VA hospital doctor Passki. Passki's girlfriend nurse Zanni (Barbara Hershey) is taken with Vrooder and follows him into the woods. First, she falls into his trap and then joins him in his bunker.

Playboy made movies? I guess that makes sense but they're not using their main assets in this. It's trying to be a character study. It's interesting that this came out a year before One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (1975). It's nowhere near as compelling. Vrooder is not in enough danger for this to be compelling. In essence, this movie struggles to find stakes. If the cops find him, he wouldn't be in that much trouble. He's perfectly content where he is and in the worst case scenario, he stays there. The romance is cute but it's done after the first fifteen minutes. Passki is a dud and the love triangle has no juice. These are interesting characters but they don't do much. It's nice enough but it's not quite enough.

Too many loose ends in this for me to enjoy, but at bottom - it was just boring. Who's going to believe a well-adjusted doctor is going to get involved with a guy with as many mental challenges as the lead actor? Then, all the contrived scenes such as his radio-cpnotrolled start of the tape machine... just couldn't pass the sniff test

Timothy Bottoms reminds me of what acting is all about in this one.... Real, grounded, free, earthy, wild. Emotional.

The movie (music, pacing) is of its time - so be prepared for 1974 cinematography. All the actors hit their characters on point.

Even with its period nature, the storyline itself is also earthy, grounded, and free... It blasts expected barriers and keeps you guessing as it delves into and twists around the main character's mentality, his fellow patients' PTSD, the doctors and people of his time ... and love.

Modern day whimsical tale about a offbeat Vietnam vet who resides at the local V.A. Hospital. He escapes and builds a underground fortress in a wooded area next to the highway. The place looks cleaner and better furnished than most people's apartments. He concocts a scheme that allows him to steal both electrical and phone service. This is a major consternation to the heads of the local phone and electrical company. They go on a mission to find out who he is and how he is doing it. They even go through a list of mug shots consisting of 'dangerous' looking people known to have stolen service. This actually proves to be the films funniest moment (though the tired, elderly vets who have to do a perpetual ten gun salute isn't bad either). He also creates a romantic bond with his doctors fiancee (Hershey).

The film does try to have it's serious moments, but they tend to be clumsy and draggy. However on the charm scale this thing scores very close to the bullseye. There is even a touching performance by 83 year old veteran director Marshall. Though the material is just not enough for feature film length, 1 in 20 people will probably fall in love with it. It can probably best be described as a poor man's version of A THOUSAND CLOWNS, but without the satire or sharp dialogue.

Produced by, of all people, Hugh Hefner.

My father, a WWII era vet, was going to the west LA VA hospital during the time of this movie. My brother and I recognized the location immediately and we had already explored the area next to the freeway. On subsequent visits we found many of the locations of the hideaway, without actually finding the underground area. It was a cool and special connection to the movie.