Fools

I saw that movie when I was 6 years old, the year after it came out, and it made me fall in love with Katharine Ross... I recently purchased it (VERY hard to find) and watched it - 30 years later! What a great movie! Very much "of its time", Fools truly captures the early 70s... Katharine Ross is the very embodiment of the young modern woman struggling to establish an identity of her own, struggling against the establishment she's a part of, struggling for freedom and to be appreciated for herself. Jason Robards plays an excellent Matthew South, a struggling, aging actor, yet so vibrant and alive... Scott Hyland's part as Katharine's husband is the only part that is underdeveloped and the rationale for his behavior is never explained satisfactorily. The soundtrack is great (Kenny Rogers and the First Edition)and the cinematography is well done - watch for the "traffic signs" that pop-up throughout the movie - clever! If you can get a hold of this little disturbing gem, go ahead - great stuff.

Confrontations continually dog a new romantic couple in San Francisco: Katharine Ross as the estranged wife of a powerful lawyer and Jason Robards playing a low-rent horror movie actor who's house-sitting for a friend. Heavy-handed presentation 'with something to say' has Robards alternately shouting "Machines! Machines!" at the constant city traffic before quoting "Huckleberry Finn" and "King Lear". Too bad the only person listening to him is his new lady, who has problems of her own. Ross is a very attractive presence, but her performance is uneven; she's hesitant, then indignant...wistful, then frightened...contemplative, then angry. She enters the picture as a carefree flower child, but is soon turned into a psychological wreck being taunted by her soon-to-be ex. Director Tom Gries can't seem to get all the pieces in Robert Rudelson's overreaching screenplay to jell; there's too many angry or apathetic people milling about, too much miscellaneous misanthropic conversation which serves little purpose. The locations are well-captured, and Kenny Rogers and the First Edition provide a few dated, yet pleasant songs. However, "Fools" is just a writer's folly, one that not even Gries and Rudelson seem satisfied with. For his part, Robards is more handsome and three-dimensional than usual, but 93 minutes of his spouting off is far too much. An interesting misfire. ** from ****