Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying Those Terrible Things About Me?

Any movie that takes place over the course of just one day can tend to drag unless it's filled with non-stop action. This film is no exception. If you love Acting with a capital "A" over Action, this is your film.

What makes this a movie worth seeing are the actors; Dustin Hoffman, Barbara Harris, and Jack Ward all turn in supreme performances. Even the bit parts are well-written and equally well-acted. The dialogue is sharp, witty and sadly comic.

Dustin Hoffman plays a highly successful songwriter who suffers from insomnia and the dementia it brings as he looks back on the relationships he's had throughout his life, hoping to break his loneliness.

Hoffman does an excellent job of portraying a creative genius, one whose creativity is so abundant he seems unable to turn it off. In most of the scenes, Hoffman is strumming a guitar, singing under his breath, presumably writing a new song with each emotion he feels at any given moment. Because the music that flows through him occupies so much of his brain, he seems unable to focus on human relationships and by middle age the loneliness catches up with him.

Hoffman drifts in and out of reality. Deciding which scenes are real, and which are his imagination is up to the viewer. Or as Hoffman tells his psychiatrist "Why should I come back to reality? What's it ever done for me?"

It should also be noted that as much as Simon and Garfunkel did for "The Graduate," so does this film's soundtrack accentuate the overall feel of the movie with music from Ray Charles and Dr. Hook and the Medicine Show.

Sometimes I am just sooooooo out of step with conventional movie wisdom. This is one of those movies that gets trounced every time it is mentioned by a critic or reviewer. But why??? It is funny, well-acted, moving, bizarre and the music kicks ass. Dustin Hoffman plays Georgie Solloway, a super-successful Bob Dylan-ish rock star who is going thru something of a mid-life crisis. A mysterious figure known as Harry Kellerman is spreading false rumours about him, sabotaging his personal and professional life. Solloway has no friends to talk to... just a shrink and, when he gets really desperate, his accountant (great scene with Dom DeLuise!) Okay, so maybe you hate Dustin Hoffman... or Bob Dylan... or movies about the problems of rich, successful people in general... how can you not love the heartbreaking performance by Barbara Harris? She was nominated for an Oscar for crying out loud (and it was a crime she didn't win, I tell ya). Don't listen to the nay-sayers... check out this wild and wonderful film!

Potentially brilliant character study misses the mark as Hoffman plays a successful singer/songwriter who ends up badly tormented. Excessive smugness permeates a otherwise well crafted, well mounted production. Clearly the filmmakers thought they had a important "statement" picture. Unfortunately the statement becomes evasive and eventually muddled. Worth seeing just for Hoffman, who gives one of his best performances

This is a difficult movie, but worth staying with it if you like fully developed characters, emotional depth and you don't mind something outside the normal linear Hollywood story telling format. Dustin Hoffman gives a fine nuanced performance and Barbara Harris is wonderful as a vulnerable woman all too aware that she has lost her youth. Her performance is touching and every moment she is on screen shines with her unique brilliance.

Labeling this movie as ahead of its time would be a bit too generous. In truth, it was ahead of its time but missed the mark. With lots of cuts between fantasy and what is probably reality, the movie does take you into the head of a disconnected music star. The only trouble is that once we're there, ... then what? In this case, nothing much, and that's a shame. At one point Hoffman's character meets a woman more screwed up than he is, and he sets about to help her a bit. Their interaction is poignant, but the movie is mostly devoid of emotion. It's nice enough to watch Hoffman walk through this movie, but i really can't recommend it for much else.