The Battle of Love's Return

After the toxic fallout of the 60's love generation, this 1971 avant guard film captures the mood, confusion and questioning of life from a fractured generation; which is still relevant today. Look past Lloyd Kaufman's crazy Troma Studio persona..this is a very deep, intellectual, here. Kaufman plays a dual role as the director & 'Abacrombie' a geeky ineffectual man, in the post-hippies, early '70's America, his struggles with authority (eg. cops and his boss,played by Stanley Kaufman), trying to fit 'in'; trying to get out of his 'bag' & 'get in with the beautiful' & 'groovy' but never seeming to; as most of us in general have felt in our lives...he is chasing his dream girl (Lowry), who finally comes around, when it's too late. In the B&W documentary like scenes..hard questions are asked,to various characters; but we hear in the crew's background Kaufman (in the role of director) being chastised by the crew as a bumbling director, who lacks authority. One gets from from this movie (especially the climax)..the disillusionment & death of the flaccid "American dream", as personified by Kaufman's (the actor) nebbish character. I cannot think of any other way of understanding or 'getting' the message of what director/writer Kaufman is trying say cinematically, than this movie. It's relevant to any lost generation, out there, trying to adjust to the ever-changing, rapid 'culture shock' of the 21st Century. Whether you are a homey, jock, hipster, emo, suit or freak...this movie is a 'stone' American hidden filmic treasure...worth studying or being viewed more than once, whether watching 'straight' or 'turned on', Ma-a-a-an.

Amazing that Troma has survived, with this being their first movie. Very dull, particularly for a Troma film. This studio would get better, however. I believe that this says it all, but this system wants to force me to provide at least 4 lines commentary. So here you are.

So Tromaville's Lloyd Kaufman proves that he's a goofy guy. This 1971 directorial debut of Lloyd Kaufman isn't as great as say... Toxic Avenger, Sgt. Kabukiman N.Y.P.D., or Surf Nazi's Must Die, etc. But it is pretty interesting. If you go into it expecting very little Troma then you should be all set. The story is about a guy who, played by Lloyd is apparently a screw up and isn't concerned with what `important'. He's goofy and dorky and people make fun of him. But he's in love with a girl who works at a coffee shop and impressing her is important to him. Lloyd did something in this film that I don't think I've seen before. The base of the story was about Abercrombie running around and being silly. But when he runs into a new character like the Preacher or the guy who runs the adult bookstore, the movie changes. It suddenly becomes a black and white suedo-documentary. The characters, are asked questions by Lloyd then they answer them as their respectively as the person they're supposed to be. It gives the story some good depth. It's really a neat idea and it's too bad that the rest film doesn't carry it better. The ideas are there and it is surprising that movies like the ones listed above spawned from this.

If you're a die-hard Troma fan, you probably won't like this. It's too artsy and very slow. Plus, there are no heads being squashed or nudity.

Lloyd Kaufman (the creator of "Toxie" and Troma) wrote, directed, produced, wrote the music, edited and stars in this film about a poor guy who is troubled by life and love in the big city. The film is very different from most in that it incorporates both fictional and (could be fictional) interview footage into the narative. I walked away with the feeling that the city (New York) is a cold place and so is the modern world! But that's just one man's opinion!