Right off the bat, there's a Joan connection - this movie was directed by someone named Joan!
And, it's about a musician who travels around playing an instrument in concert. Reminds me of my Joan Jett!
I will be back to review this more properly later.
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OK, I'm back!
Verdict:
It was good, but not really my kind of story. This is one of those stories where you will be yelling at the TV a little bit, trying to talk some sense into the characters ha ha. I don't really agree with a lot of the decisions made by some of the people in this movie, but it makes you think... Anyway, I love Carol Burnett, and I do enjoy movies from this era. Interestingly, even though this movie was made in 1979, it feels distinctly 1980s, compared to another movie I like from just one year prior, "Moment by Moment" starring Lily Tomlin - which feels distinctly 1970s. Go figure!
On another note, it turns out, there's even more Joan connections in this movie than I thought! Not only was it directed by a Joan i.e. Joan Tewksbury- who also wrote the screenplay, but a Joan was also the production unit manager on this film, i.e. Joan Bradshaw! Not only that though, but the wife of Carol Burnett's lover in this movie is also named Joan! That's a lot of Joan!
Beyond the obvious Joan connections in the movie itself, there's also Joan connections that extend far beyond this one film, thanks to Joan Bradshaw, the production unit manager. She shares her name with another Joan Bradshaw, the third wife of Jean Arther's second husband, director Frank Ross, whose own second wife was named Joan Caulfield. Joan Caulfield, in turn, was in a movie called "That Petty Girl" featuring a background dancer named Joan Larkin, which is Joan Jett's birth name. And everything comes full circle!
And Joan Bradshaw, the one that married Frank Ross, who was also married to the Joan who worked in the movie with Joan Larkin, was a love interest of Elvis Presley in real life also, who many consider to be a male equivalent to my girl Joan Jett.
As I always say, for me, all roads lead to Joan Jett! And I just can't believe how many roads to Joan there were in this film! Heck, even the surname Jones is included in this movie!
If you like Carol Burnett, and if you like easy-going, female-driven TV movies from the 1970s and the 80s, you will enjoy this film. And if you have a particular fondness for the name Joan, you can add this to your list of special Joan movies, if you're a weirdo like me and have such a list, lol!
Alternatively, if you are a fan of movies, such as "Citizen Ruth" starring Laura Dern or "Grandma" starring Lily Tomlin, then you will want to see this film, for similar themes and discussions.
