A deeply oddball, terrific, one of a kind film.

runamokprods

Filmmaker George Axelrod described it as 'Love Finds Andy Hardy' meets 'Dr. Strangelove', and that's as good a sum up as any.

Part deeply witty, very dark, surreal satire of American life (very good), part lowbrow wacky comedy (not as good) part parody of the early 60s Beach Party movies (starts funny but burns out), and part serious drama about how screwed up families are (quite strong considering it's in the middle of all the silliness).

Sort of like Kurt Vonnegut in terms of its constant, head snapping shifts in tone.

Roddy McDowell (almost 40 at the time!) plays a high school senior, who is a genius/Puck/gay? figure who gets obsessed (but not sexually) with making the dreams of a hot, seemingly vacuous blond (Tuesday Weld) come true. Both are wonderful.

Along the way there's murder, heavy hints of incest, and lots of other American family fun.

Some of it doesn't work, or feels dated, but terrific when it clicks, and gets big style points for being so brave and unique.

Sort of what you might get if Almodovar made films in the US in the 1960s.

score 7/10

runamokprods 1 August 2011

Reprint: https://www.imdb.com/review/rw2467642/