Having written plays for Julie Harris and later on several TV movies for Katharine Hepburn, James Prideaux took on la Liz for this weird but endearingly quirky comedy that has one truly memorable transition that comes out of nowhere. Half an hour into the 75 minutes film, Elizabeth Taylor's face suddenly morphs into what she would look like when she moved onto Broadway in "The Little Foxes". Somehow she managed to loose some very noticeable pudginess within the transition from commercial break to back on the air. I had to recheck just to make sure my eyes were working correctly.
Elizabeth is playing a college literature professor who is perplexed by student Joseph Bottoms' apparent lack of interest in the subject, then suddenly approached by him about a room he has heard she has her rent. She doesn't want to rent to him for obvious reasons (he's quite unpredictable, in fact possibly having multiple personalities), but for some reason changes her mind, and in spite of things he does, starts to open up with them, even going as far as to perform in a very odd variety show with him.
I can't say that this is even remotely a good movie, but it's one of those that I feel awkward about panning. Liz allows elements of her personality to come out that I've never seen in any of her other roles, and it's as if she's begging the audience to see her in a completely different way. Bottoms plays a character I never felt was real, difficult to describe as well as deal with, yet their companionship once they bond is very sweet. It's difficult to even describe as a movie because there's really no conflict, just two people who in real life would never associate personally, yet somehow do in this. Along with Lily Tomlin and John Travolta in the same year's "Moment By Moment", it's the oddest teaming of the '70s.
Elizabeth is playing a college literature professor who is perplexed by student Joseph Bottoms' apparent lack of interest in the subject, then suddenly approached by him about a room he has heard she has her rent. She doesn't want to rent to him for obvious reasons (he's quite unpredictable, in fact possibly having multiple personalities), but for some reason changes her mind, and in spite of things he does, starts to open up with them, even going as far as to perform in a very odd variety show with him.
I can't say that this is even remotely a good movie, but it's one of those that I feel awkward about panning. Liz allows elements of her personality to come out that I've never seen in any of her other roles, and it's as if she's begging the audience to see her in a completely different way. Bottoms plays a character I never felt was real, difficult to describe as well as deal with, yet their companionship once they bond is very sweet. It's difficult to even describe as a movie because there's really no conflict, just two people who in real life would never associate personally, yet somehow do in this. Along with Lily Tomlin and John Travolta in the same year's "Moment By Moment", it's the oddest teaming of the '70s.