Arthur Penn's film of Steve Tesich's somewhat autobiographical screenplay is an exciting, sentimental, violent work - occasionally as excessive as the era it depicts - which is mostly the closing years of the Sixties.
Four high school friends share a peculiar bond - the 3 young men bewitched, as it were, by the same young woman. The bond they share with her is seen against the backdrop of the national upheaval that is popping up all around them: civil rights, the hippie culture, VietNam, the JFK assassination and the landing on the moon. The skill with which Penn and Tesich briefly insert glimpses of these events, while mostly focusing on the hero's family issues and life, enriches the movie throughout. The personal violence that shatters young Danilo's life is one of the most explosive shocks in any movie of its time. Anyone who lived through those years might find this nearly great film very rewarding.
Four high school friends share a peculiar bond - the 3 young men bewitched, as it were, by the same young woman. The bond they share with her is seen against the backdrop of the national upheaval that is popping up all around them: civil rights, the hippie culture, VietNam, the JFK assassination and the landing on the moon. The skill with which Penn and Tesich briefly insert glimpses of these events, while mostly focusing on the hero's family issues and life, enriches the movie throughout. The personal violence that shatters young Danilo's life is one of the most explosive shocks in any movie of its time. Anyone who lived through those years might find this nearly great film very rewarding.