Like any sensible person, I expected a 1968 movie called Maryjane "starring" Fabian and Diane McBain to be a complete hoot. It turns out to be maybe one good script rewrite away from being a minor classic, Rebel Without A Cause about stoners instead of juicers.
The only clunker is the dopers' clique, who basically look way too much like Spanky and Our Gang and are about as menacing as the Chess Club. Otherwise, this is one of about three drug-related films from the sixties you can watch without cringing: no ridiculous "insider" names for marijuana, no hallucinations, and some startlingly well-balanced dialogue about the issues involved. Fabian is believable and intense - three words I NEVER thought I'd use in the same sentence. There's an actual plot, they've got the nerve to make it twist around a bit, and almost every time you think the movie's going to go for a cheap resolution of a plot twist, it surprises you by actually doing something intelligent.
It's incredibly difficult to find, and it's probably not worth spending a fortune on, but against all expectations Maryjane is a 6/10. This is NOT another Weird World of LSD, Acid Eaters, or Teenage Devil Dolls.
The only clunker is the dopers' clique, who basically look way too much like Spanky and Our Gang and are about as menacing as the Chess Club. Otherwise, this is one of about three drug-related films from the sixties you can watch without cringing: no ridiculous "insider" names for marijuana, no hallucinations, and some startlingly well-balanced dialogue about the issues involved. Fabian is believable and intense - three words I NEVER thought I'd use in the same sentence. There's an actual plot, they've got the nerve to make it twist around a bit, and almost every time you think the movie's going to go for a cheap resolution of a plot twist, it surprises you by actually doing something intelligent.
It's incredibly difficult to find, and it's probably not worth spending a fortune on, but against all expectations Maryjane is a 6/10. This is NOT another Weird World of LSD, Acid Eaters, or Teenage Devil Dolls.