A lackluster soap opera for people who don't like to admit that they watch soap operas, THE GROUP may very well be the lowest energy film ever directed by a top talent: Sidney Lumet. There's a lot of melodrama, backstabbing, bitchiness, and enough male-bashing to make you cringe. Lumet has nonetheless assembled a topnotch cast of future TV-stars...Richard Mulligan, Jessica Walter, Larry Hagman, James Broderick and, in her film debut, Candice Bergen, whose role is so small, it's like she's part of some other fringe GROUP. Based on the Mary McCarthy book and also featuring Elizabeth Hartman, Shirley Knight and, in a brief bit of high-energy, Carrie Nye.
Review of The Group
