I first saw this movie in 1973, when it first hit theaters; I recently watched it again on DVD. The amazing thing about it is that, after thirty plus years, it still evoked the same joy that I felt when seeing it the first time. I don't know if that is a comment on it or me, but it was a nice feeling.
The movie centers around Frank, an uptight, lonely and often emotionally constipated real estate salesman played by William Holden, and Edith Ann Breezerman (the 'Breezy' of the title), played by Kay Lenz in one of her earliest roles. It chronicles the progress of the love affair between them, with a great deal of charm and occasional depths unexpected in this kind of film. Why unexpected? For one thing, it takes Frank more than half the length of the film to consummate the affair; the first half devotes itself to Breezy's breaking down of Frank's self-imposed barriers with the charm of youth.
The inevitable break between them occurs after the late Roger C. Carmel, in one of his finest dramatic moments, enviously defines Frank's relationship as nothing more than 'the old zing'. The very moment Breezy shows herself the most domestic becomes, ironically, the very moment Frank chooses to destroy the affair with the comment that they were simply the punch line of a very dirty joke. In an unpredictable twist of fate, Frank learns that, with love, one must Carpe the Diem and they get back together.
William Holden turns in a marvelously understated performance, foreshadowing his Oscar nominated turn four years later in 'Network'. Kay Lenz captures the essence of the earth-mother hippie chick without becoming either caricature or slapstick; her performance here may well be one of her all-time best. And the aforementioned Roger C. Carmel, as well as Marj Dusay and Joan Hotchkiss, turn in excellent, thought-provoking performances of their own.
This film was one of Clint Eastwood's earliest directing efforts. Yet already his greatest directorial trademark is in full view: a literate, well-conceived script filmed with a light touch by a director who knows how to set the stage and then stay out of the actors' way and let them shine, an Eastwood trademark still visible in his most recent works, such as 'Space Cowboys'. The script, by the late Jo Heims, captures the "two different worlds" cliché in a fresh and unpredictable manner. We see the good parts of Breezy's world in her own attitude, yet we meet the bad, almost tragic, aspects of the same world in Breezy's friend Marci, who appears stoned throughout most of the movie and says her boyfriend gets 'pissed' if she's not where she's supposed to be. That he beats her, though never admitted, becomes painfully obvious when Frank visits her and finds her terrified to leave her own house.
Frank in many respects is both the good and the bad in the world he represents. But the ultimate evil in that world, surprisingly, isn't the middle-aged would-be rapist we meet in the first sequence, but the Roger C. Carmel character, who gives a monologue on the obvious aspects of the male mid-life crisis that makes it clear the true evil of growing old is found when you no longer care whether you live or die. Carmel looks for the 'zing' but knows he'll never find it and also knows he no longer really cares if he does.
Despite this, the movie has a happy ending, in that the lovers reconnect. But even the ending is cautionary: Frank still questions its permanence, showing us, as he tries to seize the day, that he may still not entirely know how to do it. We hope Breezy shows him, but we're not sure either.
I find it interesting that I am now the age Frank is in the movie; I find it quite instructive, personally, to contrast my reaction to it now with my reaction to it when I first saw it. I understand Frank and his friends better and I find Breezy's ultra-open honesty of emotion sadder than I did in 1973. But the movie, though it might bring a tear to these old eyes, still warms the heart. Maybe there's hope for me yet.
The movie centers around Frank, an uptight, lonely and often emotionally constipated real estate salesman played by William Holden, and Edith Ann Breezerman (the 'Breezy' of the title), played by Kay Lenz in one of her earliest roles. It chronicles the progress of the love affair between them, with a great deal of charm and occasional depths unexpected in this kind of film. Why unexpected? For one thing, it takes Frank more than half the length of the film to consummate the affair; the first half devotes itself to Breezy's breaking down of Frank's self-imposed barriers with the charm of youth.
The inevitable break between them occurs after the late Roger C. Carmel, in one of his finest dramatic moments, enviously defines Frank's relationship as nothing more than 'the old zing'. The very moment Breezy shows herself the most domestic becomes, ironically, the very moment Frank chooses to destroy the affair with the comment that they were simply the punch line of a very dirty joke. In an unpredictable twist of fate, Frank learns that, with love, one must Carpe the Diem and they get back together.
William Holden turns in a marvelously understated performance, foreshadowing his Oscar nominated turn four years later in 'Network'. Kay Lenz captures the essence of the earth-mother hippie chick without becoming either caricature or slapstick; her performance here may well be one of her all-time best. And the aforementioned Roger C. Carmel, as well as Marj Dusay and Joan Hotchkiss, turn in excellent, thought-provoking performances of their own.
This film was one of Clint Eastwood's earliest directing efforts. Yet already his greatest directorial trademark is in full view: a literate, well-conceived script filmed with a light touch by a director who knows how to set the stage and then stay out of the actors' way and let them shine, an Eastwood trademark still visible in his most recent works, such as 'Space Cowboys'. The script, by the late Jo Heims, captures the "two different worlds" cliché in a fresh and unpredictable manner. We see the good parts of Breezy's world in her own attitude, yet we meet the bad, almost tragic, aspects of the same world in Breezy's friend Marci, who appears stoned throughout most of the movie and says her boyfriend gets 'pissed' if she's not where she's supposed to be. That he beats her, though never admitted, becomes painfully obvious when Frank visits her and finds her terrified to leave her own house.
Frank in many respects is both the good and the bad in the world he represents. But the ultimate evil in that world, surprisingly, isn't the middle-aged would-be rapist we meet in the first sequence, but the Roger C. Carmel character, who gives a monologue on the obvious aspects of the male mid-life crisis that makes it clear the true evil of growing old is found when you no longer care whether you live or die. Carmel looks for the 'zing' but knows he'll never find it and also knows he no longer really cares if he does.
Despite this, the movie has a happy ending, in that the lovers reconnect. But even the ending is cautionary: Frank still questions its permanence, showing us, as he tries to seize the day, that he may still not entirely know how to do it. We hope Breezy shows him, but we're not sure either.
I find it interesting that I am now the age Frank is in the movie; I find it quite instructive, personally, to contrast my reaction to it now with my reaction to it when I first saw it. I understand Frank and his friends better and I find Breezy's ultra-open honesty of emotion sadder than I did in 1973. But the movie, though it might bring a tear to these old eyes, still warms the heart. Maybe there's hope for me yet.