I've heard about this movie for many years, and finally got to see it after it came out on DVD. I'd heard it is one of the greatest movies. It was great, for about 3/4 of it. Up to the scene in the basement abandoned Chinese restaurant. Before this, it was funny, philosophical, witty, insightful, very creative.
But starting with the Chinese Restaurant scene, the movie became preachy, ponderous, wordy, and lecturing. And the scenes with the chipmunk clown were very unpleasant to watch. Does it take that much talent to create such a repellent character? Why did we have to be submitted to it? Was it only so the 11 year old (actually 17, ridiculous in it's own right) could tell him off so Murry could feel his education was complete, so he could now get a job? When Murry, 5 months earlier, decided to get out of the rat race, he wasn't thinking of the education of the kid.
Even though Murry's job status was central to the plot, no mention was made of how he was supporting himself and his nephew. Just on savings? Those run out eventually, so Murry would have had to face reality anyway, social workers or not.
In all it's hippy philosophy, including the sell-out end, there is presented the idea that work is bad. This is not a hippy idea, it's bedrock, mainstream Puritan work ethic. This "work is bad" idea is so pervasive, that when saying that work can be fun, someone said to me, "if it's fun, you should be paying them." They are paying me to make something they can sell for a profit. They don't give a fig how I feel about it. Actually, if I work with enthusiasm, my employer would like it, because I would be more productive.
Believe it or not, humanity, some people enjoy their jobs, and actually look forward to going to work. Now, since Murry didn't enjoy his work, it was his job to find a situation that he would enjoy. Instead, he runs down all working people as being inferior to him, and he runs down all work as bad, harmful to the worker. So, clinging to this falsehood, the movie bogged down in the last 1/4 with ponderous scenes serving to perpetuate the Puritan myth.
I think the movie is worth watching for the first 3/4, as long as the viewer realizes that the cop out at the end is not so much of Murry compromising, but of the playwright and director. They refused to tell a really revolutionary idea that work can be fun, but instead had the free spirit of Murry succumb to the repressive establishment and become one of the worker bees he so despised. (See Herbert Marcuse "Eros and Civilization".)
But starting with the Chinese Restaurant scene, the movie became preachy, ponderous, wordy, and lecturing. And the scenes with the chipmunk clown were very unpleasant to watch. Does it take that much talent to create such a repellent character? Why did we have to be submitted to it? Was it only so the 11 year old (actually 17, ridiculous in it's own right) could tell him off so Murry could feel his education was complete, so he could now get a job? When Murry, 5 months earlier, decided to get out of the rat race, he wasn't thinking of the education of the kid.
Even though Murry's job status was central to the plot, no mention was made of how he was supporting himself and his nephew. Just on savings? Those run out eventually, so Murry would have had to face reality anyway, social workers or not.
In all it's hippy philosophy, including the sell-out end, there is presented the idea that work is bad. This is not a hippy idea, it's bedrock, mainstream Puritan work ethic. This "work is bad" idea is so pervasive, that when saying that work can be fun, someone said to me, "if it's fun, you should be paying them." They are paying me to make something they can sell for a profit. They don't give a fig how I feel about it. Actually, if I work with enthusiasm, my employer would like it, because I would be more productive.
Believe it or not, humanity, some people enjoy their jobs, and actually look forward to going to work. Now, since Murry didn't enjoy his work, it was his job to find a situation that he would enjoy. Instead, he runs down all working people as being inferior to him, and he runs down all work as bad, harmful to the worker. So, clinging to this falsehood, the movie bogged down in the last 1/4 with ponderous scenes serving to perpetuate the Puritan myth.
I think the movie is worth watching for the first 3/4, as long as the viewer realizes that the cop out at the end is not so much of Murry compromising, but of the playwright and director. They refused to tell a really revolutionary idea that work can be fun, but instead had the free spirit of Murry succumb to the repressive establishment and become one of the worker bees he so despised. (See Herbert Marcuse "Eros and Civilization".)