Thersea Dunn (Diane Keaton) is a dedicated teacher by day. By night she cruises bars picking up men for increasingly violent sexual encounters. This leads to drug abuse and starts affecting her job. Can she stop?
A VERY negative view of the swinging 70s before AIDS came about in the 80s. I originally saw this on TV when I was in high school where it was cut to ribbons and virtually incomprehensible. A revival theatre did show it a few months later so I got to see it uncut on the big screen. I was a little too young to understand it fully (a 10th grader doesn't know much about singles bars:)) but the message came through loud and clear--sex + drugs = death. There's more to it than that--they get into Dunn's family life and you see she grew up feeling neglected with an obnoxious loud father and a meek mother. There's also her sister Katherine (Tuesday Weld) who is also addicted to sex and drugs. Basically this is a very depressing film full of unpleasant characters and situations. Keaton is great in her role--she totally buried her "Annie Hall" image with this. She also did nude scenes which she previously refused to do. Weld was superb (and Oscar-nominated) for her role. It's also fun to see Richard Gere and LeVar Burton before they hit it big. Also a still unknown Tom Berenger pops up at the end in a very disturbing but crucial role. He had guts playing the role he does (I won't give it away). This movie has disappeared due to song rights (I believe) and that's too bad. It IS disturbing but an accurate portrayal of the dark side of the singles bars in the 1970s.
A VERY negative view of the swinging 70s before AIDS came about in the 80s. I originally saw this on TV when I was in high school where it was cut to ribbons and virtually incomprehensible. A revival theatre did show it a few months later so I got to see it uncut on the big screen. I was a little too young to understand it fully (a 10th grader doesn't know much about singles bars:)) but the message came through loud and clear--sex + drugs = death. There's more to it than that--they get into Dunn's family life and you see she grew up feeling neglected with an obnoxious loud father and a meek mother. There's also her sister Katherine (Tuesday Weld) who is also addicted to sex and drugs. Basically this is a very depressing film full of unpleasant characters and situations. Keaton is great in her role--she totally buried her "Annie Hall" image with this. She also did nude scenes which she previously refused to do. Weld was superb (and Oscar-nominated) for her role. It's also fun to see Richard Gere and LeVar Burton before they hit it big. Also a still unknown Tom Berenger pops up at the end in a very disturbing but crucial role. He had guts playing the role he does (I won't give it away). This movie has disappeared due to song rights (I believe) and that's too bad. It IS disturbing but an accurate portrayal of the dark side of the singles bars in the 1970s.