I don't remember how I found out about this movie, but it always sounded interesting. It pairs Vincente Minnelli - directing his second-to-last film - with an increasingly popular Barbara Streisand, with this being just her third starring role. The old and the new (at the time) combine, both being people with ties to the musical genre, and bring with them an eclectic supporting cast that includes, Yves Montand, Bob Newhart, and even Jack Nicholson... though Nicholson's not in it a ton.
It has an imaginative premise involving psychology and a woman who can see a past life, and it has the kind of color and visual pop that you'd expect from a Minnelli film. But On a Clear Day You Can See Forever feels weirdly unsure of itself, like it's almost embarrassed to be a musical. With rare exceptions, you kind of have to commit to being a full-hearted musical, and hope the old-fashionedness feels charming (it can), or you have to do something more grounded and less theatrical... maybe like Bob Fosse, who I'm more and more realizing kind of changed everything with Cabaret and All That Jazz later in the 1970s.
I think On a Clear Day You Can See Forever leans more towards silliness, but it never commits enough. The songs aren't very good, either, and the musical numbers themselves are generally uninspired and infrequent; the lack of dancing stands out and feels weird, when the music "sounds" quintessentially of the musical genre, and the colors hearken back to Minnelli's superior films. The opening song is one of the worst openers I've heard in a musical movie for a while, and was maybe a sign of things to come.
I think the actors are mostly doing a solid job, there are a handful of sporadic fun moments throughout, and it's a nice-looking movie. It's also not as creepy as Minnelli's Gigi, so... that's something? I can't think of much else nice to say about the film, though.
It has an imaginative premise involving psychology and a woman who can see a past life, and it has the kind of color and visual pop that you'd expect from a Minnelli film. But On a Clear Day You Can See Forever feels weirdly unsure of itself, like it's almost embarrassed to be a musical. With rare exceptions, you kind of have to commit to being a full-hearted musical, and hope the old-fashionedness feels charming (it can), or you have to do something more grounded and less theatrical... maybe like Bob Fosse, who I'm more and more realizing kind of changed everything with Cabaret and All That Jazz later in the 1970s.
I think On a Clear Day You Can See Forever leans more towards silliness, but it never commits enough. The songs aren't very good, either, and the musical numbers themselves are generally uninspired and infrequent; the lack of dancing stands out and feels weird, when the music "sounds" quintessentially of the musical genre, and the colors hearken back to Minnelli's superior films. The opening song is one of the worst openers I've heard in a musical movie for a while, and was maybe a sign of things to come.
I think the actors are mostly doing a solid job, there are a handful of sporadic fun moments throughout, and it's a nice-looking movie. It's also not as creepy as Minnelli's Gigi, so... that's something? I can't think of much else nice to say about the film, though.