Richard Brooks, Looking for Mr Goodbar, 1977
"I feel like the mother who delivered her 13-year-old daughter to the door of Roman Polanski and didn't know what was going to happen," was Judith Rossner's reaction to this film adaptation of her 1975 novel telling the story of a young Irish-American schoolteacher whose attraction to the seamier side of New York nightlife leads to her eventual destruction. For all its faults, though - and there are many, most notably insufficient character development (the guilt-ridden father, the "perfect" daughter - Tuesday Weld got an Oscar nomination for Best Supporting Actress, which is surprising given how much screen time she actually has -, and the all-too-late and totally unprepared arrival of the drifter at the end) - it's a standout performance from Diane Keaton, and a fine early appearance by Richard Gere (who I'll admit I've warmed to since I saw American Gigolo) and has a truly chilling ending, which I won't spoil. But this is one book that, I think, could have been better adapted as a series: two and quarter hours just isn't enough to explore everything. And this observation coming from someone who doesn't particularly like the idea of the series (a decent director can get a helluva lot of information into a feature-length film: cf Lumet's The Group). Not that Brooks isn't a decent director - there's much to commend here, including some excellent photography from William Fraker (who also netted an Oscar nomination), and a solid soundtrack. That said, it was the 70s, so how could you go wrong in a nightclub? But go wrong Keaton certainly does. Yikes.
Or, to quote Dennis: "Strange women lying In ponds distributing swords is no system for a basis of government."
