By Lee Pfeiffer
Sony has released the 1971 counter-culture comedy/drama Drive, He Said as a burn-to-order DVD title. The film is primarily remembered as the directorial debut of Jack Nicholson, who also co-produced and co-authored the screenplay with Jeremy Larner, based upon the latter's prize-winning novel. Watching the movie today (especially for the first time) serves as a reminder that not every movie from this golden period of cinema has aged well, although it was greeted with largely positive critical reviews at the time. The film is best regarded as a product of its time, when- for the first time in history- American young people collectively thumbed their noses at "The Establishment". The story follows Hector (William Tepper), a college basketball star who is idolized as a jock on campus and seen as a potential pro ball player by his hard driving coach (Bruce Dern, refreshingly playing a "normal" character). But, as with virtually all cinematic protagonists in the post-Graduate era, Hector is confused and tormented about his future. He loves playing basketball but is not very enthused about taking the easy road and playing the sport for a living, despite the money and perks this career would afford him. He seems to spend virtually no time in class, but does find a way to carry on a surreptitious affair with Olive (Karen Black), the comely, free-spirited wife of Hector's friend and professor (acclaimed screenwriter Robert Towne, very good in a rare on screen performance.) There is also considerable screen time devoted to the antics of Hector's roommate Gabriel (Michael Margotta), a political radical who is facing the disturbing prospect of being drafted into the army. To counter this possibility, he feigns insanity (a la Corporal Klinger of M*A*S*H), only to go legitimately mad in the process.
Nicholson proves to be an adept director but he is confounded by Nicholson, the screenwriter. The characters are all somewhat interesting due to their individual eccentricities, but their personalities are never fully developed beyond a superficial level. Thus, the viewer never builds an emotional bond with any of them. The performances are all first-rate with Margotta giving an especially bold performance that requires plenty of full frontal nudity, including a sequence in which the naked Gabriel unleashes a number of dangerous snakes and insects from a college laboratory. (He should have received an Oscar for Most Courageous Ability to Put Sensitive Body Parts at Risk). The fact that the story never gels in any meaningful way leaves only some individually impressive sequences to entice the audience...but they are all roads leading to nowhere, including an abrupt, largely bewildering ending that seems more pretentious than meaningful. It should be noted that cinematographer Bill Butler provides some inventive camera work and David Shire's score is also impressive. The movie also does evoke (for those of us old enough to remember) what it was like to be young at a time when the world was changing at lightning speed, amid some of the most cataclysmic political events ever seen. Nevertheless, Drive, He Said remains a noble but ultimately failed attempt to capture the era in any meaningful way. The parts are better than the whole.
The Sony DVD is crisp and clean, though many films of this era have a certain gritty and grimy look to them, this one included. There are no extras included.
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