HAROLD AND MAUDE (Ashby, 1971) - I don’t know why it took me so long to get around to this one: it should be right up my alley, what with the Cat Stevens soundtrack*, the whimsy, the bleak humor. And I did like it, even laughed quite a bit (I especially liked Harold’s mom), but in a rather subdued way. Probably I’ve just seen too many knock-offs, but it felt just a tad stale. I did think the ending was wonderful, though, and the performances are great.
*which is used pretty much wall-to-wall, just like the Simon and Garfunkel music in THE GRADUATE, providing the wallpaper of the movie, so to speak.
