BEFORE: OK, so things didn't work out with the rape victim, and that TV reporter was pretty dull by comparison. Maybe Clint Eastwood's character will find love tonight.
THE PLOT: A brief fling between a male disc jockey and an obsessed female fan takes a frightening, and perhaps even deadly turn when another woman enters the picture.
AFTER: Oh, we got a love connection tonight - but the problem is, these things never end well. Especially when you want them to. The date here is very significant, this film was made in 1971, and it shows - everyone just barely made it out of the 60's in one piece, so they were looking to keep things casual, not make any big commitments, baby, ya dig? Let's not let "the man" define our relationship, let's just let things be, and we said no strings, we were just having fun, and why are you holding that knife like that? Oh, God!
Turns out there are groupies for every profession - I've seen them in the world of cartoons and comics, after all. I know women wait in line for hours to meet famous authors, and obviously TV and movie personalities, so an obsessed fan of a DJ doesn't seem too far of a stretch. Actually, do I need to say "obsessed fan" - isn't "fan" short for "fanatic"? So some kind of mania should be automatically attached when people really like something. As the language goes, so do people.
I think there might be a guy or two out there who, when presented with a woman who invites herself over to cook dinner on the 2nd date, even though he never officially invited her or gave her his address, might just see that as a shortcut. "Oh, so we're at that stage now, that was quick." And she's marked her territory and almost moved in, AND he gets to have sex with her - what a timesaver. Even if he realizes that he can never, never look at or talk to another woman without her going ballistic, I still think for some that might be a deal worth taking.
I'm looking at the date and realizing that this movie falls on the anniversary of a very specific moment in my relationship history. (Hint: it was about 3 weeks after my first real date.) After no action with the fairer sex through high-school and 95% of college, I was ready - and I was so in the moment I think I overlooked a lot of signals, ones that manifested themselves about five years later. OK, lots of people have starter marriages, but I can't help but wonder what my life would have been like if I hadn't been so damn eager back in 1989.
Still, it's all about experiences, and if you learn something from them, then maybe it's all worth it. Clint's character finds out the hard way that some women are just not right in the head - but it nearly costs him everything. Some might find this film a little sexist because it suggests that 50% of young, available women are stalkers. You can't deny they're out there, it's just the math that maybe seems off.
The film also doesn't seem to know exactly what it wants to be - cautionary romance, or slasher film. Then, in the middle, no lie, a music documentary pops up. Some of the characters go to the Monterey Jazz festival (it's set in that upstate California Monterey/Carmel area) and it's shot in a style very reminiscent of the famous "Woodstock" film. Again, 1971, this could have just been the way they were doing things then. But Cannonball Adderley and his Quartet are a poor substitute for The Who and Jimi Hendrix.
I felt kind of nostalgic watching a DJ cue up a vinyl record - putting the needle down and moving the turntable back a quarter turn, so there would only be silence while the record came up to speed. God, why didn't I get more into radio broadcasting, after taking some courses in it when I was a teenager?
(Probably because the only rock songs that I knew from the station's playlist were "Rock Lobster" and "Sgt, Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band". I remember getting freaked out while airing that one, and it transitioned into "With a Little Help From My Friends" - another song? What should I do, let it play, or pick up the needle? Can I DO that, play two songs in a row from the same album? I let the record play - made the right call.)
I could've been a popular disc jockey by now - or like a station manager or something. Ah, well, I guess it's a dying medium. But it ain't totally dead yet - maybe I could've gained a following and transitioned over to podcasting or something, instead of being a burned-out animation producer. Oh, well. Life doesn't give you too many do-overs.
Also starring Jessica Walter, Donna Mills, Clarice Taylor, John Larch.
RATING: 4 out of 10 station breaks
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