Review of Breezy (1973) by Stuart K — 04 Sep 2011

This was only Clint Eastwood's 3rd film as a director, coming hot off the heels of High Plains Drifter (1973), and it was the first film he directed that he didn't star in, (something that's common with his films now).

It's a touching romantic drama, which is actually one of the most touching films Clint ever made, and it shows his maturity as a director growing. Set in and around Los Angeles, it follows carefree hippie Edith Alice "Breezy" Breezerman (Kay Lenz), who is 17 years old and jumps from car to car, bed to bed around Los Angeles.

However, when one driver (Norman Bartold) tries to rape her, she escapes and finds herself going up the driveway of Frank Harmon (William Holden), a tired, divorced real estate agent, well into middle age.

He agrees to drive Breezy into town, but they encounter one another again over the course of a week, and it blossoms into a relationship. Breezy shows Frank the carefree side of life, and how to enjoy things, whereas Frank helps Breezy mature into a responsible woman, but people get talking about the age gap in the relationship, which affects them both.

It's a by-the-numbers romance film, but it does have two brilliant performances in it, and Holden and Lenz make it a believeable relationship, but it doesn't get under the skin. Universal shelved it for a year, and barely promoted it, Clint didn't try romantic films again for 22 years.