Review of Harold and Maude (1971) by Ben L — 28 Jul 2017

Harold and Maude was not at all what I expected. It has a dark comedic style that starts right from the beginning. Harold is a morbid young man who's obsessed with death. The humor worked for me but I could see it being tough for some. There's also something interesting that happens as you watch the film, because you find that you start to become desensitized to Harold's behavior much like his own mother. I started off genuinely disturbed, and never would have thought that minutes later I'd be laughing at similar things.

The magic of Harold and Maude starts with the performance of Bud Cort. He delivers a lot of personality as Harold and somehow makes you care about a young man who has some serious issues. His character goes through a real arc in the film and you can feel it in his portrayal. Ruth Gordon provides an interesting counterpoint as Maude. Her wacky carefree attitude almost seems like it would clash with Harold. However, the two of them have a strange connection in the film and it seems to enrich both of them.

While Harold and Maude took me completely by surprise, I was delighted how much it clicked with me. The story is off the wall, darkly humorous, and also emotional at times. There were some parts in the second half that I didn't love as much because they took things to an extreme that seemed unbelievable. At a certain point you'd wind up in jail without question. I suppose there's a level of whimsy in the film and someone could ignore the illogical, but that aspect didn't quite work for me. I also struggled a bit with the ending, because it was, well let's just say...disappointing. Still the movie was funny and overall a winner.