Review of Harold and Maude (1971) by Michael Y — 13 Jul 2010

Harold and Maude is praised for it's dark comedy and tale of love that exists without limits, whether it be age or views of life. But frankly, the films "live life to the fullest" message is a bit too much and a bit too unrealistic.

This movie is about Harold, a depressed rich teenager who is obsessed with death. He later meets a 79 year old woman named Maude who is the complete opposite of Harold, but the two develope a friendship. Harold begins to see life in a new way and leter falls in love with Maude. Though this movie aims to be a heartwarming romance comedy, Maude seemed to be a bit too outgoing and silly. Harold was a good character to work on, but is spoiled when the mix of Maude and the completely obvious message of the movie begin to mix.

I do have to give credit to the preformances of the actors. Especially Bud Cort who hit those emotional scenes ans dramatic pauses perfectly. He really did do a fantastic job. This movie also made the musician Cat Stevens famous. This movie is full of songs he did for this movie, and it is a really good soundtrack.

I really did only like half of the movie. I prefered the Harold and not the Maude. Though it has good acting and soundtrack, I felt that this movie had a pretty two dimentional message that projected way too much. This is a good movie in ways, but this movie was just trying to be the next "The Graduate". So I can't give is cudos for originality. But this movie has it's moments.