When I saw this film listed on YouTube, it seemed as if I'd heard about it somehow in my youth. I'm a 70's kid, and I have billions of micro-memories bouncing around in my skull 24/7. This one clicked a few triggers, so I decided to check it out. The first thing that grabbed me was that it starred William Holden, an actor that I really admire (I recently watched him in THE TOWERING INFERNO, and I was blown away by his role in the TV cop movie THE BLUE KNIGHT), but what really drew me, in combo with that, was that it was directed by Clint Eastwood. A Holden movie directed by Eastwood? Sign me up! Well, It wasn't what I thought it might be. In this case, that's a good thing. I expected, considering the reputations of those two greats, something tough and uncompromising. What I got, in a way, was exactly that; though not in the form that I had imagined.
BREEZY is about an the unlikely love affair between a divorced older man, Frank Harmon (played by Holden aged 56 at the time of release), and a young hippy girl, Breezy (played by the lovely Kay Lenz). After a hitchhiking incident gone wrong, young Breezy escapes to Frank Harmon's lawn; her youthful energy and relative innocence sparks something inside him. As the film progresses, so does their relationship, in spite of both their age gap and the vast differences in temperament and maturity.
BREEZY is about an the unlikely love affair between a divorced older man, Frank Harmon (played by Holden aged 56 at the time of release), and a young hippy girl, Breezy (played by the lovely Kay Lenz). After a hitchhiking incident gone wrong, young Breezy escapes to Frank Harmon's lawn; her youthful energy and relative innocence sparks something inside him. As the film progresses, so does their relationship, in spite of both their age gap and the vast differences in temperament and maturity.
There isn't much more to the story than that, or at least nothing that wouldn't spoil the loveliness of the experience of watching it. I, like Frank Harmon, was entranced by Breezy, and Kay Lenz really pulled off that kind of wide-eyed sexuality that especially appeals to older men. I was a bit surprised by the nudity in the movie (though Lenz has not been averse to getting her kit off in other movies), though perhaps not unpleasantly so, and as it served the story very well, it was appropriate. Considering her earnest sexual magnetism, it put an exclamation point on the entire experience as a viewer...it did for me, anyway. Kay Lenz really draws the eye whenever she's on screen. William Holden comes off as that kind of stable older man that would attract a young girl, especially one that many would want to take advantage of. The meat of the entire story is the tension between their ageless inner selves confronting the merciless reality of their outer lives. It is very much a down-to-Earth fantasy about unlikely love, and I found it refreshing.
Though I didn't really detect the hand of Clint Eastwood in play here, I thought the direction was solid and pretty tight. I did see a strange physical resemblance between Kay Lenz and Hilary Swank, another lovely woman directed by Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby), and for a moment I wondered if there was something in that. I've not heard of any deeper connection between Clint and Kay, but if so, I would not be surprised...stranger things happen at sea, wot? I've seen Lenz in small parts on the TV, and a glance at IMDB shows a long list of this type of thing, as well as some bigger features, not the least of which would be AMERICAN GRAFFITI.
I enjoyed BREEZY. The 70's were a great time for interesting little films, both on the big screen and the television. I'm certainly predisposed to think well of films of that decade, but I think that this one has the stuff to interest and satisfy fans of both love and human behaviour.
Though I didn't really detect the hand of Clint Eastwood in play here, I thought the direction was solid and pretty tight. I did see a strange physical resemblance between Kay Lenz and Hilary Swank, another lovely woman directed by Eastwood (Million Dollar Baby), and for a moment I wondered if there was something in that. I've not heard of any deeper connection between Clint and Kay, but if so, I would not be surprised...stranger things happen at sea, wot? I've seen Lenz in small parts on the TV, and a glance at IMDB shows a long list of this type of thing, as well as some bigger features, not the least of which would be AMERICAN GRAFFITI.
I enjoyed BREEZY. The 70's were a great time for interesting little films, both on the big screen and the television. I'm certainly predisposed to think well of films of that decade, but I think that this one has the stuff to interest and satisfy fans of both love and human behaviour.
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