Absolute unique this odd and dark comedy supported by a fine screenplay put together two generation between fifty years old,about a shy boy lived by the newcomer Bud Cort who has an existential crisis quite often in mother's disagreement,even trying a psychiatric treatment with any apparent results,make all effort to avoid of young girls which supplied by his unaffected mother,he actually glads to be at cemetery's funerals,there he finds a other side of human nature,a fresh outgoing old woman played magnificently by Ruth Gordon,probable his best work in your career,one the most daring and rare movie of all time,funny and weird,then become a cult!! Resume: First watch: 1988 / How many: 4 / Source: TV-Cable TV-DVD / Rating: 8.5

I've been choosing movies from 'best of' lists on the internet. This eclectic method is fraught with widely varying opinions that may not reflect your own, and doesn't necessarily cull out the dross.HAROLD AND MAUDE is not dross, yet it is not the high art some would have you believe. It's an inoffensive, entertaining story nevertheless, and most of the action held my attention throughout. I had absolutely no idea how old this film was, though this historical factor merely made the subject matter more interesting.Harold is hard to identify with as a super-rich, attention-deprived, depressed and lonely man-child. Maude is a hyperactive, unconventional, kleptomaniac. As a holocaust survivor we are supposed to forgive the fact she steals whatever she wants while spouting truisms. I presume we're supposed to take away the message that life holds many wonders as long as we don't waste time trying to fit in or observe social norms. Unfortunately, style overrides substance and this movie fails to deliver its metaphors effectively.Both Harold and Maude were well acted in a deliberate over-the-top manner. The direction and writing is also very good. They must have bought the rights to Cat Stevens' entire album and I liked these touches of 70's culture as they popped up here and there. Overall HAROLD AND MAUDE is too clever for its own good but an entertaining watch.

Being a Minnesotan, we know that this movie ran consecutively for over two years at the Westgate in Edina, 1957 performances. It drove the locals crazy. They wanted another movie to replace it. But on both the first and second anniversaries, Ruth Gordon and Bud Cort came to the showings. The theater is long gone, but I will long remember finally seeing it. This is the story of a young man obsessed with death. He stages phony suicide attempts which drives his mother crazy. One day, he meets an elderly woman, Maude, played by Ruth Gordon. The begin to have a relationship. At first it is just a friendship, but then it is taken to the next step. This drives his family and others crazy, but they are happy with the way things are. This film defies description, but is thoroughly enjoyable.

Is "Harold and Maude" an art film? It doesn't bother with a plot. For that matter, it has nothing of the elements of a stage script, screenplay or story. There may be a little message -- about the idle rich, the spoiled rich finding no meaning in life. Certainly, no joy. As much as Ruth Gordon's Maude tries to convince to the contrary, there is no life in the empty, self-absorbed existence that she and Bud Cort's Harold pursue. Rather, it's an escapist, fantasy existence. They don't look for meaning. They just want a different experience … time after time after time. They are delusional. This film is billed as a comedy, drama and romance. I wonder if people who have lost someone close by suicide could see any comedy in Harold's obsession with it. Or his attempts at humor by faking suicide. Or is it really that funny to see an octogenarian squeal a car in circles around a police officer or in an intersection? Perhaps this film is something Timothy Leary would have seen or imagined on LSD. I can't imagine anyone being entertained by this drivel. My two stars are for some beautiful coastal scenic shots. Otherwise, this film is a waste of good celluloid.