This version moved a little slow for my taste and I suppose I have problems with this play to begin with. But first the movie, it's a typical TV movie version of a play which means it doesn't have the flair of the original film version with William Holden. What they couldn't afford to hire more than twelve people as extras? Why move the movie up to 1966? So you could give the little sister a line about the Vietnam war protests? Why not 1963 and give her a line about the civil rights movement?As for the casting, some hits some misses. Jay O. Sanders hit the right notes for his character especially with his scenes with Josh Brolin. Brolin on the other hand miss a lot of the notes. He's believable as an ex-BMOC jock but he doesn't have the raw sensuality of William Holden. I always thought Brolin looks a little bit like a gorilla to have all the women in town go ape over him (pardon the pun). Gretchen Moll was lovely but she seemed a little too wise for the character she played. She didn't project the innocence or ignorance that the character required. Maybe it's because she and Brolin were about 5 years older than the characters should be. But then again Holden was ten years too old. Bonnie Bedelia was rather forgettable as the mother and Mary Steenburgen can't seem to make up her mind whether she was playing Blanche duBois or Katharine from "The Taming of The Shrew".As for Mr. Inge's play, I always felt that stories like this of a young woman choosing passion over practicality always needed an epilogue. "The Twilight Zone" I believe offer a likely epilogue with the episode, "Spur of the Moment" where a young Diana Hyland was being chased by a bitter older Diana Hyland, because the younger Diana Hyland chose to run off with a guy similar to Hal Carter.

what a horrible treatment to a great script....all the characters are stiff and without any merit for the audience... how dare they ruin a wonderful story .. and especially try to duplicate a masterpiece.. with Holden and Novak... it stinks

Daniel Taradash did a splendid adaptation of William Inge's play back in 1955, preserving most of its structure and text while successfully fitting it into the form of a CinemaScope movie. Alas, this misguided and heavy-handed version seems to have learned little of value from Taradash's work. For some reason it's been updated, not to the present day but to 1966, perhaps to give Millie -- incredibly enough -- a chance to make a prescient but implausible speech about the coming turmoil of the Vietnam War. Did someone think this absurd insertion would somehow give the story weight and significance?Worse, however, is the way this version misunderstands and misplays its characters. Madge, the dreamy, not-too-articulate small-town beauty has here been turned into such a shrewd, knowing woman that one suspects she discusses her problems at least once a week with a psychoanalyst. The same applies to Hal Carter who, as glumly played by Josh Brolin, comes across more as a doctoral candidate in Russian literature rather than a washed-up, not-too-bright jock. And, let's be frank, Brolin just isn't physically impressive enough with his shirt off to justify his apparent effect on women's libidos.The characters of Howard Bevens, Millie, and Mrs. Potts are wasted and Mary Steenbergen seems utterly misdirected in the usually-glorious role of Rosemary, the old-maid schoolteacher. Utterly missing is Rosemary's sense of desperation. Bonnie Bedelia doesn't fare much better as Mrs. Owens and since this TV-movie never makes believable the college friendship between Hal and Alan Benson, Alan's turning against Hal doesn't have much impact. The backgrounds for this filmed-in-Texas production don't match the authenticity of the 1955 film which shot most of its exteriors in Hutchinson, Kansas. The Owens home, for example, is simply too large and well-maintained for a middle-class family headed by a widowed mother who has to worry about making ends meet. The Benson home looks regrettably like something out of "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous."Forget this muddle. Pay homage to the 1955 classic.

Since I worked on PICNIC as LOCATIONS CREW, and saw the movie on T.V. myself and recorded it on VHS, I think personally that DIRECTOR, Ivan Passer did an Excellent job along with PRODUCER, Blue Andre in making the film. GRETCHEN MOL, CHAD MORGAN, BEN CASWELL, JOSH BROLIN and all other CAST and EXTRAS that were involved made an outstanding performance in this CLASSIC EPIC. WONDERFUL, PERFECT... JUST ONE MORE... P I C N I C !Larry Friedel (LOCATIONS)