I tracked this movie down purely to watch Shel Silverstein performing. The first time I watched this movie I saw right away that it was the basis for Fight Club. Don't know why nobody else sees it... the Fight Club wiki doesn't reference this movie or the book it is based upon. I guess the first rule of Fight Club is: "Don't talk about 'Who Is Harry Kellerman and Why Is He Saying All Of Those Terrible Things About Me?'"! That's all. Give credit where credit is due!

This film is in the tradition of absurdist cinema, and suffers from some of the defects of that genre. Particularly in the first half it is very mannered and seems to revel in quirkiness for its own sake. But as the movie progresses it becomes much more relateable and, in many cases, quite affecting. Barbara Harris' performance marks this transition very obviously.But what I think is important about this movie is that its narrative style and devices clearly were big influences on Woody Allen (particularly the integration of childhood memories with adult experience) and Charlie Kaufman (the use of absurdist devices to drive personal narrative). So in that sense it was quite groundbreaking.

From the first five minutes of the movie I knew it was going to be a long one. I was right. The plot seemed to drag on on for 3 hours and not enough coffee could help the matter. Although Mr. Hoffman does give an all-out performance (doesn't he always?) as Georgie Soloway, he just barely shines through the long-winded plot. Three things about this movie lend me the ability to give it a 10. Seeing Dr. Hook & The Medicine Show (I own their fan club) on stage with the genius of Shel Silverstein and Mr. Hoffman. The 3 of them together permit me to vote this movie a 10 no matter how much it needs the help of a decent writer. Hoffman gives a wonderful show as the highly intelligent, highly proficient, but obviously insane Georgie Soloway. Dr. Hook sing the opening and closing tracks and a song done onstage with Shel and Dustin named, "One More Round" amongst other tracks. Keep your mind open and concentrate on the performances of Hoffman, Silverstein, Dr. Hook, & Dom Deluise...and you'll be fine.

Labeling this movie as ahead of its time would be a bit too generous. In truth, it was ahead of its time but missed the mark. With lots of cuts between fantasy and what is probably reality, the movie does take you into the head of a disconnected music star. The only trouble is that once we're there, ... then what? In this case, nothing much, and that's a shame. At one point Hoffman's character meets a woman more screwed up than he is, and he sets about to help her a bit. Their interaction is poignant, but the movie is mostly devoid of emotion. It's nice enough to watch Hoffman walk through this movie, but i really can't recommend it for much else.