By Richard Winters
My Rating: 5 out of 10
4-Word Review: Teen enjoys seducing women.
Phil (Kristoffer Tabori) is a cocky, self-centered teen who uses his good looks to get practically any girl he wants into bed with him. He even has a fling with the wife of his basketball coach, but when he thinks he has gotten one of them pregnant things begin to spiral out-of-control especially when his emotionally fragile mother (Joyce Van Patten) starts to have some ‘problems’ of her own.
Peter Bart’s script, which is based on James Leigh’s novel ‘What Can You Do?’ has some incisive comments, but surprisingly it’s more on being middle age than adolescence. It shows with a depressing clarity what a thankless, pain-in-the-ass the middle age years can be and how people at that stage secretly wish to go back to their teens if only to experience for a fleeting moment the carefreeness and idealism once again.
The on-location shooting done at West Mesa High School in Albuquerque, New Mexico nicely captures the gorgeous, crystal blue skies of that region. The students are made up of actual teens that look and behave very much like teens of today. However, John Erman’s direction is lackluster and flat. Everything is shot in a conventional, unimaginative way with a pace that is slow and only manages to improve towards the end when it becomes dramatic.
Phil’s spirited debate with his English teacher, played by Lawrence Pressman, is engaging as is a rebellious student played by Bob Balaban arguing with his beleaguered principal (David Doyle) about his right not to have to stand at attention during the pledge of allegiance. The film is also famous for the novelty of casting real-life siblings Dick and Joyce Van Patten as lovers and includes a sequence showing him kissing her on the mouth, which had to be awkward to perform let alone rehearse.
Tabori, who is the son of actress Viveca Lindfors and Dirty Harry director Don Siegel shows an impressive amount of composure and maturity for such a young age, but I wasn’t so sure I liked the sound of his voice. Louise Latham, who plays the mother of the girl Phil thinks he might have impregnated, is memorable and had her part been just a wee bit bigger she would have easily stolen the whole thing. She is also involved in the film’s funniest moment where she asks Phil for some weed and thinking she doesn’t know “grass from her ass” he decides to take a regular cigarette, roll it up like a joint, light it and then let her smoke it where she ends up getting a ‘high’ anyways.
The film’s staple though is its twist ending that is genuinely shocking and most likely to leave even the most jaded viewer’s mouth agape. It could’ve been played out a little more, but remains nasty nonetheless and it’s something you’re guaranteed not to see in any other movie. It is also the one thing that gives this otherwise undistinguished teen flick a kick and probably explains why it has never been released on either VHS or DVD nor ever shown on broadcast network television.
My Rating: 5 out of 10
Released: March 21, 1971
Runtime: 1Hour 31Minutes
Rated R
Director: John Erman
Studio: 20th Century Fox
Available: None at this time.
Scopophilia 
Flat and pointless without a single interesting character or scene.
I disagree! I found the ending to be genuinely shocking.
I found the ending shockingly contrived and unbelievable.
For me it was completely unexpected and a bit shocking. I’ve never seen a movie with an ending that was similar, so in that vein it was original.
The Dr. performing an illegal abortion pre Rode vs Wade lectures Phil! The scene as presented is mundane and not the least bit shocking to me. The film ends with mother and son riding home as that awful tune warbles. Really what’s the point? What did either learn? The film received the shortest review in the history of New Yorker magazine. ” Making It is based on the novel What Can You Do? What you can do is not see it.” Amen! Unsurprisingly, John Erman didn’t direct another feature film for 2 decades. He directed Stella with Bette Midler in 1990. The film has all the texture and depth of an episode of The Brady Bunch.
Well, if you read my review I stated that John Erman’s direction is flat and lackluster. This is certainly not a cinematic film in any way, but some of the issues it brings out particularly the differences between the middle-aged years and the teen ones I found interesting and on-target. As for the ending I think the son learned that there are consequences to every action and limits to everything including his tendency to take advantage of others and think he’s so smart he can always get away with it. The carefree world that he longed for really didn’t exist and the rebellion of the teen years is just a state of mind as evidenced when Louise Latham, who plays the mother of the girlfriend, gets ‘high’ from a joint that is really just a regular cigarette.
Peter Hanson over at Every 70’s Movie gives this film a ‘Groovy’, which is one of his highest ratings and he’s a very tough critic. I’m not saying it deserves to be that high, I’m only giving it a 5, which is a ‘fair’, but still there are others who liked it.
Tabori is scrawny and charmless here and is miscast as a stud. Since it’s his mom who gets the abortion after he arranges it for the girl who it turns out isn’t pregnant after all, “I’m late mommy! I’m late mommy! And I throw up!” What does Phil learn? The end is not a consequence of anything he’s done. There’s not a single believable adult character in the entire film.
The film’s tone is inconsistent as are most of its characters and there’s absolutely 0 atmosphere; starting with the opening scene the film feels trite and hollow.