comedy film
A comedy film is a category of film which emphasizes humor. These films are designed to make the audience laugh through amusement. Films in this style traditionally have a happy ending (black comedy being an exception). Comedy is one of the ol ...
produced by
Paramount Pictures
Paramount Pictures Corporation is an American film and television production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the main namesake division of Paramount Global (formerly ViacomCBS). It is the fifth-oldes ...
. The screenplay, by Rich Eustis and Michael Elias, is drawn from the novel ''
The Serial
''The Serial: A Year in the Life of Marin County'' (often referred to as ''The Serial'') is a satirical novel about Marin County, California, written by Cyra McFadden. Beginning in 1976, the book's chapters had been serialized in the Marin Co ...
'' by
Cyra McFadden
Cyra McFadden (born 1937) is an American writer, who lives on a houseboat in Sausalito, California.Sidney Beckerman and directed by Bill Persky, the film stars
Martin Mull
Martin Eugene Mull (born August 18, 1943) is an American actor, comedian and musician who has appeared in many television and film roles. He is also a painter and recording artist. As an actor, he first became known in his role on ''Mary Hartman, ...
,
Tuesday Weld
Tuesday Weld (born Susan Ker Weld; August 27, 1943) is an American actress and model. She began acting as a child and progressed to mature roles in the late 1950s. She won a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Female Newcomer in 1960. Over t ...
,
Sally Kellerman
Sally Clare Kellerman (June 2, 1937 – February 24, 2022) was an American actress and singer whose acting career spanned 60 years. Her role as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in Robert Altman's film ''M*A*S*H'' (1970) earned her an Oscar no ...
,
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultimat ...
,
Bill Macy
Wolf Martin Garber (May 18, 1922 – October 17, 2019), known professionally as Bill Macy, was an American television, film and stage actor, best known for his role in the CBS television series '' Maude'' (1972–1978).
Early life
Bill ...
,
Peter Bonerz
Peter R Bonerz (, born August 6, 1938) is an American actor and director.
Early life
Bonerzwas born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Elfrieda (née Kern) and Christopher Bonerz. He grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he attended Marquette Uni ...
and
Tom Smothers
Thomas Bolyn Smothers III (born February 2, 1937) is an American comedian, composer and musician, best known as half of the musical comedy duo the Smothers Brothers, alongside his younger brother Dick.
Early life
Smothers was born in 1937 at ...
. The original music score was composed by
Lalo Schifrin
Boris Claudio "Lalo" Schifrin (born June 21, 1932) is an Argentine-American pianist, composer, arranger and conductor. He is best known for his large body of film and TV scores since the 1950s, incorporating jazz and Latin American musical elemen ...
.
Plot
In trendy
Marin County
Marin County is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is acros ...
,
California
California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...
, during the late 1970s, uptight Harvey Holroyd is quickly losing his patience. He is also enduring something of a mid-life crisis.
On one hand, his wife Kate and her friends are thoroughly caught up in the
sexual revolution
The sexual revolution, also known as the sexual liberation, was a social movement that challenged traditional codes of behavior related to sexuality and interpersonal relationships throughout the United States and the developed world from the 1 ...
and
new age
New Age is a range of spiritual or religious practices and beliefs which rapidly grew in Western society during the early 1970s. Its highly eclectic and unsystematic structure makes a precise definition difficult. Although many scholars conside ...
consciousness-raising and
psychobabble
Psychobabble (a portmanteau of "psychology" or "psychoanalysis" and " babble") is a form of speech or writing that uses psychological jargon, buzzwords, and esoteric language to create an impression of truth or plausibility. The term implies that ...
. On the other hand, his rebellious teenage daughter Joanie is about to join a cult. To make matters worse, it seems that Harvey and Kate's sexual relationship is seemingly over, as expressed in the film's first scene.
Harvey's best friend Sam, meanwhile, is having marital troubles, and Harvey is trying to land a higher-paying job with his corporate recruiter Luckman. In a parallel, Sam and Angela's sexual relationship is seemingly also over. Sam and Harvey chat about Harvey's mid-life crisis which Sam puts down to the lack of sex.
As marital problems persist, Kate and Harvey separate. The catalyst is a wild party thrown by Joannie while her parents are out at a friend's wedding. Each becomes sexually involved with someone else, albeit rather awkwardly. Harvey tries to avoid the advances of his newly hired secretary, Stella, who lures him to an orgy, but he does begin seeing Marlene, a free-spirited, 19-year-old, strictly vegetarian supermarket cashier. Kate links up with Paco, a bisexual Argentinian aspiring to be an artist, whose profession for now is to trim her dog's hair.
Being unhappy at home, Joanie is lured by "concerned" members of a flower-peddling
cult
In modern English, ''cult'' is usually a pejorative term for a social group that is defined by its unusual religious, spiritual, or philosophical beliefs and rituals, or its common interest in a particular personality, object, or goal. This ...
. She goes voluntarily at first and finds peace and tranquility there, but eventually finds herself virtually imprisoned in their house in the big city.
Harvey and Kate manage to patch up their differences for Joanie's sake. By means of a little blackmail that ensues from a surprise revelation involving Luckman, a gay motorcycle gang joins forces with Harvey to rescue Joanie. Thus, the Holroyds are reunited and prepare for Harvey's new job in Denver.
Cast
*
Martin Mull
Martin Eugene Mull (born August 18, 1943) is an American actor, comedian and musician who has appeared in many television and film roles. He is also a painter and recording artist. As an actor, he first became known in his role on ''Mary Hartman, ...
as Harvey Holroyd
*
Tuesday Weld
Tuesday Weld (born Susan Ker Weld; August 27, 1943) is an American actress and model. She began acting as a child and progressed to mature roles in the late 1950s. She won a Golden Globe Award for Most Promising Female Newcomer in 1960. Over t ...
as Kate Holroyd
*Jennifer McAllister as Joanie Holroyd
*
Sally Kellerman
Sally Clare Kellerman (June 2, 1937 – February 24, 2022) was an American actress and singer whose acting career spanned 60 years. Her role as Major Margaret "Hot Lips" Houlihan in Robert Altman's film ''M*A*S*H'' (1970) earned her an Oscar no ...
as Martha
* Sam Chew Jr. as Bill, Martha's latest husband
*Anthony Battaglia as Stokeley, Martha's son
*
Nita Talbot
Nita Talbot (born Anita Sokol) (born August 8, 1930) is an American actress. She received an Emmy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actress in a Comedy Series for the 1967–68 season of '' Hogan's Heroes''.
Film
Born in New York City on Aug ...
as Angela Stone
*
Bill Macy
Wolf Martin Garber (May 18, 1922 – October 17, 2019), known professionally as Bill Macy, was an American television, film and stage actor, best known for his role in the CBS television series '' Maude'' (1972–1978).
Early life
Bill ...
as Sam Stone
*
Pamela Bellwood
Pamela Bellwood (born Pamela King) is an American actress known for her role as Claudia Blaisdel Carrington
Claudia Blaisdel Carrington is a fictional character from the ABC prime time soap opera ''Dynasty'', created by Richard and Esther Shapiro ...
as Carol
*
Barbara Rhoades
Barbara Rhoades (born March 23, 1946) is an American actress, known primarily for her comedy and mystery roles, especially as lady bandit Penelope "Bad Penny" Cushings in '' The Shakiest Gun in the West'' (1968). She had a recurring role on ''Soa ...
as Vivian
*Ann Weldon as Rachel, Martha's housekeeper
*
Peter Bonerz
Peter R Bonerz (, born August 6, 1938) is an American actor and director.
Early life
Bonerzwas born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire, to Elfrieda (née Kern) and Christopher Bonerz. He grew up in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, where he attended Marquette Uni ...
as Dr. Leonard Miller, a psychiatrist
*
Christopher Lee
Sir Christopher Frank Carandini Lee (27 May 1922 – 7 June 2015) was an English actor and singer. In a long career spanning more than 60 years, Lee often portrayed villains, and appeared as Count Dracula in seven Hammer Horror films, ultimat ...
as Luckman ("Skull")
*Patch Mackenzie as Stella
* Stacey Nelkin as Marlene
*
Tom Smothers
Thomas Bolyn Smothers III (born February 2, 1937) is an American comedian, composer and musician, best known as half of the musical comedy duo the Smothers Brothers, alongside his younger brother Dick.
Early life
Smothers was born in 1937 at ...
as Spike
* Clark Brandon as Spenser
*Paul Rossilli as Paco
*
Robin Sherwood
Robin Lyn Sherwood (born January 24, 1952) is an American actress, best known for her roles in ''Tourist Trap (film), Tourist Trap'' (1979), ''Blow Out'' (1981), and as the role of Carol Kersey in Charles Bronson's film ''Death Wish II'' (1982) ...
as Woman Saltzburger
Critical reception
At the time, some film critics felt that the film was endorsing sexist and homophobic attitudes.
Vito Russo
Vito Russo (July 11, 1946 – November 7, 1990) was an American LGBT activist, film historian, and author. He is best remembered as the author of the book ''The Celluloid Closet'' (1981, revised edition 1987), described in ''The New York Time ...
wrote that "the film is permeated with hatred for gays" and that it was "the perfect antifeminist, homophobic statement to usher in the age of
Ronald Reagan
Ronald Wilson Reagan ( ; February 6, 1911June 5, 2004) was an American politician, actor, and union leader who served as the 40th president of the United States from 1981 to 1989. He also served as the 33rd governor of California from 1967 ...
."
''Serial'' holds a 60% rating on Rotten Tomatoes based on five reviews.
Trailers from Hell
''Trailers from Hell'' (branded as ''Trailers from Hell!'') is a web series in which filmmakers discuss and promote individual movies through commenting on their trailers. While the series emphasizes horror, science fiction, fantasy, cult, and expl ...