Jeremy (1973)

I love this movie so much

Just perfect...

A Masterpiece!

Blistering performances.

My rating is generous and subjective. I can't really argue that this is a "good" movie. A lot of it feels awkward and even amateurish. --mild spoilers ahead--But this look at teen-age first love speaks to me very personally (shy west side NYC kid falls for beautiful, popular girl only to lose her to outside forces). This was both my teen-age fantasy of what first romance and sex should be, and a reflection of much of my own real life experience. So even such cringe worthy elements as Robby Benson and Glynnis O"™Connor singing not-very-good pop odes to love on the soundtrack can't keep this from making me remember and cry.Interestingly, though, talking to others of my generation (I'm 50) I was fascinated to find I was far from alone in having this heart/head split in reaction to the film. So obviously there's something in there real and true enough in it that it overcomes the undeniably mawkish elements. But for a really great look at teen first love, I recommend Roy Andersson's wonderful "A Swedish Love Story" - hard to find, but worth it.

I am definitely no fan of love stories, but there is something very special about this one. Robby Benson portrays a young man who, while immersed in the ultra- (not to say pseudo-)sophisticated world of New York City teen life, manages to preserve a purity of character and honesty with those around him that is almost painful to watch. Somehow he does this without becoming either a nerd or a buffoon. I call the performance brilliant because I can't imagine that actor Benson himself could have been very much like this, though perhaps that's unfair: he has gone on to a quite respectable acting and directorial career. This was Glynnis O'Connor's first movie, and she is lovely as well as sensitive in a quite delicate role. Of course the theme of teenagers' vulnerability to the buffetings of the adult world they are helpless to control is what determines the plot, but in this case that is less of a political challenge than a device necessary to bring the story to its conclusion. I finished this movie feeling warm and rather good inside.

This little gem is one of the rare movies that one sees at a young age and it remains with you (at least if you are a prepubescent girl). This was released in 1973, when I was 12 years old, and I saw it at a drive-in (believe it or not) and I still remember thinking how awesome (yet sad it was) and how I hoped upon hope that my first love would be a boy like Jeremy (wonderfully and sensitively played by Robbie Benson).The love story is sweet and realistic, Glynis O'Connor plays the female love interest of Jeremy and seems to me she and Robbie Benson were involved romantically in real life during the time the movie made, if so the affection and love they displayed on the screen seemed very real.I remember too that there was a brief nude scene, not graphic, but beautifully displayed, and all of this overwhelmed me at the age I was. I went on to read the book and it was excellent as well. I would love to see this movie released on DVD.Why don't we see more of Robbie Benson? He was a great young actor in the 70's.

JEREMY is the most realistic and touching film of it's kind, that I had the pleasure of seeing when I was 19. I understand that it was filmed in 16mm and blown up to 35mm for theatre presentation, which gives the movie an almost documentary - type look and feel. Combined with understated performances by all involved, and an excellent "real-feeling" script, JEREMY avoids all the schmaltz and hyper-melodramatics usually associated with stories of this type. I hate to use the phrase "little film", but it does have the charm of a smaller, independently - produced movie. Before there was "FAME", this film about two students from the New York High School For The Performing Arts, who spend some time together and fall in love, only to be cruelly seperated in the end by unforseen circumstances, has remained a favorite of mine to this day. I have a cherished copy on VHS - I just hope a copy on DVD is forthcoming.