Jeremyis an early 70’s film that put Robby Benson on the map (for what that’s worth). Benson was nominated for a Golden Globe for his tender performance as the title character. This is quite an intimate little perforance. Glynnis O’Connor plays Jeremy’s love interest, Susan. O’Connor matches Benson’s truthful performance. The film centers around Susan and Jeremy’s awkward, but authentic, teenage romance.
The film moves along at a snail’s pace. But that’s part of the point. There are no major Romeo…and Juliet type melodramatics. The director, Arthur Barron, introduces a lot of hand-held camera work and non-conventional set-ups. The result has a documentary type feel. The trouble with Jeremy is that it’s caught between telling a good story and maintaining a cinema verite style. The results are lukewarm, but always interesting.
Audio
The audio mix is in English and Spanish Dolby Digital 2.0. Not at the same time though. If you want fun, you can flick back and forth between English and Spanish. Maybe a different language for every chapter? But I digress…The mix is fairly clean and clear. There are points of muddiness but it’s forgivable, given the source material.
Video
The video transfer is something else. Shot in 16MM, Jeremy retains a documentary feel. However, it looks like a documentary you’d see in school during health class. There is a ton of speckling, shimmering, and other print damage. There seems to have been no attempt to clean any of this stuff up. The movie retains a documentary realism, yes, but to what end? So you’re distracted by the bland and fuzzy picture? You can watch this movie in Full Screen or 1.85:1 widescreen. I don’t mean to be so harsh about the transfer…but it just looks bad.
Special Features
Zip.
Final Thoughts
This disc might be worth a rental if you’re into low key, cinema verite romances. Robby Benson’s performance is worth noting too. However, the harsh video transfer makes for tough viewing. In the words of Pearl Jam, Jeremy‘s spoken.
