So much promise, so little delivery. Considering how much talent was involved in this production, one would expect a great deal more--but there are precious few highlights in this muddled Euro flick. Julie Christie looks good but barely breaks a sweat, Adolfo Celi over-emotes, Michael Sarrazin phones in his performance, and only John Hurt seems to be making much of an effort on camera. None of them are done any favors by Tonino Guerra's bloodless screenplay, and the photography of Otto Heller and Giorgio Tonti is unimaginative at best. The print currently airing on Sundance also seems washed out--the film looks like it was shot in Eastmancolor, but wasn't--and Georgie Fame's theme tune is genuinely wretched. Is there anything here to recommend? Well, Hurt is good, but his character is peripheral to most of the action, and Ron Grainer provides some good music for a bizarre recording sequence that imagines the title character as a wacky hybrid of composers Harry Partch and David Whitaker. Only recommended for hardcore admirers of la Christie.
Review of In Search of Gregory
