Back to America for James Bridges’ 1973 film THE PAPER CHASE.
Timothy Bottoms stars as a Harvard Law School student who unknowingly falls in love with the daughter (Lindsay Wagner) of a legendarily tough professor (John Houseman).
This is an interesting pick for a love story because the actual love story between Bottoms and Wagner isn’t that great. But, it’s not supposed to be. The point of the movie is that Bottoms’ obsession with Houseman eclipses his romantic relationship to the point where he has to choose one over the other.
The relationship between student and professor, however, is much more interesting, as is the observational stuff about what it’s like to be in a tough law school. It’s not often you see a movie so thoroughly examine what it takes to be a really good student.
This is a tough movie to evaluate, because our main character, the ambitious student played by Bottoms, is not all that likable and neither is Houseman’s professor. On one hand that’s refreshing, because who says every movie has to be a touchy feely examination of characters we love? On the other hand, it makes the flick a tough watch.
It starts out interestingly enough as the premise is set up but then kind of seems to meander and lose its way towards the end. Still, you can see why Houseman won a best supporting actor Oscar.
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