Plot Details: This opinion reveals minor details about the movie's plot.

I’ve been enjoying Kris Kristofferson movies lately and most recently I was a bit creeped out by 1973’s Blume in Love, directed by Paul Mazursky and starring George Segal, Susan Anspach, Kris Kristofferson, Marsha Mason and Shelley Winters. It wasn’t Kristofferson who creeped me out, not at all, but Segal’s obsessed character. This is a slow, very 1970s movie I’m glad I saw, but wouldn’t watch it again. I did relisten to the second Kristoffeerson song written, it seems, for the movie, the first being a drunken three-part harmony about Chester the goat.

We have a divorced man Blume who realizes that he still loves his wife who caught him with his secretary the first time he cheated on her supposedly. Sitting outside in Venice he sighs over the intimate looks sent by two strangers, one old creep and a much younger, androgynous person. Blume’s thoughts about love are spoken by him in a voice-over and the story proceeds to show us how he got dumped, discusses her with his shrink, gets jealous when he meets her boyfriend the impoverished musician, uses another woman who puts up with it for a long time, tries to be a sympathetic divorce lawyer, makes friends with boyfriend while pursuing his uninterested ex-wife, and finally rapes her. Now you would think that seals his fate, but this is a weird 1970s’ movie. It certainly was filmed before the feminist movement became popular. I will only observe that true love, as defined here, wins the day. It’s not what I consider true love.

Segal, especially when his obsessed character was bearded, was rather creepy to me and not that likable. I cannot relate to such a self-absorbed, arrogant, stalking character that complains about impotence to his shrink and takes his advice to do some ’sport f*cking.’ I guess we’re supposed to feel sympathy for him, like his ex-wife was too quick to divorce him, but I don’t. I liked Anspach’s character more, at least until the Twilight Zone ending that surely belongs to a Doris Day movie of the 1960s. Kristofferson was my favorite character and quite engaging. Once he punched out Segal’s character, but all is forgiven in the end. Damn, he must really love his ex-wife after all…

Blume In Love runs close to two hours and has a very leisurely pace with more talk than action. Besides being shot in Venice, a definite plus, it was also filmed in California where they all met each other. It’s not a bad film, especially if you like Kristofferson or 1970s’ hippie movies, but it came off as creepy to me. You might want to check it out if bored.

Recommended: Yes

Viewing Format: DVD