Tony Mastroianni Review Collection
Erich Segal Strikes Again
Cleveland Press November 1, 1971
What can you say about a movie written by Erich Segal in which the heroine is dead right from the beginning?
Segal wrote "Love Story," and while "Jennifer" is based on a novel by another author, someone in the movie industry must have figured Segal might turn this into another sentimental money maker.
"Jennifer" is a "Love Story" with hard drugs added, but that's not the trouble with it. The characters are a couple of simple-minded clods and the dialog is not so much sentimental as drippy.
The boy (Michael Brandon) has lots of money and his own apartment. The girl (Tippy Walker) is wealthy and very upper crust, but the added thing with her is that she is generally high on speed.
"There was something about her look that made me run halfway across the piazza to meet her," recalls the young man, apparently not noticing that the look was more glazed than romantic.
The fellow is talking into a tape recorder while Jennifer is just across the room, dead from an overdose. Now he is recalling his pursuit of her, philosophizing a bit and musing about what he is going to do with the body. For starters he hacks up the innards of an expensive harpsichord and stows her in there.
Both parts are so ridiculous it would be unfair to try to evaluate the performances. Even experienced actors in lesser roles come off badly in this one.
Erich Segal should say he's sorry.
