secondtake Breezy (1973)Never mind the Clint Eastwood penchant for having old men sleep with young women. This is a fairly nuanced story about exactly that problem—and it's a problem on one level or another when two people fall in love who are very different in age.It also helps that veteran, 54 year old actor William Holden pulls off a delicate, charming, perfectly grumpy performance as the older guy—someone with a beautiful house in the hills near Hollywood, but where he won't be found floating dead in the pool at the end, or the beginning. Yes, this is the Holden of "Sunset Blvd." It feels odd to remind people (some of you) about an actor who was once, briefly, both a screen idol and an box office success. His rocky career never quite reached its intended peak, but there are some really fine roles he took on with surprising ease and sincerity. This is one of them.The young woman in this case is Kay Lenz, a little known actress (19 at the time) with some television and a tiny part in "American Graffiti" under her belt before the director pulled her in for this role, which fits her like a glove. The very naive purity of the character is exactly what this actress seems to actually have in excess. When she meets Holden early in the film, they are exactly opposites—except that they are both deep down very kind. And so the differences become ways to learn and grow— especially for the old man, who doesn't quite get the hippie mentality for its better sides.The plot actually fits into a few clichés a little too easily, and overall it's a bit simple. The details around the couple—her friends and his—are tossed in like peanuts on the ice cream, and the movie is worse for it. Holden is meant to struggle with being, on the surface, a kind of child molester, but it is carried only in his face, not in the external conversations. (Luckily this is enough.) The utter naiveté of Lenz's girl, named Breezy, leaves us with less to do inside her head, which is too bad because she seems smart and street smart, both. There was more here by far than gets plumbed.Another aspect that makes this worth watching is the feeling of 1970 or so in the overall scenario. (The movie was filmed in 1972 but the hippies, and the clash of cultures, feels a couple years earlier.) Unlike some movies where the mis-en-scene feels timeless from this New Hollywood period ("Five Easy Pieces" perhaps), this movie is particularly dated, and that might be a good thing. It's so much about the era, and a product of it, that is drips with symbols from the time. It also drips with sappy folk-rock music for a soundtrack, which is a product of the time and of Eastwood's lifelong attempt to make music in his movies pull from "real music" including his own compositions. It's a distraction here.Despite all the gaffes and shortcomings, "Breezy" is really worth watching for all that works, especially the shimmering, contrasting main characters.

kenjha A teen-aged hippie and a middle-aged businessman become romantically involved. Focusing on the hippie culture, this film is very much a product of its time. However outdated its values may be, it still manages to be a worthwhile watch thanks to terrific performances by the leads. Holden was in his early 50s when this was filmed but looked much older, thanks to years of boozing, making the age difference between him and Lenz even more pronounced. Holden is solid as a real estate agent. Lenz, in her first big role after a bit part in "American Graffiti," is perfectly cast as the naive hippie. The two stars have great chemistry. This is probably the oddest entry in Eastwood's directorial ledger.

Dave Scheck This movie is definitely an above average effort from Clint (considering this movie is the first movie which he directed without being on the other side of the screen as well). The movie is shot in Eastwood's comfortable California Pacific Rim locale. The movie takes place during the early 1970's, when free-spirits seemed to be at their freeist, although it is quite obvious that the vast majority of the public is still uncomfortable with their existence. The concept of the story is really quite basic - conservative, divorced, older man meets young, beautiful, hippie girl and ends up falling for her - although they need each other for different reasons. The girl, Breezy (Kay Lenz) is attracted to Frank's (William Holden) faint hint of sensitivity and generosity and Frank becomes physically attracted to her, and, ultimately takes advantage of her free nature and uses her for sex (no perversions implied or presented).As stated before, I felt that Clint did a very good job weaving himself through the movie, putting more than just his fingerprints on this film before it was over. The one very big surprise in this film, however, was the performance of Kay Lenz. It was a very big gamble to cast Kay into the lead role of Breezy by Clint (he originally wanted his future girlfriend, Sondra Locke, to play the part of Breezy after seeing her head shots, but ultimately chose Kay), since she had never acted before. The 20 year old Lenz played the part almost flawlessly - hitting absolutely everything essential to the character of Breezy. This really is no surprise to me however, considering Eastwood's directing history of taking actors that have never acted before (most notably in Gran Torino, where 90% of the cast had never acted before) and turning them into very good role players. By far the biggest disappointment was the casting of William Holden into the part of Frank. I completely get the whole idea of using a solid, reputable actor to play opposite of Lenz, however, Holden looked far too old (he was 55 at the time and looked far older than that) for it to be anywhere believable that a vivacious, beautiful young girl would be sexually attracted to him. The other observation of Holden is that he seemed to be sleep walking throughout the entire movie, never emotionally connecting with Breezy (or the viewer for that matter). Considering the time period, there are several other actors that could have played the part more convincingly.Overall, I came away from the movie wholly pleased and happy. Definitely a movie viewers should check out if they are fans of Eastwood's directing style.

james-664 A little-known film directed by Clint Eastwood, it tells the story of a blossoming love affair between two VERY different people. Call me old-fashioned, but I felt they made Breezy too young as it emphasised how prematurely aged Holden looked, and a love affair between a 17 year old hippy and 55 year old divorcée is not particularly palatable. It might have been better had the much younger Eastwood himself taken on the role as originally planned, but I suppose he wanted to stretch the boundaries and this is touched upon. If it were made today, there would probably be scenes of locals firebombing his home and spraying 'PAEDO' down the side of his Lincoln.Try not to think about the 40 year age difference though, and this is a pretty well-made schmaltzy Sunday afternoon film - I even cried at one point - not because of the 2 protagonists, but because of the dog sub-plot. Well acted by all players, particularly Holden who does grumpy and irascible brilliantly. I also love films made during this era with the over-sized cars, stylish women and chintzy Los Angeles designer homes.