John And Mary

John And Mary is very much in the late 60s vein – supposedly an authentic portrait of contemporary relationships in the Big Apple. Dustin Hoffman plays John, a furniture designer, Mia Farrow plays Mary, a young single woman who works in an art gallery. They meet in a trendy bar, go back to John’s trendy apartment, have what one can only assume is very untrendy sex and then tentatively explore the possibilities of starting a relationship.

Based on a novel by Mervyn Jones, the film s supposed to be a window on real, ordinary young urban singles but its mundanity is so obviously contrived that not only does it fail as a slice-of-life portrait but also as a drama. Farrow and Hoffman try to play cool young singles with a core of desperate loneliness but the script by John Mortimer is so lamely generic that they really have nothing to work with. Farrow, at the height of her waif-like beauty, does her nervy, self-deprecating thing and Hoffman twitches and runs around a lot but it seems the only thing their characters have in common is that they’re both pretty dull people. Aside from Farrow’s beauty the best thing about the film is the 60s décor, in this respect the film benefiting from the fact that John formerly dated a fashion model, giving us the treat of some great wardrobe, hairstyles and groovy jive talk, baby.

DVD Extras: Stills Gallery

Available from: Shock Entertainment

 

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