{"id":5854,"date":"2009-07-14T17:18:01","date_gmt":"2009-07-15T00:18:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5854"},"modified":"2020-12-06T17:59:06","modified_gmt":"2020-12-07T00:59:06","slug":"little-murders-1971","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5854","title":{"rendered":"Little Murders (1971)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;I married you because I wanted to mold you!&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/Little-Murders-Poster-1.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/Little-Murders-Poster-1-215x300.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"215\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-56369\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/Little-Murders-Poster-1-215x300.png 215w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/Little-Murders-Poster-1-734x1024.png 734w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/Little-Murders-Poster-1-92x128.png 92w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/Little-Murders-Poster-1-194x270.png 194w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/07\/Little-Murders-Poster-1.png 740w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 215px) 100vw, 215px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nA nihilistic apathist (Elliott Gould) in New York is courted by a headstrong optimist (Marcia Rodd) who hopes to change his outlook on life, but their marriage is weirdly interrupted by a series of random murders.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Alan Arkin Films<\/li>\n<li>Black Comedy<\/li>\n<li>Donald Sutherland Films<\/li>\n<li>Elliott Gould Films<\/li>\n<li>New York City<\/li>\n<li>Play Adaptation<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nAlan Arkin directed and Elliott Gould co-produced this adaptation of writer-cartoonist <a href=\"http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Jules_Feiffer\">Jules Feiffer<\/a>&#8216;s semi-autobiographical play, which isn&#8217;t for all tastes. As <a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/little-murders-1971\">Roger Ebert<\/a> noted in his original review, it&#8217;s &#8220;a very New York kind of movie, paranoid, masochistic and nervous&#8221;, leaving you to wonder what type of trouble might be lurking around the next corner. To a certain extent, I can appreciate where Feiffer is coming from with his passively nihilistic perspective, in which emotions are a liability given the unpredictability of life &#8212; but the overall effect of the random-violence-ridden story is one of numbness and discomfiture, and for a satire, it offers relatively few outright laughs. The performances by all the actors involved (see stills below) are the main reason to check out this unusual but alienating film; they&#8217;re remarkably game players. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Elliott Gould as Alfred<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/little-murders-gould.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/little-murders-gould.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"400\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5857\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Marcia Rodd as Patricia<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/little-murders-rodd.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/little-murders-rodd.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"400\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5856\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Elizabeth Wilson as Mrs. Newquist<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/little-murders-wilson.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/little-murders-wilson.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"400\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5858\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Vincent Gardenia as Mr. Newquist<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/little-murders-gardenia.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/little-murders-gardenia.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"400\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5859\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Donald Sutherland as &#8220;The Minister&#8221;<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/little-murders-sutherland.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/little-murders-sutherland.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"400\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5860\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<li>Alfred trying in vain to interview his detached parents (Doris Roberts and John Randolph) about his childhood<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/little-murders-parents.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2008\/08\/little-murders-parents.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"400\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-5861\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo, but it&#8217;s worth a look simply for the performances. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0067350\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.rogerebert.com\/reviews\/little-murders-1971\">Roger Ebert&#8217;s Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1971\/02\/10\/archives\/little-murders-is-back-as-film-arkin-directed.html\">NY Times Original Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.jigsawlounge.co.uk\/film\/content\/view\/465\/1\/\">Jigsaw Lounge Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.timeout.com\/movies\/little-murders\">Time Out Capsule Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I married you because I wanted to mold you!&#8221; Synopsis: A nihilistic apathist (Elliott Gould) in New York is courted by a headstrong optimist (Marcia Rodd) who hopes to change his outlook on life, but their marriage is weirdly interrupted by a series of random murders. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Alan Arkin Films Black Comedy Donald Sutherland Films Elliott Gould Films New York City Play Adaptation Review: Alan Arkin directed and Elliott Gould co-produced this adaptation of writer-cartoonist Jules&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=5854\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5854","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5854","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=5854"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5854\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56370,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5854\/revisions\/56370"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=5854"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=5854"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=5854"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}