Loose Connections

In this 1983 English comedy, directed by Richard Eyre from a script by Maggie Brooks, three women custom-build the car they plan to drive to Munich, where one of them, Sally (Lindsay Duncan), plans to attend a feminist convention. When the two other women have to drop out of the trip, Sally advertises for a female, vegetarian driving partner, and the only worthy candidate proves to be Harry (Stephen Rea), a working-class man from Liverpool who claims to be gay, vegetarian, and a car expert. This is a reasonably pleasant and intelligent picture that never gets very far beyond a feature-length sitcom; the location work is attractive, and both of the leads are good, but despite a large number of plot twists, none of it adds up to very much. A gentle depiction of class and sexual warfare, the movie has a few things to say, but is pitched too squarely at a middle-class audience to dig very deep into its material. If you’re not expecting too much, you might find this worth a look. (JR)

This entry was posted in Featured Texts. Bookmark the permalink.