#7 - The Betsy

Oh, where to begin with this movie. This is precisely the kind of movie this little journey of mine is intended for. I had no idea this movie existed and its really a genre from an era I am not very familiar with. By that I mean high dollar dramas from the late seventies. I had heard of Harold Robbins from my time spent working at Barnes and Noble, but I have not read anything from him. Nor had I ever heard anything about him. Judging from Boog's description on his site(Link's to the right...figure it out), he's not neccessarily anything I am in a hurry to check out. I think the term used was that he "can suck it". But hey, I saw this movie before reading that and I had an open mind. Unfortunately, that optimism didnt last long.

The Betsy is a family history following the life of a patriarch played by some British actor. He is the owner and founder of an automobile manufacturer and the launcing point for the whole movie is his unveiling of an unprecedented new vehicle named for his new daughter-in-law. Her name was Betsy. Get it? It's not complicated. But in this flashback heavy movie the main story involves his hiring of a top race car driver to help design a new revolutionary vehicle for a company that is being taken away from him. Its a new Betsy if you will. Are you still with me? Again, it's not complicated.

This hot young stud race car driver is played by Tommy Lee Jones and I gotta say the tough haggard look is good for him now. The same face back then is kinda ugly. But I guess it was his taut buttocks selling tickets back then. This guy sleeps with about three different ladies of varying ages and marital states, but then again so does the British actor. In fact, the old dudes affairs are the cause of many of his problems in life. This guy slept with everybody that wasn't nailed down, and he tried with them too. Its okay for Tommy Lee to do it cause he uses his powers of seduction for good. The thing is, you knew that they were gonna sleep with who they slept with, but I really didnt care if they did or not. Even though I knew bad things were going to happen because of it, I didn't care because it was like old guy is up to it again.

You may be thinking to yourself, "two guys sleeping around with a bunch of girls, this sounds like a soap opera". Well guess what? Thats EXACTLY what it is. A 2+ hour festival of backstabbing, cut throat activities, and all that other "intrigue" that goes along with soap opera stories. Its actually kind of Shakespearian in its plot elements. By this I am refering to the overthrowing of powers, the secret deals made to take over power, the manipulative acts of various characters, and the sweeping, epic nature of it all. But it just doesnt work in this non Shakespearian format. Its not the worst movie I have ever seen, but it was just so long and tedious that I had no real sympathy with any if the characters, except for maybe the granddaughter, but then she goes and screws over her dad. So I didnt care about her either. Side note on her, it's very clear when she gets naked that this film was made before the trend was to keep all the hedges clean on the southern lawn. Get it? It's not complicated.