Getting Straight (1970)

Directed by Richard Rush
My rating: 2.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Sony)

Elliott Gould kicks off the 70s as a former radical going back to school for his master's degree amidst residual unrest on a Berkley campus. He's trying to shed his image and get a teaching job, but everyone around him, from his students and professors to his girlfriend, seems to be conspiring against him. He frequently breaks down into his patented rants against the system. The most interesting one occurs during his oral exam for the degree, when a professor presses him on the sexual orientation of his beloved F. Scott Fitzgerald. A very dated film, with a rather dull performance by Candice Bergen as his blond bimbo girlfriend, but an interesting time capsule. Compare to the edgier The Strawberry Statement.