Directed by Ernest Lehman
My rating: 3.5 stars out of 4
IMDb
(DVD, Warner Archive Collection)
Oversexed Richard Benjamin has problems reconciling his tendencies with those of his conservative Jewish upbringing. The entire film could be interpreted as an afternoon session with his psychiatrist where he relates stories from his teenage years. Fashion model Karen Black comes into his life, and she is more obsessed with sex than he is, and it seems they make a perfect, if a bit perverted, couple. They spend an idyllic weekend at a country inn, but back in the city things start going terribly wrong. They take an ill-advised trip to Europe where their relationship completely unravels. Both fascinating and repulsive, the adaptation of Philip Roth's novel would probably only warrant a PG rating in today's vulgar-filled comedies, though it turned heads in 1972. Karen Black's performance may be her best and Richard Benjamin is convincing as the confused Jewish everyman.
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