"Splendor in the Grass" has a very high rating of 7.8 on IMDb and most of the reviews are very positive. Well, this is a case where I am out of step with prevailing opinion and I'd like to explain why. Although the plot was interesting and somewhat like the great French film "The Umbrellas of Cherbourg", the execution of this plot was very problematic to me. Often instead of being reasonable, the actors overact and the director SHOULD have reigned them in...though I am certainly in the minority on this one.
The story is about two high school students (Warren Beatty and Natalie Wood) who are desperately in love...but his father wants the son to go off to college and graduate before he considers marrying anyone. But the youngsters are insistent...and eventually the girl inexplicably loses her mind and things DON'T work out as they should.
So let's talk about the problems. Beatty and Wood were about 23 each playing 17 year-olds. This was obvious and the parts should have gone to much younger actors. And, the whole going off the deep end because she DIDN'T have sex was truly bizarre--a weird re-working of the rotten film "Sex Madness". In "Sex Madness", premarital sex leads to insanity and here in "Splendor in the Grass" NOT having sex has the same effect!! This is just dumb...as is Wood's overacting when she loses her mind. It was almost laughable. So, despite a lot of great ratings and reviews, I found the film just didn't cut it and seems silly and dated.
The story is about two high school students (Warren Beatty and Natalie Wood) who are desperately in love...but his father wants the son to go off to college and graduate before he considers marrying anyone. But the youngsters are insistent...and eventually the girl inexplicably loses her mind and things DON'T work out as they should.
So let's talk about the problems. Beatty and Wood were about 23 each playing 17 year-olds. This was obvious and the parts should have gone to much younger actors. And, the whole going off the deep end because she DIDN'T have sex was truly bizarre--a weird re-working of the rotten film "Sex Madness". In "Sex Madness", premarital sex leads to insanity and here in "Splendor in the Grass" NOT having sex has the same effect!! This is just dumb...as is Wood's overacting when she loses her mind. It was almost laughable. So, despite a lot of great ratings and reviews, I found the film just didn't cut it and seems silly and dated.