Desperate Characters
1971 · Movie · 91 min · ★ 5.1
Sophie and Otto Bentwood are set in their ways. And unsettled in their hearts. They're Desperate Characters, trapped in a marriage that no longer works... yet unable to break free. In a performance widely cited as a career breakthrough, Shirley MacLaine portrays Sophie in this compelling grown-up drama that, in its own jolting way, is a love story. "Shirley MacLaine achieves one of the great performances of the year," wrote Roger Ebert in The Chicago Sun-Times. "She proves that we were right, when we saw her in films like The Apartment, to know that she really had it all, could go all the way with a serious role.
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Details
- Years
- 1971
- Release date
- 1971-09-22
- Language
- English
- Runtime
- 91 min
- TMDB rating
- 5.1/10 (8 votes)
Themes
- depression
- new york city
- husband wife relationship
- based on novel or book
- midlife crisis
- despair
- boredom
- paranoia
- frigidity
- vandalism
- childlessness
- middle class
- +2 more
Cast & crew
Shirley MacLaine
as Sophie Bentwood
Kenneth Mars
as Otto Bentwood
Sada Thompson
as Claire
Jack Somack
as Leon
Gerald S. O'Loughlin
as Charlie
- CG
Chris Gampel
as Mike Holstein
- MH
Mary Alan Hokanson
as Flo Holstein
Robert Bauer
as Young Man
Carol Kane
as Young Girl
Michael Higgins
as Francis Early
Directed by Frank D. Gilroy