MovieChat Forums > Greetings (1968) Discussion > Some great stuff but where was it going?

Some great stuff but where was it going?

posted 18 years ago by loloandpete
7 replies | jump to latest

The start of Greetings is inspired with De Niro and his compadres enacting ways to dodge the draft and there was some other hilarious stuff too. The officer "Beep" material made me laugh out laugh. I guess the budget was an issue, but I was dying to see the three men actually inside the draft office doing their stuff-what a missed opportunity! I also wondered as to whether it was a good idea making two of them quite so seedy? De Niro a peeping tom and his friend a conspiracy weirdo (that's okay I suppose but he was a little too obsessive!). Some of the film was very slow and seemed to go nowhere. It kept me watching, but only just. I 'm glad I did because there was some inspired lunacy, but it could have been so much better.

The French haven't the nature for war. They'd rather eat and make love with their faces than fight.

[–] keeleboy 18 years ago

agreed. The film had such potential and I loved the bit where one of the guys is going on a date only he hasn't a car, much money and has already eaten. Other than that the whole film seemed rather pointless

[–] WarpedRecord 18 years ago

The performances are decent, but the film is quite tedious. I suppose at the time this was quite avant-garde, but now it's just dull. It was great to see early early work by the two De's, though: De Palma and De Niro.

[–] allwrite13 17 years ago

I LOVE this flick. And NO it's not really supposed to 'go' anywhere. Film is a visual medium, you get what you get out of it, there doesn't always have to be a formula. Just my opinions.....

[–] 17 years ago

[deleted]

[–] franzkabuki 15 years ago

Yes, film IS a visual medium, but based on this flick, you really couldn´t tell as it basically consisted of endless scenes of uninspired dialogue or monologue. Maybe it seemed fresh in 1968, but watching it in 2009, it´s just incredibly dull, lacking any novelty factor that might once have been there.

[–] IceboxMovies 15 years ago

I loved this film. The actual structure is borrowed from Godard- it's not really supposed to "go" anywhere. The three friends basically try to stall the time they have left before they have to make up their mind on registering for the draft. I found it especially unsettling that Jon (the De Niro character) ends up finding himself in Vietnam at the end... after trying so hard to avoid it.

What I don't understand is how we're going to stay alive this winter.

[–] Xcalat3 15 years ago

I agree about it being to slow, it had its moments but looks very dated

When there's no more room in hell, The dead will walk the earth...