The Infancy of the Sexual Revolution.....

.....brought with it a re-examination of the traditional American Male.

If "The Arrangement" seems like a film that stumbles, mumbles, shouts incoherently, and generally searches to be meaningful; it's only a reflection of a larger sentiment it seeks to reveal. The 60's brought with it a social and sexual revolution that forced many Americans to reevaluate everything that they held sacred in regard to marriage and the traditional roles of men and women.

"The Arrangement's" main character, Eddie Anderson is such a man. Facing his nasty mid-life crisis, Eddie is forced to total up the sum of his life's work, his stale marriage, and his own mortality. In stereotypical American fashion, he takes up with a female co-worker who proves to be more that just a fling.

This film's situations could only manifest in a particular set of circumstances. Eddie's upbringing and social standing exacerbate his need to feel that his life has a deeper meaning. He is obsessed with leaving his mark on the world in a way that only an upper class, white, American male of the mid 20th century could be.

"The Arrangement" seeks to follow this man's journey of self-realization and the impact it has on his family and those close to him. The results are more often than not: overacted, ridiculous, and over the top camp. Kazan's employment of some very dated late 60's cinematographic tricks (freeze frame, sped up film, quick cuts, psychedelic imagery) do terrible disservice to the story. Yet they simultaneously cement the film in it's era.