If you listen to Tom's commentary.....

There is a part somewhere on the commentary in which Tom says somewhat angrily that he had spent two years making FGF and wasn't setting himself up to have a notorious flop. He seemed riled up that most critics failed to see the absurdist humor of his magnum opus. I personally enjoy it from time to time and there are some sequences that can make me cry laughing. Rip Torn plays off Tom nicely and is always a joy to watch. Now that it's up on STARZ (I have never seen it streaming before), I hope there might be a new crop of fans who embrace the film regardless its shortcomings.