Must See Movie...

Memorable, crazy movie

Great Film overall

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

Most of the counterculture films of the period have the feel they improvised on the fly and are horribly self-indulgent. But where some hare-brained films like Easy Rider can win you over through the characters, soundtrack, technique, or dialogue (never mind that Easy Rider campfire diatribe, the Fifties were just as crappy as the Sixties politically), this film is dated and borders on cheesy. For some reason there is a guy in black face, because, it was metaphorical or something. Again, it's a counterculture film, they can make eccentric choices and film scholars can explain the brilliance of the casting choice later, that's their job. Also, the soundtrack is a huge part of the film, so if you don't like it, you will probably be annoyed. After the third song you will realize whether it will grow on you or not.It's hard to say that the film really works because the message is broad and unfocused. I don't think it is saying anything. The film is so absurd, erratic, and uninterested in developing characters you get the impression they either worked to fill out the plot by brainstorming ideas in all-nighters and intentionally shrugged off narrative or character arcs, or they filmed six hours and this was the most coherent cut they could salvage. Rarely do you invest three hours in a film and are left utterly apathetic to the character, who he is, why he is, or what it all means. You'd mistake this for a light-comedy for the ease this guy falls ass backward into willing sexual partners, but it isn't funny. However satire is too strong a word, instead it hovers awkwardly in the gap between.The film has an edge, the only reason Warner Brothers supposedly authorized it was the success of A Clockwork Orange but oddly it is not really shocking or entertaining though that was surely what it was going for. It doesn't date very well, most "edgy" farces don't. I have to reiterate, this whole production has the feel of a director who keeps saying "hit me" to the dealer on 18, and each time gets a seven.Jerry Lewis invented the "trick" ending and for some godawful reason the avant-garde community has never let go. I can't really say more without getting into spoiler territory, but the ending pretty much ends up justifying your suspicion that you've wasted your time watching a bunch of people have fun in front of a camera, instead of filming a movie.

This film emerged from the "revolutionary 1970s" as an example of unplanned obsolescence. Everything the director dislikes is set up as a strawman for denunciation; some sex is thrown in now and then to keep the proles watching and nodding to every malformed political thesis between boob shots. Its politics have been overtaken by events; the socialism it espouses by default revealed to be even more mindless, amoral and homicidal than the worst it can say about capitalism.Basically, you have to have a raging crush on one or more of the actors in this film to like it, or to value technique over substance. While Helen Mirren IS hot, she's not hot enough to redeem this crock.Guys, if you hate modern civilization that much, there are places you can still get away from it in. Go move there. That way, you won't have to bore us with adoring reviews of self-indulgent film school projects like this.

The intent of this film review is to encourage the viewing of this underrated film O' Lucky Man, by a largely neglected English film director Lindsay Anderson. Readers should be aware from the onset that it may be considered a spoiler providing too much information, it's a fine line between too much/ too little information and I hope I've struck the right balance.Lindsay Anderson directed a trilogy of films around the central character of Mick Travis; they follow his travails through lives vicissitudes. The first film if... relates to his education in the bourgeoisie class ridden English education system. The second film O' Lucky Man covers his experiences in the world of work how he attempts to cope with having to make a living for himself in the dog eat dog world of 1970's England. I have to correct the misstated description here on IMDb of the film being a 'musical', it is NOT a musical, this is to clear up any misconceptions of people who could easily be put off watching it by taking this literally. Musicals in the popular consciousness conjures up the considerations of Oklahoma, and Mamma Mia where the films characters sing about their lot, whereas O' Lucky Man uses music as a 'soundset' to set or underline film scenes in an organic way with the musicians featuring an integral part of the film as characters in the films story. This is an important and not semantic delineation of the use of music as an essential element in the films storytelling.The third film of the trilogy is Britannia Hospital a savage satire of 1970's Britain of the fault lines of contemporary society, where no side comes out completely unscathed from Lindsay Anderson's biting criticism. It features Mick Travis as an investigative journalist endeavouring to undertake an expose of the Hospital to uncover its 'secrets'. The Hospital really stands as a metaphor for British society containing all of its foibles and idiosyncrasies.The three films don't need to be viewed in sequence they stand as individual works in their right they merely cover the journey of self discovery of Mick Travis through the formative period of his existence. I thoroughly recommend all three of them to anyone familiar or not with Lindsay Anderson, they can serve as an introduction to him and his abilities as a film director as well as providing a prism through which to view contemporary English/British society of the latter 20th Century or at least the decade of the 1970's.

I had seen "If..." and was not very convinced about weather I had liked it or not. I guess, as I am not English nor have I lived in the 70's, and I am a girl I couldn't really relate to the movie. But I decided to give "O, lucky man" a chance anyway. I liked so much more than if...! It gets some aspects of the capitalist world spot on, and it mocks it in a really over the top manner, making the plot line change continually. It still didn't make me crack up, but there's another aspect of the film that makes watching it worth while: the soundtrack is one of the best ever! It has a few Alan Price's songs throughout the film, that are written for it and performed in the studio. The band even gets a part in one scene! It's really an incredible soundtrack, amazing songs. So even if this movie is not for you, you'll at least have enjoyed the lovely music Alan Price provides.