Jennifer on My Mind

Jennifer on My Mind (1971)

BOMB (out of 4)

Rich boy Marcus (Michael Brandon) meets rich hippie chick Jennifer (Tippy Walker) on a trip in Italy and follows her back to America where she's constantly wanting him to get her weed. We're told all of this in flashbacks because in the current time Jennifer has died and Marcus is trying to figure out a way to get rid of her body. When then go back to the flashbacks to see Jennifer dump, disrespect and humiliate Marcus at every chance she gets. United Artist was apparently so embarrassed by this movie that the ended up cutting out fifteen-minutes worth of additional footage including some of Kim Hunter. It's also clear that the studio was embarrassed by this thing because for nearly forty-years it was impossible to see as it never had a VHS, Laserdisc or DVD release but thankfully MGM finally put it on Netflix just so people can see that the film's horrid reputation was deserved. I'm really not sure where to start on this thing because every single second is a complete disaster and for the life of me I can't understand what they were trying to do with this thing. The screenplay is without question one of the worst I've ever had the misfortune of seeing because the thing jumps around so much that you have to wonder why. Even stranger is why on Earth they have Marcus head over heels with this girl when there's never a single reason for him to care about her. They really don't have any relationship outside her treating him bad and the screenplay never makes it clear why he keeps going after her. The screenplay also doesn't know if it wants to be a comedy or drama because one second drugs are cool and then the next they're bad. One second you have some sort of fake love story trying to be told and then you get comedy adventures of Marcus trying to get rid of the body. One of these adventures includes him being attacked by Hells' Angels and another has a group of rednecks running him off the road. Brandon seems lost for the majority of the running time and Walker doesn't do much better. Her heroin fit towards the end of the movie is extremely poor and almost seems like an outtake from some of those drug movies of the 30s. I had been wanting to watch this movie for a good two decades now because of Robert DeNiro playing a Gypsy taxi driver. He's only in the film for a few minutes but there's no doubt that his steals the film and actually delivers a rather funny performance. Barry Bostwick and Jeff Conaway have small roles as well. JENNIFER ON MY MIND is without question one of the worst films of the decade but at the same time it's almost a must-see just for how bad it is. Fans of DeNiro will certainly want to see his pre-Scorsese trip in the taxi as it's the only thing that saves this from being one of the worst of all time.

I first saw this film in a theatre as a teenager and recalled it as perhaps the worst movie I'd ever seen. It was on TMC a few days ago, so I watched again to give it a second chance. I wanted to see if it WAS truly hideous or if it was just a teenage opinion that I'd outgrown. The movie is basically unwatchable, it is unbelievably atrocious! In some societies in might be termed cruel and unusual punishment! However, I do have to give credit to the cinematography, which was very interesting. That would've been something I would've never noticed as a teen. This movie should be viewed only with the sound off!

From the writer of LOVE STORY comes another somber slice of downbeat romance as a man looking for love gets mixed up with a selfish and free-spirited blond hippy-chick junkie. It starts with her already dead and we look back on how they met and her mental decline to the inevitable overdose on heroin. The guy hides her body in his piano and then his car trunk until he can figure out a way to get rid of it. There's potential here for some dark humor but it's never really exploited as the film stays on its tragic trajectory to an ending that at least does bring closure to the story. The film has a slow deliberate pace which makes this film really boring because who cares about these people, especially the girl. The best part was an early appearance by Robert De Niro as a high-strung gypsy taxi driver which is about as far removed from Travis Bickle as you can get. See it if you love obscure counterculture cinema of the late 60s/early 70s.

I love films from this period but could not enjoy this one. It was empty and bleak. There was no humor. There was no emotion. There was no tragedy or drama.

Jennifer is an empty child like figure, someone for the main character to have sex with basically. The main character is empty and meaningless. Nothing in this film is worth watching.

Tippy Walker and Michael Brandon were very convincing as young trust fund loafers who meet and fall in love. Jennifer is irresistible and she knows it, leading Marcus on and always leaving him. But he's attracted to her and keeps coming back. Anyone who was young in 1971 knows that girls like Jennifer really did exist...beautiful and teasing but noncommittal. Secrets .....secrets that forced them to live a clandestine life filled with sadness, wanting to break free, but ultimately chained to addiction.Marcus is so in love and wants everything to work out, but Jennifer is a user. Just a sad and powerful statement of he rampant drug culture that destroyed so many young lives back then.Sadly, Tippy Walker bowed out of acting after this film...a shame, because she turned out a powerful performance here. Actors have won Oscars for less.