Instant Favorite.

At first rather annoying in its heavy emphasis on reenactments, this movie ultimately proves fascinating, simply because the complicated, highly dramatic tale it tells still almost defies belief.

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

True to its essence, the characters remain on the same line and manage to entertain the viewer, each highlighting their own distinctive qualities or touches.

A suicidal teenager, an eighty year old 'pixie dream girl' and an overt flower power era attitude towards the world, its customs, its sensibilities and its politics. Hal Ashby constantly blurs the line between reality and imagination in this existential comedy-drama by using bizarrely hallucinatory sequences and abstract staging of scenes. The oddball nature of some scenes truly verge on slapstick comedy and I think the film deliberately plays these scenes for comedic effect.The film works because of the peculiar chemistry between Bud Cort and Ruth Gordon. Overall it didn't leave a very lasting effect in my mind, but it's certainly a cute little film that can be enjoyed.

I've been choosing movies from 'best of' lists on the internet. This eclectic method is fraught with widely varying opinions that may not reflect your own, and doesn't necessarily cull out the dross.HAROLD AND MAUDE is not dross, yet it is not the high art some would have you believe. It's an inoffensive, entertaining story nevertheless, and most of the action held my attention throughout. I had absolutely no idea how old this film was, though this historical factor merely made the subject matter more interesting.Harold is hard to identify with as a super-rich, attention-deprived, depressed and lonely man-child. Maude is a hyperactive, unconventional, kleptomaniac. As a holocaust survivor we are supposed to forgive the fact she steals whatever she wants while spouting truisms. I presume we're supposed to take away the message that life holds many wonders as long as we don't waste time trying to fit in or observe social norms. Unfortunately, style overrides substance and this movie fails to deliver its metaphors effectively.Both Harold and Maude were well acted in a deliberate over-the-top manner. The direction and writing is also very good. They must have bought the rights to Cat Stevens' entire album and I liked these touches of 70's culture as they popped up here and there. Overall HAROLD AND MAUDE is too clever for its own good but an entertaining watch.

Is "Harold and Maude" an art film? It doesn't bother with a plot. For that matter, it has nothing of the elements of a stage script, screenplay or story. There may be a little message -- about the idle rich, the spoiled rich finding no meaning in life. Certainly, no joy. As much as Ruth Gordon's Maude tries to convince to the contrary, there is no life in the empty, self-absorbed existence that she and Bud Cort's Harold pursue. Rather, it's an escapist, fantasy existence. They don't look for meaning. They just want a different experience … time after time after time. They are delusional. This film is billed as a comedy, drama and romance. I wonder if people who have lost someone close by suicide could see any comedy in Harold's obsession with it. Or his attempts at humor by faking suicide. Or is it really that funny to see an octogenarian squeal a car in circles around a police officer or in an intersection? Perhaps this film is something Timothy Leary would have seen or imagined on LSD. I can't imagine anyone being entertained by this drivel. My two stars are for some beautiful coastal scenic shots. Otherwise, this film is a waste of good celluloid.

My brother told me this was one of his favorite movies, so we watched it together. It was not at all what I expected, not that I had really any expectations to begin with. I'd heard the name mentioned, but never known anything about it, nor cared enough to do any research.As stated in the summary, it was a little to weird for my taste. Sure, it was funny (in a dark way) at points, and the relationship between Harold and Maude was all fine and dandy, but it went a little too far. And it was weird to witness. The ending was unexpected though, which added to it. I felt that the movie was a little rushed, with none of the intended change in Harold being found until the very end of the movie. The movie felt like it wasn't particularly paced well in this sense. Overall, this just isn't my kind of movie. Sure, it was enjoyable enough, but it really just didn't click with me. If you liked it, great. If you loved it, good for you. It's not for everybody, and it certainly wasn't for me. If your looking for something different and have a darker sense of humor, then take a look at Harold and Maude.