Good movie but grossly overrated

The film's masterful storytelling did its job. The message was clear. No need to overdo.

Actress is magnificent and exudes a hypnotic screen presence in this affecting drama.

By the time the dramatic fireworks start popping off, each one feels earned.

The drama between Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward carried this film for me until the arena scene. Newman idealizing to the crowd during utter chaos is the most unlikely and disappointing scene I've ever seen in the movies. It all broke down at that point for me. Like actors playing on stage on a sinking cruise ship, the floor fell out beneath them. Successive scenes seemed as in a dream or suddenly a reel from another film was being shown by mistake. Don't waste your time on this travesty of an abortion. You'll wish you had gotten drunk at your local pub instead. There would be better conclusions there about the state of the country and world than you'll come away with from this film.

This is a strange little film, you never get the feeling that you know entirely what is going on. There's some intriguing dialogue hidden in the middle, but the whole theme is entirely esoteric and vague. Performances are quite good. Paul Newman seems torn but does nothing at all to overcome the lethargic pull he's drawn to. WUSA is radio station in the South where the drunk Newman gets a job.The film is intentionally claustrophobic with counter-culture elements spread throughout.The ending is rather ambivalent. It's nice to see unique films like this one.Also recommended: Dead Heat on a Merry-Go-Round (1966) A Dandy in Aspic (1968)

As a relatively recent resident of the US, I continue to be astonished at how quickly American audiences forget their own history. I saw WUSA many years ago when I still lived in my native Italy (the Italian version was titled "Un Uomo Oggi" = "A Man Today"!). Two snippets of the film have been with me for all these years. The first is the radio host that invites all to drop what they are doing, go to the window, open it, and start screaming something like "I am fed up and I will no longer put up with this!" The second snippet is the last line delivered in the movie by the character interpreted by Paul Newman -- and I will not say what it says to avoid spoiling it. The themes are big and understandably audiences nowadays are impatient of 'dialog that sounds like speeches' (to quote an unfair reviewer on this site). The south, the issues of bigotry, racism, the Seventies, civic disobedience. At least the dialog has something to say, unlike so many films of the past 30 years. There is so much recent American history in this movie that it should be a mandatory assignment for college-age kids. Most people happily ignore its existence. Is there a way to convince anyone to make this piece available in DVD? It is too important to be neglected. No matter what Roger Greenspun says in his review appeared in the New York Times of November 2, 1970. In those days the Vietnam War coverage in the media made every single political reference seem like another opportunity for constipated American audiences to launch into yet one more conspiracy theory. And the Grenspun review blames WUSA for being 'ponderously allusive'. Maybe, with the hiatus of the past thirty-something years, the allusiveness will seem by now much less allusive and, who knows, we might enjoy this beautiful rendition of Robert Stone's novel. Besides the big issues, however, the movie is quite enjoyable. My vote of 8 only evaluates the viewing pleasure as entertainment.

Ok, first of all, I definately do not see why all of you don't like this movie!!! I absolutely loved it. I was mesmerized by Joanne Woodward performance....WOW! Paul Newman, I'll admit, wasn't at his greatest. Tony Perkins and Joanne Woodward, however, made up for it! And those scenes between Woodward and Newman! The chemistry that comes with being married (as they are in real life) just comes right through the scene!Great movie! Very moving.