Ode To Billy Joe Part Five of Eleven

I have sort of a love hate relationship with this movie. There are some things I really like about this film early on, but there are some things about it that don't work well. It starts off entertainingly enough, but the last hour of the film sinks into a morass of over cooked melodrama. Most theater goers at the time flocked in early on to see the great mysteries surrounding Bobbie Gentry's song, athough the story behind it is not supposed to have any connection with the story in the film which was developed by screenwriter Herman Raucher, who also wrote Summer of 42 (a much better film in my opinion). Most of them left disappointed, bored by a love story that never really develops the way it should, and also to find out that what was dropped off the Tallahatchee Bridge wasn't a whole heckuvalot to get in an uproar about either.

Glynnis O'Connor is excellent in her role, but Benson's Billy Joe comes off as more of an annoying teenage pest than anything else. There is no real chemistry between the two of the that I can see.But love it or hate it, it still isn't on DVD, and the latest release date has been pushed back again. Keep in mind though that this is just my opinion and I'm not trying to convince you of the films merits one way or another.