Jon "maddog" Hall

I was a university student in the years of 1968 to 1973. Ten years later I was a college professor in a two-year technical college in New England (1977-1980), so a lot of the things in this film hit home with me. Like the protagonist, I was in danger of flunking out of university in my early years (I later recovered my grades) and being drafted to go to Vietnam. I remember the societal issues of those days, and they came crashing back as I watched the movie. The music also took me back. While my parents never "abandoned" me for the holidays there were several times that I spent holiday weekends with the families of roommates. I had professors like the one in the boarding school, and later I was also a "tough grader"....the biggest difference may have been that I let the students know I liked them...and they returned the love. Despite the fact that it is a "period" film, taking place in the years of 1969 to 1971, it also speaks to issues of today if you look deep enough. For those reviewers that complained the movie was "slow", I think you need the "slowness" just to calm down from today's cell phone pace to experience what the characters are going through. Get an extra big bag of popcorn, sit back in your chair and let the film roll over you. Then go home and hug your kids.