T.R. Baskin
Encyclopedia
T.R. Baskin is a 1971
American
drama film
directed by Herbert Ross
. It stars Candice Bergen
, Peter Boyle
, Marcia Rodd
and James Caan
.
The screenplay by Peter Hyams
focuses on a naïve young woman who moves to Chicago
with the hope of finding romance and a fulfilling career.
The film was released as A Date with a Lonely Girl in the United Kingdom
.
, meets his old fraternity
brother Larry Moore while on business in Chicago
, he asks him to introduce him to a nice woman. Larry gives him T.R. Baskin's phone number, and Jack invites her to visit him at his hotel. Following an awkward silence, the two end up in bed, where T.R. begins to tell Jack about her past, a story that unfolds via flashback
.
After moving to Chicago from a small town in Ohio
, T.R. is forced to rent a studio apartment in a dilapidated building in a run-down area of the city. She finds employment as a typist in a large corporation where she meets Dayle Wigoda, who arranges a blind date with her boyfriend's wealthy friend Arthur, who proves to be an obnoxious bigot
and misogynist
. T.R. realizes she'd rather be alone than spend time with such a callous individual.
One night, after leaving a noisy bar, T.R. sees Larry reading a book at the window of a café. She joins him at his table and learns he edits and publishes textbook
s. The two go to his apartment and discuss their individual disappointments. Larry misses spending time with his children, while T.R. confesses she always has felt like an outsider. The two make love, and the following morning T.R. feels she finally has taken the first step towards an intimate relationship, only to discover Larry has put a $20 bill in her coat pocket. Feeling betrayed and humiliated, she rushes out. At home, T.R. calls her parents for consolation but instead receives a lecture about her decision to move to Chicago.
Back in the present once again, T.R. and Jack agree they're glad they met each other, and T.R. leaves the hotel, optimistically believing better days are in her future.
department store, the Sherman House Hotel, the First National Bank Building, and O'Connell's Coffee Shop on Rush Street
.
of the New York Times noted the title character "is never at a loss for words, most of which sound as if they had come straight from the notebook of a writer who spent most of time jotting down funny lines without ever worrying much about character. It thus falls to Candice Bergen, a beautiful actress who projects intelligence, humor, vulnerability and self-reliance — all more or less simultaneously — to make something credible of the mouthpiece character written for her by Peter Hyams. . . . Somewhere deep inside T.R. Baskin, there is, I suspect, a real, touching film crying to get out with something more than a wise-crack, but neither Hyams, nor Herbert Ross, the director, have been able to find it."
Roger Ebert
of the Chicago Sun-Times
said the film "gets in trouble right off the bat with a flashback style that neatly drains away all of our interest in half of the story" and added, "The problem is that everyone in the movie acts so stupidly. Real people of average intelligence would have cut through this plot in about three minutes, and the movie would have been over. It lasts two hours only because people are at such pains not to catch on."
Time
stated, "Peter Boyle . . . and James Caan . . . do the best they can, which is extremely well indeed, but the movie's clumsy feints at sophistication and its grotesque sentimentality prevail."
Variety
said the film "makes a few good comedy-comments on modern urban existence, but these are bits of rare jewelry lost on a vast beach of strung-out, erratic storytelling . . . Peter Hyams' debut production is handsomely mounted, but his screenplay is sterile, superficial and inconsistent . . . Bergen's screen presence is too sophisticated for the role, and both her acting, direction and dialog result in confusion."
TV Guide
rated the film 1½ stars and commented, "Although she raises some interesting questions, Bergen's character evokes neither the sympathy nor the interest intended."
1971 in film
The year 1971 in film involved some significant events.-Events:*February 8 - Bob Dylan's hour long documentary film, Eat the Document, premieres at New York's Academy of Music...
American
Cinema of the United States
The cinema of the United States, also known as Hollywood, has had a profound effect on cinema across the world since the early 20th century. Its history is sometimes separated into four main periods: the silent film era, classical Hollywood cinema, New Hollywood, and the contemporary period...
drama film
Drama film
A drama film is a film genre that depends mostly on in-depth development of realistic characters dealing with emotional themes. Dramatic themes such as alcoholism, drug addiction, infidelity, moral dilemmas, racial prejudice, religious intolerance, poverty, class divisions, violence against women...
directed by Herbert Ross
Herbert Ross
Herbert Ross was an American film director, producer, choreographer and actor.-Early life and career:Born Herbert David Ross in Brooklyn, New York, he made his stage debut as Third Witch with a touring company of Macbeth in 1942...
. It stars Candice Bergen
Candice Bergen
Candice Patricia Bergen is an American actress and former fashion model.She is known for starring in two TV series, as the title character on the situation comedy Murphy Brown , for which she won five Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards; and as Shirley Schmidt on the comedy-drama Boston Legal...
, Peter Boyle
Peter Boyle
Peter Lawrence Boyle, Jr. was an American actor, best known for his role as Frank Barone on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, and as a comical monster in Mel Brooks' film spoof Young Frankenstein ....
, Marcia Rodd
Marcia Rodd
Marcia Rodd is an American actress.Rodd was born in Lyons, Kansas, the daughter of Rosetta and Charles C. Rodd. She studied drama at Northwestern University....
and James Caan
James Caan
James Caan is an American actor. He is best known for his starring roles in The Godfather, Thief, Misery, A Bridge Too Far, Brian's Song, Rollerball, Kiss Me Goodbye, Elf, and El Dorado...
.
The screenplay by Peter Hyams
Peter Hyams
Peter Hyams is an American screenwriter, director and cinematographer, probably best known for directing the 1984 science fiction adventure 2010 , Capricorn One, the comic book adaptation Timecop and the Arnold Schwarzenegger horror/action film End of Days.-Family:Hyams was born in New York...
focuses on a naïve young woman who moves to Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
with the hope of finding romance and a fulfilling career.
The film was released as A Date with a Lonely Girl in the United Kingdom
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
.
Plot
When Jack Mitchell, a lonely, middle-aged salesman from Utica, New YorkUtica, New York
Utica is a city in and the county seat of Oneida County, New York, United States. The population was 62,235 at the 2010 census, an increase of 2.6% from the 2000 census....
, meets his old fraternity
Fraternity
A fraternity is a brotherhood, though the term usually connotes a distinct or formal organization. An organization referred to as a fraternity may be a:*Secret society*Chivalric order*Benefit society*Friendly society*Social club*Trade union...
brother Larry Moore while on business in Chicago
Chicago
Chicago is the largest city in the US state of Illinois. With nearly 2.7 million residents, it is the most populous city in the Midwestern United States and the third most populous in the US, after New York City and Los Angeles...
, he asks him to introduce him to a nice woman. Larry gives him T.R. Baskin's phone number, and Jack invites her to visit him at his hotel. Following an awkward silence, the two end up in bed, where T.R. begins to tell Jack about her past, a story that unfolds via flashback
Flashback (narrative)
Flashback is an interjected scene that takes the narrative back in time from the current point the story has reached. Flashbacks are often used to recount events that happened before the story’s primary sequence of events or to fill in crucial backstory...
.
After moving to Chicago from a small town in Ohio
Ohio
Ohio is a Midwestern state in the United States. The 34th largest state by area in the U.S.,it is the 7th‑most populous with over 11.5 million residents, containing several major American cities and seven metropolitan areas with populations of 500,000 or more.The state's capital is Columbus...
, T.R. is forced to rent a studio apartment in a dilapidated building in a run-down area of the city. She finds employment as a typist in a large corporation where she meets Dayle Wigoda, who arranges a blind date with her boyfriend's wealthy friend Arthur, who proves to be an obnoxious bigot
Bigotry
A bigot is a person obstinately or intolerantly devoted to his or her own opinions and prejudices, especially one exhibiting intolerance, and animosity toward those of differing beliefs...
and misogynist
Misogyny
Misogyny is the hatred or dislike of women or girls. Philogyny, meaning fondness, love or admiration towards women, is the antonym of misogyny. The term misandry is the term for men that is parallel to misogyny...
. T.R. realizes she'd rather be alone than spend time with such a callous individual.
One night, after leaving a noisy bar, T.R. sees Larry reading a book at the window of a café. She joins him at his table and learns he edits and publishes textbook
Textbook
A textbook or coursebook is a manual of instruction in any branch of study. Textbooks are produced according to the demands of educational institutions...
s. The two go to his apartment and discuss their individual disappointments. Larry misses spending time with his children, while T.R. confesses she always has felt like an outsider. The two make love, and the following morning T.R. feels she finally has taken the first step towards an intimate relationship, only to discover Larry has put a $20 bill in her coat pocket. Feeling betrayed and humiliated, she rushes out. At home, T.R. calls her parents for consolation but instead receives a lecture about her decision to move to Chicago.
Back in the present once again, T.R. and Jack agree they're glad they met each other, and T.R. leaves the hotel, optimistically believing better days are in her future.
Production
The film was shot at various Chicago locations, including the Carson Pirie ScottCarson Pirie Scott
Carson Pirie Scott & Co., known informally as Carson's, is an upscale chain of department stores that have been in business for over 150 years. Their product price points are targeted to the moderate-to-upscale shopper...
department store, the Sherman House Hotel, the First National Bank Building, and O'Connell's Coffee Shop on Rush Street
Rush Street (Chicago)
Rush Street is predominantly a northbound one-way street in the Near North Side community area of Chicago in Cook County, Illinois, United States...
.
Cast
- Candice BergenCandice BergenCandice Patricia Bergen is an American actress and former fashion model.She is known for starring in two TV series, as the title character on the situation comedy Murphy Brown , for which she won five Emmy Awards and two Golden Globe Awards; and as Shirley Schmidt on the comedy-drama Boston Legal...
..... T.R. Baskin - Peter BoylePeter BoylePeter Lawrence Boyle, Jr. was an American actor, best known for his role as Frank Barone on the sitcom Everybody Loves Raymond, and as a comical monster in Mel Brooks' film spoof Young Frankenstein ....
..... Jack Mitchell - James Caan ..... Larry Moore
- Marcia RoddMarcia RoddMarcia Rodd is an American actress.Rodd was born in Lyons, Kansas, the daughter of Rosetta and Charles C. Rodd. She studied drama at Northwestern University....
..... Dayle Wigoda - Howard PlattHoward PlattHoward Platt is an American stage and television actor, singer and director, best known for his role as "Officer Hopkins", or"Hoppy" in the hit NBC-TV comedy series Sanford and Son from 1973-1977...
..... Arthur
Critical response
Vincent CanbyVincent Canby
Vincent Canby was an American film critic who became the chief film critic for The New York Times in 1969 and reviewed more than 1000 films during his tenure there.-Life and career:...
of the New York Times noted the title character "is never at a loss for words, most of which sound as if they had come straight from the notebook of a writer who spent most of time jotting down funny lines without ever worrying much about character. It thus falls to Candice Bergen, a beautiful actress who projects intelligence, humor, vulnerability and self-reliance — all more or less simultaneously — to make something credible of the mouthpiece character written for her by Peter Hyams. . . . Somewhere deep inside T.R. Baskin, there is, I suspect, a real, touching film crying to get out with something more than a wise-crack, but neither Hyams, nor Herbert Ross, the director, have been able to find it."
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
of the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
said the film "gets in trouble right off the bat with a flashback style that neatly drains away all of our interest in half of the story" and added, "The problem is that everyone in the movie acts so stupidly. Real people of average intelligence would have cut through this plot in about three minutes, and the movie would have been over. It lasts two hours only because people are at such pains not to catch on."
Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
stated, "Peter Boyle . . . and James Caan . . . do the best they can, which is extremely well indeed, but the movie's clumsy feints at sophistication and its grotesque sentimentality prevail."
Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
said the film "makes a few good comedy-comments on modern urban existence, but these are bits of rare jewelry lost on a vast beach of strung-out, erratic storytelling . . . Peter Hyams' debut production is handsomely mounted, but his screenplay is sterile, superficial and inconsistent . . . Bergen's screen presence is too sophisticated for the role, and both her acting, direction and dialog result in confusion."
TV Guide
TV Guide
TV Guide is a weekly American magazine with listings of TV shows.In addition to TV listings, the publication features television-related news, celebrity interviews, gossip and film reviews and crossword puzzles...
rated the film 1½ stars and commented, "Although she raises some interesting questions, Bergen's character evokes neither the sympathy nor the interest intended."