Review of Serial

Serial (1980)
9/10
Absolutely dead on :-)
24 December 2001
I was always curious about this film. I had always figured that it would be a throwaway heavy-handed hit-and-miss increasingly dated piece about the 70s. Having spent the past 20 years in the SF Bay area, and "encountered" much of the new age mentality that still thrives there, I knew I'd have to at least give it a shot.

Well, Serial turned out to be a treat -- a brilliant, unexpected satire. It had me smiling or laughing from beginning to end, a few "pansy" comments notwithstanding. Sure, the pre-AIDS sexual situations are exaggerated and from another time. But nearly every target -- self-actualization, meditation, medication, cult groups, fad therapy, relationships, etc. -- is hit. Martin Mull plays the central character in the midst of all the mumbo jumbo with perfect subtlety.

Maybe some of the low votes come from people who think that people couldn't possibly talk and act the way these characters do. Well, they did and still do.
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