Between the Lines (1977)

Director: Joan Macklin Silver

Cast: John Heard, Lindsay Crouse, Jeff Goldblum

Synopsis: Story of an underground newspaper in Boston about to be taken over by big business.

Between the Lines has to top the list of 1970s films that have aged badly.   It even looks as if it must have been slightly outdated when it was released in 1977.   The story ostensibly focuses on the running of an independent counter-culture Boston newspaper called The Mainline as it battles to resist a takeover attempt by commercial enterprises, but seems to become distracted by the bed-hopping antics of its young staff.   The cast is filled with young talent, most of whom carved a name for themselves in US television rather than cinema, with Jeff Goldblum (The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8^th Dimension, Independence Day) playing a typically flaky type, and John Heard (Would You Rather, Runner Runner) being the exceptions.   The film is reasonably entertaining – even though it doesn’t really go anywhere – but it’s almost impossible to see beyond those 70s fashions and hairstyles.

(Reviewed 12th March 2012)