University of Virginia Library

College Days

The film takes two young men
from their college days in the mid forties,
and follows them into the
seventies, observing how they live
with, act with, and talk about
women. You might even say that
Sandy and Jonathan are your
typical American boys, but they are
typical in the same way that those
creatures in Feiffer's cartoons are
typical of Americans. The boys are
male chauvinists to the nth degree,
and the women who fade in and
out of their lives are "ball-busters,"
but, damn, those boys love tits and
"wouldn't kick her outta bed."

At Amherst, both are virgins,
eyeing every girl they see. Jack
Nicholson as Jonathan is the
"experienced" one, who advises

Sandy, played by Art Garfunkel,
the one who needs all the help he
can get. When Sandy finds a nice
looking girl, Jonathan urges him to
go "all the way" but later decides
to see how great his roommate's girl
really is.

This first half of the film will
strike home to every male. The
dialogue, amazingly true, makes
one realize how stereotyped most
males are in their conception of
women. The unique element of the
triangle relationship is Susan,
portrayed by Candice Bergen, a girl
much smarter than either fellow,
who can easily play the games with
both boys and still come out ahead.

The years pass and Jonathan
and Sandy are out of college but
still lusting after everything in a
skirt. Sandy is "happily" married
and Jonathan is establishing a
relationship with a busty model.
The model is the real surprise of the
film, in case you haven't heard, for
the part is the first one that has
permitted Ann-Margret the role
which Hollywood previously denied
to her, or any actress for that
matter.

Time passes and Sandy and
Jonathan are worse off then they
were when the film started. Not
only are their sex lives confused,
but their emotions are beginning to
give way. One doesn't want to
spend too much time even thinking
about how the film could end if
Feiffer had decided to cover
another five years in their lives.