Willie & Phil (1980)

Synopsis: Paul Mazursky's Americanized adaptation of François Truffaut's classic JULES ET JIM begins in 1970, when Willie (Michael Ontkean) and Phil (Ray Sharkey) meet outside a Greenwich Village arthouse theater after viewing the legendary... Paul Mazursky's Americanized adaptation of François Truffaut's classic JULES ET JIM begins in 1970, when Willie (Michael Ontkean) and Phil (Ray Sharkey) meet outside a Greenwich Village arthouse theater after viewing the legendary Truffaut film. The two men become great friends; they share a love of Truffaut, a distaste for the war in Vietnam, and a spirited, eccentric sense of humor. Willie is a Jewish schoolteacher who really wants to be a jazz pianist, and Phil is an Italian fashion photographer who really wants to be an intellectual. Women perplex both men, leaving them constantly alone and bewildered, until they meet Jeanette (Margot Kidder), a free-spirited southern woman who changes the lives of Willie and Phil forever. The three friends become constant companions and form a quirky love triangle. The film follows the trio over a decade as they come together, marry, break up, move apart, and finally find one another again. WILLIE & PHIL is a wistful romance that captures the vitality, confusion, and soul searching of a group of friends and lovers while successfully satirizing the period. The film features a vivacious score from jazz great Claude Bolling. [More]

Starring: Michael Ontkean, Ray Sharkey, Margot Kidder, Natalie Wood

Starring: Michael Ontkean, Ray Sharkey, Margot Kidder, Natalie Wood, Jan Miner, Julie Bovasso, Kathleen Maguire, Kaki Hunter, Laurence Fishburne, Louis Guss, Tom Brennan

Director: Paul Mazursky

Director: Paul Mazursky

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