Jennifer On My Mind

There aren't many people who would seek this film out for any reason other than to see the early bit part that Robert De Niro plays in it. Jennifer On My Mind is a bittersweet New York City romance-parody about a rich Jewish guy and an all-American old-money girl. I guess I would describe it additionally as a lighthearted/ironic comedy about a mopey rich kid trying to dispose of the heroin-overdosed body of the girl he loved. It's a shit movie.

The lead character, Marcus (Michael Brandon), just roams around throughout the entire film, feeling sorry for himself while crossing paths with a variety of irrelevant characters. Amongst these irrelevant characters is Mardigian, a crazy taxi driver played by Robert De Niro. If you ever wanted to see De Niro as a hippie, then this film is your only chance. He sports a pointy beard and drawls "hey mannnn" a bit. He's mildly amusing as a self-proclaimed 'gypsy' and keeps going on about his sister while smoking a lot of pot.

I guess if I had to sum this movie up I would call it a mopey silverspoon melodrama that isn't funny enough to be a comedy or serious enough to be taken seriously. The protagonist tries to be deep and depressed but he just comes across as annoying while he whines about his lost love Jenny (Tippy Walker). Jennifer herself is a complete non-entity, and it's hard to see why this guy liked her so much. It's meant to be quirky and funny, but I guess it dated pretty fast... the impact of late '60s drug culture seems to have led to a very half-arsed film in this case.

DIRECTOR: Noel Black
WRITER/SOURCE: Screenplay by Erich Segal, based on a novel by Roger L. Simon
KEY ACTORS: Michael Brandon, Tippy Walker, Steve Vinovich, Chuck McCann, Barry Bostwick, Jeff Conaway, Robert De Niro

RELATED TEXTS:
- The novel Heir by Roger L. Simon, on which the film is based.
- Director Noel Black only made a handful of films before turning to television. Jennifer On My Mind was one of his less successful efforts... his more well-known films are Private School (starring Phoebe Cates and Matthew Modine), Cover Me Babe (starring Robert Forster and Sondra Locke) and Pretty Poison (starring Anthony Perkins and Tuesday Weld).
- The early '70s were rife with films exposing the horrors of junkiedom (the world was coming down from the swinging sixties), here are some others: Dusty and Sweets McGee, Born to Win and The Panic in Needle Park.