“Opposites attract in Clint Eastwood’s under-appreciated 1973 gem, where a sun-drenched romance manages to transcend its massive 30-year age gap.”
Breezy was a romantic drama film released in 1973, directed by Clint Eastwood, written by Jo Heims, and starring William Holden as Frank Harmon alongside Kay Lenz as “Breezy.” It is ultimately about an unlikely connection that sparks when a cynical, middle-aged man reluctantly gives a ride to a young, free-spirited hippie hitchhiker. As she unexpectedly moves into his home and melts his hardened exterior, the two find themselves falling deeply in love despite their vast differences in maturity and outlook. However, their fragile happiness is put to the test when judgmental friends and society’s harsh criticisms force them to confront the reality of their massive age gap.
Moving right along in my Clint Eastwood watch-a-thon, this is a movie that has escaped a lot of people’s radars. It was a little bit of a flop at the box office due to poor marketing and was never really released on home media for decades. Yet, for a long time, Eastwood considered it to be one of his favorite movies he ever made because it was the first time he fully stepped behind the camera to direct. It wasn’t his directorial debut, but it was the first movie he directed where he didn’t also star... which obviously he’s very well known to do. It was almost as if he was attempting to prove a point, that he can film something a bit deeper, more emotional, and human than his typical alpha male westerns or thrillers... and I’ll be honest, I actually dug Breezy. It has some issues, which I’ll get into in a minute, but I was legitimately pulled into this story and these characters pretty much right from the get-go.
When I was reading up on this film, I had seen the term “May-December relationship” thrown around, but I had never heard of such a thing. Sure, I understand what it refers to... a significant age gap relationship, I just usually think of that as something else, like a grave digger, gold digger, or similar... but that usually refers to something a lot less innocent or sweet than what we see in Breezy, which just has this pure energy about it.
Kay Lenz in particular, as Breezy, is spectacular. She comes off as flighty right from the get-go, but the more the film plays out, the more emotionally grounded you realize her character is. Her optimism in general is wildly contagious, and her chemistry with most characters is great, but with Holden, it’s surprisingly out of this world. The two of them play against each other so great.
Holden, as the surly older man, is playing a character that I think a lot of people will be able to relate with. He holds his emotions very close to his chest. He protects himself from being hurt and comes off as cold right from the beginning. He’s kind of a Scrooge character if you think about it... and as soon as Breezy kind of forces herself into his life and his car, doesn’t shut up, and kind of manipulates the situation, throwing him for a loop... the connection is set and the two of them are like two peas in a pod. It’s a perfect example of opposites attract that I can think of.
However, it’s an imperfect film. Even though I was personally enraptured with the story and the characters from beginning to end, I would have to admit there are some issues with pacing. Thematically, it can certainly be significantly melodramatic, but what do you expect from a romance film that was released in 1973? I don’t know how everyone will feel about the age gap. Some people have serious problems with that. I think in this movie, Breezy is supposed to be 19 and he’s supposed to be 50 or something, which is a 31-year difference, and in real life, the age gap is 35 years. It’s significant. Some people will cringe at it by default, but I really do think their chemistry is ageless and works really well.
I also like how cheeky Eastwood is with one of the dates the old man takes the girl on... which was to a movie theater to watch, you guessed it, Eastwood’s last movie, High Plains Drifter. Eastwood himself is not in this movie. He does have an unspoken cameo... blink and you’ll miss him as he leans over a rail at a marina, but that’s it.
Unbiased/Technical Score: 39/50 or 78%
Biased/Entertainment Score: 39/50 or 78%
Total Combined Score: 78/100 or 78% (4/5 on Letterboxd)