Based on Leonard Gershe’s play, Butterflies are Free progresses much like its source material with only about four total characters and one location, yet still manages to provide engaging entertainment and moving theatrics.  But what starts as a comedic romance steadily twists into a more severe drama of emotions, and as the witty banter drains into conflicted battles of wits and wills, even the optimistic ending doesn’t offer the desired solace or the most befitting conclusion to the journey. 

When vivacious 19-year-old Jill Tanner (Goldie Hawn) moves into her new San Francisco apartment, the paper-thin walls lead her to meet next-door neighbor Don Baker (Edward Albert).  He’s kind, educated, talented, well adjusted – and blind.  At first startled by his disability, Jill soon becomes intrigued with the young man and befriends him.  Don quickly falls in love with Jill, but their time together is cut short when his disapproving mother (Eileen Heckart) unexpectedly arrives and attempts to interfere with their relationship.

With so few characters involved, the acting is imperatively exceptional.  Edward Albert expertly portrays the blind but confident Don, who strives for independence and acknowledgement of his abilities, not his disabilities.  It’s a powerful and convincing performance, brimming with conviction and emotion.  Eileen Heckart as the overprotective, domineering mother also delivers a mesmerizing turn that netted her the best supporting actress Oscar for 1973.  On the opposite end of the spectrum is Goldie Hawn’s whimsical, ditzy coquette who embodies both carefree chatterbox and fickle flirt.  It’s irksome at times, but offers the playfulness that complements the other more serious roles.

Butterflies are Free features a fast romance between an unlikely couple and the subsequent mishaps, tragedies and revelations created by intolerance and judgment.  Jill is reminiscent of Breakfast at Tiffany’s Holly Golightly in her naivety and flightiness, but while the struggle to reform and adapt, which leads to a Hollywood ending, is welcome in Blake Edward’s film, here it doesn’t feel as sincere.  Don’s battle is the one that demands a triumph and revelation that he earns on his own, not the easier alternative where happiness falls neatly at his feet.  It’s a shame the conclusion doesn’t match the brilliance witnessed in the initial struggles of wills and verbiage that punctuate both the young couple’s short-lived, bittersweet romance and the subsequent rapid-fire obstinacy between overbearing mother and defiant son. 

- Joel Massie

More Recent Reviews:

Battleship (2012)

Girl in Progress (2012)

God Bless America (2012)

Dragon Eyes (2012)

Cup, The (2012)

 

  Recommendations: