The Subject Was Roses
Director: Ulu Grosbard
Year Released: 1968
Rating: 2.0
Martin Sheen returns home to his parents after being discharged from the Army, only to have completely changed as a person - Mom (Patricia Neal) doesn't like how he behaves like his father (and drinks too much) and Dad (Jack Albertson) feels a loss of parental control over his son's beliefs (or sudden 'atheism'). Reeks - and I mean reeks - of O'Neill (namely A Long Day's Journey Into Night) and Albee (Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?) but has none of the seething anger or memorable dialogue of either playwright; Grosbard never succeeds in making this look like anything more than a filmed play.
