Sterile Cuckoo (1969)

This lovely, heartwrenching film is the sort of story that just doesn't get told today -perhaps the innocence & honesty required just isn't there any longer. More's the pity, because this is a beautifully tender story of first love & its inevitable ending, which deserves to be seen. Liza Minnelli is unafraid to play the eccentric, lonely Pookie as needy & infuriating when required. Yet we never lose our sympathy for her, especially as we realize that Wendell Burton's shy, introverted Jerry is gradually outgrowing her. She's exactly what he needed to break out of his shell, and he clearly understands this ... but he sees that they're destined to go different ways before she does (or before she'll admit it to herself). Minnelli & Burton are superb together, utterly convincing in their wistful, somewhat lost, always searching way. And Tim McIntire's supporting performance as Jerry's boastful roommate, who surprises us with a heartfelt confession on a night drive home, is a small gem in its own right. "Come Saturday Morning" is the perfect song for this small but deeply affecting story of first love, lingering in the memory along with the characters. Highly recommended!

(Now, when is it going to be released on DVD?)

In my review of 'Cabaret', I rather rashly claimed that Liza's turn as self-destructive Ingenue Sally Bowles was her 'once-in-a-lifetime' performance. That, however, was before I caught this 1969 Gem, 'The Sterile Cuckoo', on Sky Classics.

Beautifully-directed by Alan Pakula in that strange, isolated, stereotypical 1960's-flick style, 'The Sterile Cuckoo' tells the bittersweet, emotionally macabre tale of anally-retentive college freshman Jerry Payne (Wendell Burton), and his intense relationship with the scatterbrained, maniacal Pookie Adams (Liza Minnelli), an enigmatic and energetic girl with a sad past.

Liza's first Oscar nomination was very thoroughly deserved. Even as late as 1969 the Oscars were not yet the meaningless PR-Fest that we now know them to be, and it's nominations for odd, thought-provoking performances like Minnelli's, here, that restores our faith in that system. She's absorbing and heart-wrenching, infuriating and devastating, all at the same time. Her perfect foil comes in the guise of the extremely skillfull performance turned in by Wendell Burton, in the role of her hapless boyfriend Jerry. He's the ideal contrast to Minnelli's mania, and though we are oftentimes infuriated by his apathy, we can't help but simultaneously sympathise with him.

Pakula's direction is excellent. The vistas are beautiful; simple and isolated, with so much 'New England' jumping from the screen as to make you all but feel the leaves crunching beneath your feet. The sparse countryside, punctuated by violent outbursts of colour, is the perfect metaphor for the central relationship, and Pakula makes extremely clever use of this in the scenes of Pookie and Jerry's early relationship.

A classic slice of 60's ideal surrealism, this is a beautifully-crafted, emotionally absorbing movie that REALLY should be on DVD by now. Highly recommended.

Buy Sterile Cuckoo (1969) Now

The first time I saw this movie it bothered me. Watching the love story develop between Pookie and Roger was like watching a horror movie, I kept wanting to yell at the guy for getting into a relationship with this obviously unstable, needy, life-sucking parasite of a human being. But the film haunted me (maybe because I couldn't get "Come Saturday Morning" out of my mind), so much so I bought the video. It's really a different film that couldn't be made today. The pace is different, the plot depends on the characters, Liza Minelli's performance breaks your heart. I suggest this film to anyone who doesn't like the typical romance film of the "Pretty Woman" persuasion. Watch it after you've broken up with somebody if you want a good cry.

Read Best Reviews of Sterile Cuckoo (1969) Here

This is one of Liza Minnelli's earliest films, and her first Academy Award nomination. She is outstanding as Pookie Adams, a lonely girl from a family with a sad history. She is highly intelligent and extremely winning, especially in the first scene, on a bus, where she manipulates some nuns into letting her sit next to the object of her desire, Jerry Payne. They are going to near-by colleges, and Pookie pursues Jerry, cleverly winning him over, until he finally falls in love with her. In my opinion this is the all-time best coming of age movie! A *must* see for everyone!!! You'll watch it over and over!

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I fell in love with this movie while still in high school (1972) and it is one of my favorites. There are so many good scenes that it would take forever to list them. But two stand out and are the best in the film. The scene where Pookie and Jerry are going to have sex for the first time is sweet and honest and absolutely hysterical. Liza's telephone scene ranks up there with Louise Rainer's in "The Great Ziegfeld" and Barbra Streisand's in "The Way We Were". It will tug at your heart strings like no other scene in any movie in recent years. Liza should have beat out Maggie Smith for the OSCAR for this one for which she was nominated. A wonderful movie with laughs, tears, good music and incredible performances. Please bring this to DVD PLEASE!!!

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