High School Big Shot (1959) / The Final Comedown (1972) / Cockfighter (1974) / I Never Promised You A Rose Garden (1977) / Saint Jack (1979) / Suburbia (1983) / Love Letters (1983)
The Final Comedown (1972) A stark, primal howl of protest over social prejudice and racism collides head on with base, violent action set pieces. Police brutality and white oppression conspire to provoke Billy Dee Williams into revolution, told with art and artifice.
Cockfighter (1974) Rugged, textured portrait of Warren Oates' cockfighter who vows silence until he becomes champion. The rural background and bloody sport is captured with atmospheric detail, and performances are persuasive, even if the subject matter is unappealing.
I Never Promised You A Rose Garden (1977) A sensitive, wrenching Kathleen Quinlan is the teenager forever escaping to fantasy even while she is committed to a mental institution. The gritty style effectively approaches difficult subject matter and is emotionally resonant.
Saint Jack (1979) As the eponymous central character, Ben Gazzara's laconic, empathetic American brothel owner encapsulates this loosely structured, compassionate look at lost dreams and confronting morals in 70s Singapore. Finely textured, well cast, thoughtful and rough.
Suburbia (1983) A group of young, desperate delinquents live on the fringes of society, creating their own family, but find tragedy when they face the cruel contempt of the suburbs. An observant, unflinching view, ragged in technique and narrative, ugly and tender with equal conviction.
Love Letters (1983) Intense study of love and desire, as Jamie Lee Curtis confronts her past and questions her future when she reads her deceased mother's words on an affair even as she embarks on a heated romance with a married man. Shaped with artful compassion.
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