Libramedi Intense, gripping, stylish and poignant

Micah Lloyd Excellent characters with emotional depth. My wife, daughter and granddaughter all enjoyed it...and me, too! Very good movie! You won't be disappointed.

Scotty Burke It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

Isbel A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

MisterWhiplash To say it couldn't have been made today is an understatement. It's a bold film for any time, and it's incredible pissed off. If you wanted to see white men taken down a peg or two, this takes them down to uh... Hell. It's not scathing. It's scalding. And as a film, moving across just several hours of time in one afternoon, it has amazing energy and you can tell Cohen is having... A blast making this! This is significant because if Bone had been more like a sermon, if it had even tried to play everything super serious and straight, it wouldn't have the same impact. I should be surprised it was made at all... Cohen had a mountain full of tenacity. It's all over the place in some ways - at a certain point this felt a bit like Cassavetes's Faces but with Yaphet Kotto in the Seymour Cassel part...and for the whole movie. But its also a thriller... Sorta. Its something that feels so wholly original I can't quite compare it to anything else. It's not sleazy enough for the usual exploitation of the period, and it's too wild and packed with insane digressions for a studio. Bone is an unkenpt beast of a satire, made as a first feature (though Cohen had worked in TV for years), and clearly he had a lot on his mind... A lot. Cohen takes on race, sex, class and even policing and how to make your pool cleaner and... it makes for something special. I dont know if it all *works*, but I feel like I've experienced something daring and need a little more time to put the pieces together. By the last act it isnt so much funny as it is totally fascinating - perhaps if Kafka remade Guess Who's Coming to Dinner?And Yaphett Kotto... Whoa - one of his major performznces. Good jazz/r&B score and songs, too.

wes-connors Middle-aged used-car salesman Andrew Duggan (as Bill Lennox) and his blonde, bikini-clad wife Joyce Van Patten (as Bernadette) lounge by the pool at their swanky Southern California estate. Their home and property look like the best in the area, but there are troubled waters ahead for the Beverly Hills couple. While swimming, Mr. Duggan discovers a rat in the pool's side skimmer. Both he and Ms. Van Patten are horrified. Unable to remove the creature, they call for help and are suddenly joined by aggressive, jive-talking Yaphet Kotto (as Bone). Although he gets rid of the rat, Mr. Kotto is really there to rob the couple and rape Van Patten...Subversively subtitled "A Bad Day in Beverly Hills", this was the first feature film directed by TV writer-producer Larry Cohen. Usually responsible for populist entertainment, Mr. Cohen may have thought "Bone" had counter-culture appeal. It's a seldom funny "black comedy" that clearly understands the role played by Duggan while aiming poorly for some sort of parity of attention with Mr. Kotto's character. Not surprisingly, Duggan's character is the clearest drawn...The "imaginary" opening minutes show Duggan peddling his trade in a yard of car wrecks, with bloody bodies still inside. This would have been more effective if intercut later, perhaps during the bank withdrawal scenes. Shown first as an attention getting device, the bloody opening takes away from the disarming introduction of the three main characters. A pre-"Heartbreak Kid" Jeannie Berlin has featured role and a pre-"Match Game" Brett Somers is seen briefly. "Bone" is generous with ugly close-ups and an annoying soundtrack. You do get a good look at old Los Angeles and 1970s smokers will identify with dropping a cigarette in the car while driving.**** Bone (7/12/72) Larry Cohen ~ Yaphet Kotto, Andrew Duggan, Joyce Van Patten, Jeannie Berlin

alastairdreid The film starts with a rat in a pool then a black man appears and it is the interaction between these three unpleasant characters what makes the film. The three are an unsuccessful car dealer his wife and a robber/rapist/murderer. The films improv style acting and unreal sequences serve to give an intensively unpleasant atmosphere as the characters are revealed and their lives decay. Cohen has produced an underground masterpiece and while it defies comparison there are similarities to Apocalypse Now or Crash. It is a crime that this film is not better known and this is probably only because the majority of viewers will hate it.

glen-16 At last I have found the holy grail of modern cinema. 'Housewife' is the film many people spend half their lives looking for. The stylized approach to incidental music, flashback techniques and the coming together of elusive plot strands all go towards making a truly first class motion picture. This film stands as a beacon shining in the darkness from continent to continent, breaking every mould, chasing its own hysteria which the film makes no bones about concealing. 'Housewife' is the yardstick for a truly wonderful film.