Linbeymusol Wonderful character development!

Stoutor It's not great by any means, but it's a pretty good movie that didn't leave me filled with regret for investing time in it.

Peereddi I was totally surprised at how great this film.You could feel your paranoia rise as the film went on and as you gradually learned the details of the real situation.

CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Falconeer Chicago, early 1970's, looking gloomy and dangerous, and unfriendly. Young T.R. arrives in the Windy City hoping to find fame, fortune, or at least a decent and interesting life,far from her hometown of rural Ohio. Candice Bergen turns in a performance that you just have to love; her character T.R. has such an offbeat, yet witty sense of humor, and she is a real go-getter, a modern, free-thinking 70's girl who wants to make it on her own. The movie has an interesting structure, in that it begins midway through her adventure. By the time she is hooked up with Peter Boyle (another terrific performance) in the hotel room, she has already been in Chicago for a while and has experienced a lot. We learn of her experiences as she relates them to her "blind date," always with a sharp sense of sarcastic humor. The question the viewer has is, who is this mysterious guy Larry who arranged this odd meeting of strangers, and why would a gorgeous young woman like Bergen agree to meet an unknown man in his hotel room? Well we find out through flashbacks, of T.R. getting her office job, and becoming acquainted with the city, moving into a cheap tenement apartment, and finally, meeting a man, (James Caan) who sweeps her off her feet,and exposes just how naive and innocent T.R. really is... "T.R. Baskin" is truly a superb time capsule; it completely encompasses the mores and attitudes of the 1970's. Filled with location shooting around Chicago, always a fascinating city, like New York during that decade. T.R. makes us think about life, about the mistakes we make when we are young, and in the end, she brings a tear to our eyes as we see her inevitably lose the innocent quality that made her move to the big city in the first place. I cannot recommend this movie highly enough. It's filled with colorful, funny characters and much insight. Sadly this is a forgotten title, never released for purchase on dvd or even VHS as far as I can tell. The copy I managed to track down is poor, and murky and the picture even jumps for about 10 minutes somewhere in the middle. Strangely this washed out old copy actually adds to the film's already nostalgic feel. I hope "T.R. Baskin" gets rediscovered, as it truly is a lost gem with an amazing cast.

avenuesf I finally got a chance to see a (poor) print of this film today after wanting to see it for years. I could appreciate its originality and sophistication for the time that it was made, but I was left wondering just what the film was really trying to say. It worked more as a character study than a film. The theme of the cruel and impersonal big city seemed to be a recurrent one in the 1970's (much like "Midnight Cowboy"), and seemed to be a symbol for the lost individual trying to find meaning in life. I've never been able to believe Candice Bergen in any role I've ever seen her play, and this film is a good example. She's stiff and virtually emotionless in most of this, except for two scenes where her acting became so exaggerated that it was almost embarrassing; once where she laughs uncontrollably (more like shouts) when she is conversing with Peter Boyle and another at the end where she cries after a telephone conversation with her parents. They both sounded exactly the same, and were frankly kind of startling, leaving me wondering why the director allowed her to go so far and didn't ask for another take where she toned it down a little.The "plot" never really goes anywhere. T.R. seems vacant, zombie-like and sarcastic, and the flashbacks gave me the impression they were being intentionally inserted to make a point when the film would come to an end. They didn't. The scenes in the film could have been played in real time as they happened and it wouldn't have made any difference at all.There's some dialogue between Bergen and Caan in which she tells him that he "talks like a typewriter." I felt like this described a lot of the film; people don't talk or act this way, and I'm sure it looked great on paper. I can appreciate that this film portrayed a character and her experiences in a very different way for its time, but it didn't really seem to make a conclusion about anything.

stan stan T.R.Baskin (1971) is one of those orphan movies that Paramount would like you to forget. They don't seem the least bit interested in putting it on a DVD. You might still find it on Amazon as a download but the quality is poor. In 41 years, I can only remember seeing it once on television. It is time to write to Paramount to encourage them to release it on Blue Ray. They could release it as part of a Candice Bergen DVD set. Where else can you see Candice Bergen, Peter Boyle and young James Caan all in one movie? (10 lines of text? Really?) I was one of those lucky Extras used in the filming at O'Hare Airport. Being an Extra didn't pay much in those days but it was exciting. SR

sr60627 When will Paramount Studios release the movie T.R.Baskin (1971) to DVD? I suggest that every fan of Candice Bergan/Peter Boyle/James Caan write to the studio. They are located at 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, California 90038. The website Cinemanow offers a download. I found that it is of poor quality. A DVD would be so much better. Let Paramount know. I had the great fortune to be cast as an Extra in a crowd scene at Chicago's O'Hare airport. I remember seeing Ms. Bergan in her makeup chair. I will never forget how much fun I had that day even though I prop I was carrying was stolen. I even got to see a screening at a theater downtown months later. You can also write to television stations to air it.