The People Next Door (1970)

A middle class suburban couple (Eli Wallach, Julie Harris) struggle with not only their imperfect marriage but their drug addicted daughter (Deborah Winters). Based on the 1968 TV play by JP Miller (DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES) and directed by David Greene (GRAY LADY DOWN). JP Miller wrote one of the best plays about alcoholism, DAYS OF WINE AND ROSES and here he tries to do the same with drug addiction. Alas, it's an artifact of its time. The adults in the film are such hypocritical horrors that who wouldn't want to drop acid just to get away from them! And surely Miller could have come up with a better ending than the quick miracle he whipped up which comes across as phony. When the film isn't torturing us with awful 70s rock (I don't mean 70s rock was awful, just the "songs" used in the film), we have to contend with a heavy handed narrative. It's no fault of the actors who all deliver fine performances (well, maybe not Sandy Alexander) and they do strong work, it's the screenplay that let's them down. With Hal Holbrook, Cloris Leachman, Nehemiah Persoff, Rue McClanahan, Don Scardino (like Winters, repeating his role from the TV version), Stephen McHattie and Rutanya Alda.