the subject was roses

January 20 movie: The Subject Was Roses. A young Martin Sheen plays a WWII veteran who comes home to bickering parents (Patricia Neal and Jack Albertson). I did not enjoy this at all. It may have worked as a play, but it didn't translate well to a movie. Partly because it was so obvious that the source was a play: almost the entire movie limited to a small area, the way the actors over-project their dialogue, even the style of dialogue felt stagey to me. But beyond that, I've decided that I really don't care for late 60's family dramas. It's obvious that Sheen's "angry young man" is supposed to be a shining beacon of truth-telling, exposing the rotten core of the unhappy family. But to me he comes off like a smug, rude little snot. I kept wanting to shake him and tell him not to talk to his parents like that.