User Reviews

"Mr. Sycamore" is both fascinating and stupefyingly boring. Certainly the premise - a man decides that he's had enough of living as a human and hopes to achieve eternal peace and quiet by turning into a tree! - is unique and I cannot think of anything quite like it. However, instead of being poetic, existentialist, thought-provoking, this film is protracted, at times awkwardly comedic (the milk truck chase, the clumsy policeman, etc.), and often about as exciting as watching grass grow (no pun intended). What carries the movie are the performances, especially those of the two women: Sandy Dennis as the sweet, supportive but understandably frustrated by her husband's wackiness wife, and Jean Simmons as a very lovely middle-aged librarian. The ending will probably attract a wide range of opinions - from "silly" to "magical". ** out of 4.

John (Jason Robards) is a mailman and lives a mundane life. He thinks he is a poet. He wants to turn into a tree with his wife like they did in Greek mythology. He digs a whole in the yard and stands in it. The idea of his wife joining him falls apart when she calls the guys with the straight jacket. The librarian becomes his muse.

The film consists of Jason Robards standing in the yard waiting to become a tree as folks scoff at him. Bad poetry read aloud with flute music doesn't make the poetry any better. I am sure the film had a counter culture niche following in its day.

From a story by Robert Ayre and a play by Ketti Frings, this is the tale of John Gwilt (Jason Robards), a postman who decides that he wants to become a tree. He plants himself in his back yard and waits for it to happen while his wife Jane (Sandy Dennis) tries everything she knows to get him to be normal. At the same time, John finds a sympathetic figure in librarian Estelle Benbow (Jean Simmons).

Directed and written by Pancho Kohner, who produced the Bronson movies Assassination, Death Wish 4, Messenger of Death, 10 to Midnight, The Evil That Men Do, St. Ives, The White Buffalo and Kinjite, this is definitely a movie of its time.

He's the type of person that does believe in invisible rabbits, and as he enjoys the beauty of nature, there is one thing that he would like to become more than anything. A tree. It's ironic that he has the name that he does, and for Jason Robards, this wistful comedy was a nice little surprise. Instead of a worried, eccentric sister, he has a worried, frazzled wife, played beautifully by Sandy Dennis, and a good, understanding friend in Suite librarian Jean Simmons. As a mailman, he's tired of his route, spending time talking to the people that seemed to understand him, and that includes Simmons home he begins to have harmless picnics with, telling her all about his secret desires to sprout roots and become like the happy couple in Greek mythology who turned into trees so they could be together forever. Like Mr. Limpet who wanted to be a fish, he may get his wish.

Unlike that family classic, this is a very obscure film, based on a 1942 Broadway play and surprisingly filmed more than 30 years later. Robards is at his best, on the verge of going on to win two consecutive Oscars. He also goes against type by playing a very gentle soul, but not so passive that he won't stand up to the well-meaning priest who comes with two men and a straitjacket after hearing Robards' desires. Others try to talk him out of his seeming insane dream, but this is also about how sometimes the well-meaning public can go a little bit too far when things happen they don't quite understand.

Dennis plays a more mature variation of the film roles she played in the 60's, and is quite amusing with her perplexed reactions. Simmons, as lovely as ever, is always a delight to watch, and her character is as angelic as Robards is, which is probably why she understands him more than his wife. But there is not a relationship that's going to be anything more than a friendship, and their scenes together are beautiful. I'm glad I came across this one, a delightful companion piece to the 1971 comedy "They Might Be Giants" where George C Scott thought he was Sherlock Holmes and ironically ended up with a psychiatrist named Doctor Watson. I'll take wistful flights of fancy any day over reality.