Molly Haskell

“…. Glenn Close, a stage actress, makes a stunning debut as the determined nurse Jenny …. These three characters [including Garp and Helen] form a central triangle….

“As in the book, these forces are on a collision course, accelerated by the general craziness of the world around them, yet the movie has a kind of serenity that makes the violence even more shattering. Hill and Tesich have narrowed the focus of Irving’s novel—what else can one do with 600 pages—and concentrated on the family….

“…. [I]n truth, beneath the novel’s dazzling showmanship lie rather conservative messages; you can hear a wail for the erosion of family life and the threats to masculinity in the volcanic upheavals of the seventies.”

“Irving’s attitude toward the feminists is ambiguous….”

Molly Haskell
Playgirl, August 1982