Get Out Your Handkerchiefs (1978)

Review by All Movie Guide
A key plot point of Get Out Your Handkerchiefs -- the affair between the leading lady and a 13-year-old boy -- is sure to alienate many viewers, who will be made extremely uncomfortable by the moral questions it raises. Those able to get past this not-inconsiderable obstacle, however, will find Handkerchiefs very funny, engrossing, and thought-provoking. The underage sexual situation is more palatable when one accepts Handkerchiefs as a satire and as a symbolic exploration of Freudian conflicts among the male sex. (The fact that only a child can provide the adult woman with the total companionship she is seeking says a great deal about the basic emotional immaturity of the adult men in the film.) Handkerchiefs features a great deal of well-written, often raunchy, dialogue and a number of excellent sequences (such as the opening restaurant scene and the segment in which the boy is asked by his friends about his experiences with sex), and is quite flavorful throughout. Bertrand Blier's direction is lively, and the performances -- especially from a young Gérard Depardieu -- are excellent. Viewers willing to meet Get Out Your Handkerchiefs on its own terms will be rewarded by this wry yet sentimental comedy. ~ Craig Butler, All Movie Guide