RETURN ENGAGEMENT

Californian Alan Rudolph wrote and directed his first two feature films, “Welcome to L.A.” (1976) and 1978's “Remember My Name” (starring Geraldine Chaplin and Anthony Perkins, and shown at the 5th CIFF), produced by Robert Altman. After “Roadie” (1980) and “Endangered Species” (1982), Rudolph, always attracted to the offbeat, decided to shoot eight days of private moments and public verbal duels exhibiting the polarities of G. Gordon Liddy and Dr. Timothy Leary, an extremist odd couple who share a common knack for exploiting their notoriety. RETURN ENGAGEMENT candidly reveals the distinct personalities that explain why the following statement by Leary is so accurate: “Between the two of us, we've mopped up 80 percent of the American people in mutual dislike.” The title is an ironic referral to the pair's “first engagement,” when Liddy busted Leary for drug charges 16 years earlier. Focusing on a debate held in a Los Angeles theater where the duo perform a “Patton bit” in front of a huge U.S. flag, Rudolph spotlights the skills that make this team the highest paid one on the lecture circuit. The off-stage sequences include a Hollywood celeb party, Liddy riding with the Hell's Angels, Leary at a video arcade and Esalen, their wives and the very articulate revelations of what has become a fascinating phenomenon.”Amusing and revealing. . .the off-stage time spent both together and separately. . .when they can be caught in less guarded moments.” -Variety