I had little interest in seeing "Butterflies Are Free" but am glad I did. I expected very little but was very impressed by the acting and intelligent script. Also, as I watched i mt became pretty apparent due to the film's style that it was originally a play and it must have been a dandy one.

In the movie there are essentially three main roles with a couple of other small, supporting roles. Don (Edward Arnold) is a young blind guy who moved in to a grubby apartment a month ago. His kooky neighbor, Jill (Goldie Hawn), is a real free spirit...sort of like a hippie and the sort of woman you might expect to meet in early 70s Haight-Ahsbury, San Francisco. The final role is Don's mother. Mrs. Baker (Eileen Heckert) is a real helicopter mother....not wanting to let go of her son and babying him as well. What's to come of all this? See the film...and be prepared for some surprises.

What I liked about this film is that the characters seemed at first like caricatures...simple, one-dimentional beings. But over time, each shows amazing depth you never suspected and many surprises. Amazingly well written and acted...it's a much better film than its odd title might suggest.

I knew nothing about "Butterflies Are Free" when I started watching it, which made it even more of a treat. For starters, it was interesting to see Goldie Hawn play a role that isn't a ditz. True, she's a sweet-talker with a fine figure, but clearly competent. The movie actually surprised me in what it revealed about Edward Albert's character.

But despite these, Eileen Heckart's Oscar-winning performance as the mom is the one that really deserves the praise. Without getting hostile or threatening anyone, that character made me feel as if I was walking on eggshells. Heckart might not be the most well known actress, but man that woman could play a role.

The movie is based on a play by Leonard Gershe, and it feels like a play. I understand that the original play takes place in New York, but the movie transfers it to San Francisco, giving us a look at the city - or a few blocks of it - in the days immediately after the hippie era. What a time to be alive!

Anyway, it's not a great movie, but I recommend it.

Blinded since birth, Don Baker (Edward Albert) has a place in San Francisco. It's the first time he's living away from his overprotective mother (Eileen Heckart). His free-spirit neighbor Jill Tanner (Goldie Hawn) visits and is surprised by his blindness. She's a 19 year old aspiring actress divorcée. They get together and then his mother visits.

Goldie Hawn is the definition of free-spirit IT girl. It's a fine pairing that heightens when they are joined by Heckart. Her entry just elevates the humor to another level but it becomes more than a comedy. Goldie takes a turn that takes the story into good emotional drama. Heckart rides this roller-coaster role. This has a bit of characters-stuck-in-a-room feel from its source material as a play. Nevertheless, these are compelling characters.