Highly praised in its day, this remains a powerful affecting movie. It's slice of life stuff, the story of a young man trying to make it in the big city. Dad died when he was 12, he's a bit of a dreamer, works hard enough but is easily distracted (eg persuaded to go on a date instead of studying), he falls in love quickly, gets married, doesn't rise particularly rapidly, has two kids with his wife, his wife's family don't really like him, he wins $500 in a competition but then sees his son run over in front of his eyes, he loses the plot, and marriage is hard.
There are indelible visual images: the teaming office ants, the swarms of people, the packed offices and hospitals, the location shooting of the man on the bus. Plenty of warmth though: the man checking out the girl's legs on said bus, the couple nervously preparing for their first night together after they get married, the broken down apartment they live in with the door being unable to shut, the irritating brothers in law.
The most powerful moment is the death of the kid - for me, this raises the film to masterpiece level. There's also strong sentiment such as the man going to kill himself, and being saved by his surviving kid's cheeriness. As a young dad, these are incredibly moving. There is extra resonance in the fact that star James Murray became an alcoholic who died on the skids in real life.
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