Score (1973)

I was very pleasantly surprised by watched Radley Metzger’s Score. I wasn’t surprised that I enjoyed it (I’ve loved the other films of his that I’ve seen), but I was surprised because it was so different in tone from those other movies. The switch from self-conscious artiness to chic sex comedy was unexpected, but it worked beautifully.

This is really a very funny movie! And even better, it’s funny in such a good-natured way. It might be a sex comedy, but there’s nothing crass or offensive or misogynistic about the humour. It’s clever, elegant and witty.

Elvira and Jack live in a mythical city, a city devoted to pleasure. And Jack and Elvira are most certainly devoted to pleasure. Their favourite games involve keeping score (hence the title) to see which of them can compete the most seductions in a specified time period. It’s a game they’re extremely good at, but the arrival of Betsy and Eddie provides them with their toughest challenge yet.

Instead of portraying sexual games as something dangerous and destructive, they’re shown as being simply fun, and the worst thing that can happen to you in these games is that you might end up having extremely good sex. It’s also nice to see an erotic movie in which all the actors can actually act.

Score is about as explicit as you can get while still remaining technically soft-core, but Metzger makes sex stylish and playful. It is most definitely an erotic movie, but it works equally well as a sophisticated comedy of manners. A Radley Metzger movie never looks cheap, and as in all his films there’s also much enjoyment to be had from the 70s fashions and sets.

It’s such a fun little movie. I loved it.