The Criterion DVD and BluRay of this film contains a 2009 interview with writer/director Henry Jaglom that is worth watching after (or before) anyone views this film. This film is a definite product of its time and was released as part of the BBS wave that was taking Hollywood by storm in the late '60s and early '70s (Easy Rider, Five Easy Pieces, and Last Picture Show were some other films released during the BBS wave). Jaglom explains that his film was initially a play and the goal with his career (A Safe Place was his first movie) was to write and direct films that are from a woman's point-of-view. He continued to make very low budget films into the '00s (budgets lower than even John Sayles),including a few that starred his once-girlfriend Karen Black. This background helps understand this film, which is a unique watch but requires tremendous patience. Orson Welles' presence in the film is basically restricted to him channeling Topol, doing magic tricks in Washington Square, and commanding zoo animals to "disappear." Tuesday Weld is Susan (currently using the name Noah),an imaginative hippie who dwells on her childhood and falls into an unusual relationship with a stranger she meets in Central Park. Jack Nicholson arrives to stir the pot as Susan/Noah's ex. The film is more art than narrative and plays like an adult version of "Head," the Monkees movie that was also part of the BBS movement. A time capsule piece which will be more appreciated by independent American film lovers than the casual viewer.

The only reason I saw "A Safe Place" was because Jack Nicholson was in the movie. Well, in hindsight, I proably would have been best to just skip this one.

According to IMDB, when the film debuted at a film festival, the crowd became very hostile and fights almost broke out between the patrons. Some loved it, some despised it. And, as I watched I understood why. The film is deliberately artsy and defied your expectations for a film. The plot is rambling at best, the main character seems like a dingaling and much of the movie just doesn't make a lot of sense. Add to that artsy touches like fast edits, close ups of eyes and a myriad of other tricks and you have a film that is bound to annoy most viewers...and I'm included in that.

Another thing I should mention is Orson Welles in the film. I have no idea why he's there, why he keeps doing magic orwhat his motivations are. I am not sure he knew either.

Overall, probably the most difficult of Jack Nicholson's films to like or appreciate. Obviously, some do like it...but I really couldn't understand why...and I'm not trying to be facetious about this.

One might be tempted to call Henry Jaglom's directing debut "A Safe Place", which he also wrote (based on material he originally presented on stage in New York),self-indulgent; however, the indulgence here really belongs to the editor, Pieter Bergema. This is a movie 'made' in its editing stages, and either Bergema had too much film to work with or not enough (this might explain the endless close-ups of crying or howling faces, several of them repeated). Tuesday Weld plays a commune-living hippie chick in New York City, on a tightrope between being a woman and wanting to remain a child, who begins a relationship with a drop-out from high society before she has resolved her feelings for former boyfriend Jack Nicholson, who apparently left her for another woman. Jaglom encourages his cast to wing it, and so we're left with lots of rambling, pseudo-introspective monologues about illusion and reality. It's wise not to try and dissect "A Safe Place"--that would be like analyzing a snowflake. There's just not enough real substance here--nor enough real acting--to spark a debate on the film. Orson Welles as a magician (or perhaps Weld's guardian angel) looks like a cross between Jackie Gleason and Oliver Hardy; he has fun doing magic tricks in Central Park, but is mostly used as a shoulder for Weld to lean on. Weld herself is a lovely presence (although this little-girl-lost number was just about played out),and cinematographer Dick Kratina gets some gorgeous shots of her all around the city, but the only genuine acting in the film comes from newcomer Gwen Welles as another hippie who is mesmerized by the non-meaning of her dreams. ** from ****