# The “garbage” 1973 movie Roger Ebert walked out of after 45 minutes: “This one is too much”

- URL: https://talkfuse.com/story/the-garbage-1973-movie-roger-ebert-walked-out-of-after-45-minutes-this-one-is-too-much/
- Published: 2026-10-27T18:15:00+00:00
- Updated: 2026-10-27T23:36:11+00:00
- Original publisher: Far Out
- Original article: https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/garbage-movie-roger-ebert-walked-out-of-after-45-minutes/
- Topics: Entertainment, Film

## Key points

- Ebert left *Jonathan Livingston Seagull* after 45 minutes.
- He described the film as too much to endure.
- The adaptation drew lawsuits from Bach, Diamond and Julber.

## Summary

Roger Ebert walked out of the 1973 film *Jonathan Livingston Seagull* after about 45 minutes, calling it too much to endure. His reaction matters because he rarely abandoned films, sometimes sitting through poor ones to inform his reviews, and the film had even received two Academy Award nominations.

Ebert criticised the adaptation of Richard Bach’s novella as plodding and monotonous, saying the film had not learned the lesson about rising above “garbage”. The production also faced disputes: Bach sued over changes to the script and later had his name removed from the credits, while composer Neil Diamond and director Ovady Julber also brought legal complaints.

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