Movie Stats:
Released 1983 (USA)
American, in English
Director – James L. Brooks
Stars – Shirley MacLaine, Debra Winger, Jack Nicholson, Jeff
Daniels, plus many more actors that you’ll recognize
Plot Summary:
It’s a movie about the relationship between a mother and
daughter, Aurora Greenway (MacLaine) and Emma Horton (Winger). It’s also about
all the ways that life can go both right and wrong. Nicholson co-stars as
Aurora’s love interest, Garrett Breedlove, and Daniels as Emma’s husband, Flap.
Warnings:
A minimal amount of blue language; strong sexual innuendo
(no nudity).
Bad Stuff:
I feel that this movie lacks broad appeal. To be honest,
it’s a chick flick. Maybe I’m being sexist, but I can’t imagine a lot of men
saying, “Oh yeah, that’s a really great movie. One of my all-time favorites.”
While I don’t think there’s anything wrong with that in general, I expect my
Oscar winners to have that broader appeal. It seems like that’s the point of
even crowning a winner each year.
Good Stuff:
The best part about this movie is the relationships. They all
felt very natural and realistic. No relationship was perfect. There was tension
and fighting and yet, underneath that, a tremendous amount of love. I
especially enjoyed the relationship between Aurora and Garrett. It reminded me
of me and my husband.
I expected a lot of extreme melodrama, a lot of screaming,
for example, but even through terrible decisions, everyone acted like an adult.
It was refreshing. I liked that it wasn’t judge-y. Most of the characters were
morally gray and that was all right. It’s true to life. The screenplay was
clearly written by a mature person for mature individuals.
I loved the progression, the growth, of MacLaine’s
character.
The Verdict:
That grotesque sobbing you hear is me barely making it
through the last 30 minutes of this movie. Don’t get me wrong; while it may
lack the extreme melodrama of modern-day reality television, there is some
really difficult stuff in this film. It doesn’t exactly have a happy ending. In
spite of that, I really liked it. It’s a good film. Even if you’re a guy (or
lady) who normally doesn’t go for “chick flicks,” you should give it a shot.
You might be surprised.
I give the movie 4.25 stars.
4 comments:
I saw this in college and was not overly impressed. I do think I liked the weepy ending, but unfortunately the presence of Mr. Nicholson ultimately sunk the film. I do not like him Sam-I-Am.
I think the other problem was I had just finished the book, and it's usually a bad idea to do such a quick book/movie consuming.
I should probably watch it again, just from the Bechdel Test view.
Oh, this movie definitely wouldn't pass the Bechdel Test. All the women do is talk about men. :-/
I can no longer watch Jack Nicholson in anything without thinking about how much you hate him, haha. Although I liked him in this, he basically played the same character he plays in "As Good As It Gets" and "Something's Gotta Give."
Oh alas. I'm sorry I've polluted your Jack Nicholson well. And YES! He always plays the same character! That's one of my problems with him.
The PSU cinema (which I've never been to before, which is a horrible cinematic oversight on my part) had Five Easy Pieces last week and I almost went. Because it's supposed to be one of his better performances. But then I said, "Do you really want to go and watch a movie with an actor you hate in the small hope that he will be different this time?" And the answer was no. So I stayed home.
It's okay. I was never exactly a "fan" to begin with.
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