carkol2005
Ok let's throw the first one out: I can't stand soap operas, nor TV movie plot archetypes, but this movie is way above all that. The direction is good, the actors make a good job and, for what is worth, the characters are nuanced and interesting. The script has some good subtle humor beneath it, what makes me happy because in a movie like this it's refreshing. There is, certainly, some talent going around this movie... but it's flawed. First of all, there is some characters I can't fully understand. The mother, Aurora, for example. Is she rude? Is she lovely? I am not sure. One moment is rude with Jack Nicholson, another moment wants to bang him... I don't get her. It's not like she's changing throughout the movie, she just is inconsistent. I know that real people behaves very strangely sometimes, but this character shift her personality too much, to the point it seems just an inconsistency in the script, not a real behavior. The same problem goes to the Jeff Daniels character. He is just a jerk who doesn't care about his family, but suddenly he does? Again, this is not a change, it's lazy writing. We the audience know he's always been like that, it's crystal clear that nobody should trust him. Debra Winger knows it as well. So, what's up with his resolution? At the end, everybody is fine with him. All this character inconsistencies come from the plot point that drives all the plot along the second half of the movie (I won't spoil it, let's say it's a sad one). Instead of putting a resolution to the characters arc, this plot point simplifies the characters and make them puppets of the plot, which I don't like. There's so much left aside. What about the relationship between Jack Nicholson and Shirley Mclaine? What about Jeff Daniels and Debra Winger discussing their issues in the relationship? The guy did little to nothing to support her until the end and tricked her in the most nasty ways! I guess it was like every soap opera all along: manipulative and phoney. Nevertheless, I recognised the talent and I guess the script is decently rounded, even with its problems. 7/10
TonyMontana96
(Originally reviewed: 20/03/2017) A Picture that switches between two separate stories after the first half hour or so, and one is excellent, the other merely good, but one thing is for sure, this is a very well made film with sincerity, craft and compassion; the film packs a lot of powerfully emotional sequences and the sentimentality is very rare. Jack Nicholson is a great actor, and here is yet another great performance from him playing Garrett Breedlove, a former Astronaut , though he is a supporting character here, he still shines as much as he did in films like The Shining and One Flew over the Cuckoo's Nest, if not exceeding them, which would be almost impossible to do, though there is a great moment here where Nicholson shouts "Fly me to the Moon" in a hilarious sequence that literally sends him flying, a scene that is extremely memorable.The two mains are played by Shirley MacLaine and Debra Winger, rather terrifically I might add, MacLaine play's Aurora, the mother and Debra Winger play's her daughter, Emma, and both of them have striking personality and demonstrate a strong screen presence, whenever a scene requires it, which is one of many reasons I enjoyed this picture, the actors are just superb and there character's seem extremely genuine, The Mother is always correcting and lecturing her daughter, keeping a straight manner, and the daughter is always trying to prove that she's doing the right thing, and that she can look after children and make her own life with her new husband, it's not stereotypical, it's realistic and it seems as if you could walk past the very street where they are and see them talking with each other, and I expect these picture's that are non-fantasy to be realistic in some way, and this one most definitely succeeds. The picture is adequately shot, there's plenty of memorable lines, and good writing, that includes some real sharp dialogue like "Imagine you having a date with somebody, where it wasn't a felony" which was a line in a real engaging conversation between MacLaine and Nicholson, this was one of many good lines uttered by MacLaine, and Nicholson and Debra Winger have an equal amount of strong lines here. The cast are all very good; Jeff Daniels play's Flap, Emma's husband, and this is perhaps the strongest I've seen him outside of comedy, and John Lithgow as Sam Burns, who defends Emma in a supermarket from a rude check-out girl, this was his best moment in the picture, and he's also good, playing a neighbourly sort of friend to Emma. Other solid performances, to name a few, include Danny DeVito as Vernon Dalhart, a friend of Aurora's and Lisa Hart Carroll as Patsy Clark, Emma's lifelong best friend. The story has two part's to it, one is focused on an unexpected relationship of sorts between Aurora and Garrett, whereas the other is about Emma and her kids and how they are going through life, including a possible cheating husband who lacks energy when at home, now the part with Nicholson and MacLaine is engaging, extremely funny, occasionally sweet and very entertaining, whereas the other part of the story between Debra Winger and her kids, falters at times, feeling less compelling than the latter, which isn't a big problem, because it's still a good story overall.The outcome in the end isn't a cheerful one, it's rather sad, but I felt involved, emotionally invested and sad about it myself and this picture never goes for clichés, it's believable, well-crafted and only occasionally manipulative, and the very end is satisfying because the story end's with hope that despite the heart-breaking tragedy, things can get better, and the character's pull together, helping one another come to terms with their emotions over the incident and end the film not with complete despair, but with some form of hope, which sat rather well with me, and I personally think this is a very good film, that despite a change of tone before the very end, possesses a good sense of humour, humanity, excellent performances and a director that knows how to make a quality film; James L. Brooks, well done.
pbraham
If it's possible to make watching this dismal film any worse: my review may contain spoilers.There are no likable or even comprehensible characters in this film to relate to or identify with. They are all shallow people whose banal lives bear no examination. None of them learn anything during the course of the film, and neither do we.Sadly there isn't much of a story either. A girl is born, lives an unremarkable life and dies young. I cheered when she finally died and hoped all the other characters would die too.Possibly this film is a subtle observation of what the empty lives of narcissistic people are like - perhaps, as such, it is intended to be boring and obscure, in which case it is a clever work of art and may serve as a warning to us all.My warning, though, is: don't waste your time.
