This is what I call a "small film", but every once in a while it's a small film that gives you the opportunity to savor fine acting performances.
It seems as if quite a few of our reviewers don't like this film. I think that's because they expect Jane Fonda and Robert De Niro in a totally different types of films. I can't say that Jane Fonda is one of my favorite actresses, yet, almost every time I do see one of her films, I'm impressed. It wasn't until 1986 that I began to appreciate Robert De Niro. I learned that it wasn't his acting that turned me off; it was more the types of films that he often acted in. Now I like few things more than watching a good -- mature -- performance by a truly fine actor.
This is clearly not the type of role that we usually associate with Jane Fonda -- a poor woman who works in a bakery factory and has a family life that is less than ideal. She looks a little worn out...which is just right for the part. Surprisingly, she's perfect here.
It's a very different role for Robert De Niro, as well. He plays an illiterate who is fumbling through life. When he loses his job he has to put his elderly father into a public home for the aged, where he dies. That jogs De Niro to finally learn to read and write. ANd he asks Fonda to be his teacher. Of course, there's a lot of frustration in the process.
No film is perfect, and the weakness here is that we know that a romance is going to develop and that they will live happily ever after. It's kind of obvious. So, as with many films, the joy is not where the film is going, but how our characters arrive at that destination.
One of the things I like about this film is that it shows the lives of a socioeconomic group that we don't often see in films.
The primary supporting actor worth mentioning is Swoosie Kurtz. Kurtz was an actress who was quite popular for a while, and this film made me realize that I hadn't see her in a while. I looked her up and was surprised to learn that she was now in her 70s. She does a nice job here as Fonda's sister. Fonda's son here -- Harley Cross -- does a nice job...believable. Martha Plimpton, as the daughter, also does nicely.
Thankfully the mandatory sex scene -- a disastrous one -- is brief. But it exemplifies the somewhat awkward route to love these two people are having.
I'll tell how good I thought this film was. I wasn't feeling well the evening I started watching it. I was very tired, so I thought I'd watch maybe half the film, and finish the rest the following day. Nope, I stayed up until nearly 1:30 a.m. to finish it one sitting.
I give this a very strong "7". Recommended.
It seems as if quite a few of our reviewers don't like this film. I think that's because they expect Jane Fonda and Robert De Niro in a totally different types of films. I can't say that Jane Fonda is one of my favorite actresses, yet, almost every time I do see one of her films, I'm impressed. It wasn't until 1986 that I began to appreciate Robert De Niro. I learned that it wasn't his acting that turned me off; it was more the types of films that he often acted in. Now I like few things more than watching a good -- mature -- performance by a truly fine actor.
This is clearly not the type of role that we usually associate with Jane Fonda -- a poor woman who works in a bakery factory and has a family life that is less than ideal. She looks a little worn out...which is just right for the part. Surprisingly, she's perfect here.
It's a very different role for Robert De Niro, as well. He plays an illiterate who is fumbling through life. When he loses his job he has to put his elderly father into a public home for the aged, where he dies. That jogs De Niro to finally learn to read and write. ANd he asks Fonda to be his teacher. Of course, there's a lot of frustration in the process.
No film is perfect, and the weakness here is that we know that a romance is going to develop and that they will live happily ever after. It's kind of obvious. So, as with many films, the joy is not where the film is going, but how our characters arrive at that destination.
One of the things I like about this film is that it shows the lives of a socioeconomic group that we don't often see in films.
The primary supporting actor worth mentioning is Swoosie Kurtz. Kurtz was an actress who was quite popular for a while, and this film made me realize that I hadn't see her in a while. I looked her up and was surprised to learn that she was now in her 70s. She does a nice job here as Fonda's sister. Fonda's son here -- Harley Cross -- does a nice job...believable. Martha Plimpton, as the daughter, also does nicely.
Thankfully the mandatory sex scene -- a disastrous one -- is brief. But it exemplifies the somewhat awkward route to love these two people are having.
I'll tell how good I thought this film was. I wasn't feeling well the evening I started watching it. I was very tired, so I thought I'd watch maybe half the film, and finish the rest the following day. Nope, I stayed up until nearly 1:30 a.m. to finish it one sitting.
I give this a very strong "7". Recommended.