MovieChat Forums > Head Over Heels (1982) Discussion > What was the core of what this movie was...

What was the core of what this movie was about?

posted a year ago by brux (14666)
5 replies | jump to latest

I was watching this movie again, for the ... I don't how many times now.

At about the 54 minute mark Charles ( John Heard ) and Laura ( Mary Beth Hurt ) come walking about of a seedy porno theater where "Inside Jennifer Wells" is the movie. Charles says "You're prettier than her" paying Laura a compliment, and Laura goes berserk on him, and they have an argument.

I mean, wow, is this woman a real "B" or what. Charles is just trying to pay her a compliment and she jumps all over him for stating something that is pretty obvious. The obvious thing is that back then in the vintage porn era, they hired women who were either very desperate, or beat up old prostitutes ... like Jennifer Wells. If you look up pictures of Jennifer Wells she is indeed not that pretty, and telling a woman she's prettier than Jennifer Wells is not much of a compliment, and odd that Laura would so stridently defend herself as not being prettier than a porn star, who she called a movie star.

Also what is kind of funny is that, at least in my opinion, the prettiest woman in this movie was Charles' Mom, Gloria Grahame who was a pretty successful movie star back in the 50's and who was still really beautiful in this movie in her late 50's or early 60's, and could act incredibly well and the camera loved her.

So, I wonder if this movie was supposed to be about two people who were just not suited for each other, or if it was about Charles and his obsession with a woman who was not really that great?

[–] xanthas (3215) a year ago

I'm not sure what that the scene had much to do with the actual movie "Inside Jennifer Wells," or the actress for that matter. It's just an important scene because we see how Laura is getting tired of the constant fawning over her.

I am in the midst of re-watching it again for the gazillionth time (this week I've been watching a bit each night before falling asleep), and I am yet to get to the scene where she tells Charles she is going back to Ox. But I recall he says something like, Why do you want to be with someone who doesn't love you enough, instead of someone who loves you too much? And she says, "It makes me feel like less of a fraud." So she doesn't understand his obsession with her, and realizes it is unhealthy. Also, maybe life with Ox had made her feel lower self-esteem.

Anyway, I think I need to finally read the novel. I can't believe I haven't read it yet, after all these years!

[–] brux (14666) a year ago

> It's just an important scene because we see how Laura is getting tired of the constant fawning over her.

That's how it reads. I am not sure that is all of it.

I think she does feel that Charles is stunted, that there is something wrong with him. But there is pretty much something wrong with everyone. Charles is not suited for her, and she abuses him for it, as he pushes her.

I mean in that scene, which I caught on YT yesterday is interesting. They walk out of the theeater and Charles pays her a compliment. A rather obvious compliment actually if you ever have seen pictures of Jennifer wells, or the mostly ugly grainy videos that are out there of her.

The tell that Laura is bashing Charles is that she complains they go to the movies, and he tells her she's prettier than the movie stars. Well, a "skin flick" as they called it, is not exactly a "movie", and a porno actress is not exactly a movie star, so her complaint is more of an emotional expression of her dissatifaction, and possibly Charles' aloofness. I mean she was hot to trot, and Charles did nothing.

I mean who goes to a porn movie with their girlfriend and they are totally separated. Laura fascinated with the movie sitting up straight - and away from Charles, and Charles looking totally bored and uninterested in Laura's experience. There is no lust here. Also in opposition to that, but it is implied is that Ox, is an Ox. The Ox is a symbol of male aggression. And Charles is so passive.

So, I'm thinking at the end of the movie Laura decides to settle for who she is and make the best of it, while Charles' decides to take on life - symbolied by his running.

Laura is hiding out in her life. Ox barely sees her except for what she does for him and his daughter. Ox does what he wants and has his own life pretty much detached from Laura, so Laura does not have to feel bad about who she is or who she wants to be.

Then maybe one can go into Charles' mother issues, but I've never figured that one out yet! ;-)

I watched a talk some of the actors in that movie held on YouTube, and Peter Riegert said that when they had the Thanksgiving scene and Charles' mother kissed him full on the lips, that was totally Gloria Grahame's idea in the moment and his expression showed his surprise at that.

[–] xanthas (3215) a year ago

They just announced a new Criterion Release (coming in March), which could provide interesting new insight. There seems to be a long history of mental illness in Charles' family, which is not fully explored in the film, and I'm hoping the books delves into. I don't know about the scene at the porno movie. Back then you couldn't easily watch them in the privacy of your own home, so maybe it was just awkward for both of them?? The movie didn't really explore the lust between them, so it makes me wonder what happens in the novel. At the time she announced she wanted to move in with him, she mentioned sleeping in a separate bedroom because she felt things were moving a bit too fast. She wasn't sure if she wanted to take such a big step, but she was alone and lonely, and there he was. He was rushing her from the start, talking about marriage and moving in together when they first met. Sometimes those types of relationships work out, and sometimes they don't.

[–] brux (14666) a year ago

Mostly they don't. For something like that a minimal rule is at least to wait past the three month mark.

[–] xanthas (3215) 3 months ago

I finally read the novel a few weeks ago, and in the book it's actually Charles and his sister (visiting from college) who go to the porn movie together out of boredom. This is one of many scenes that Joan Micklin Silver created in her screenplay and is it a bit odd. Charles's mom is even more screwed up in the book compared to the film, but the novel spends a lot more time on the relationship between Charles and his stepfather.

The most surprising thing about the novel is that Laura only appears in the final chapter, and although Charles thinks about her throughout the book, there are literally no conversations (in his memories or elsewhere) between the two of them until the very end of the book, which also does not imply that their relationship is now over.