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horrible film! why do people like this movie?


why do people like this movie? i can believe i sat through the whole film! and i love rowland! 95% on rotten tomatoes!? what the h#ll! i don't get it. please someone, please example, why would anyone like this film? the little boy was horrible! just horrible. and why is rowlands praised for something like this, and not something like 'another woman'? please example?

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Good! Someone else who doesn't like it. :) Yeah I thought the boy was crappy too. And just pretty bad writing overall. Most of the movie is just her taking the kid to motels and hotels and cabs and subways etc. Not much plot.
Actually, 6.8 is a pretty crappy score for an older movie. Older movies tend to have higher ratings so 6.8 is pretty weak.

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Actually there is very little for which Miss Rowlands isn't praise so don't worry, she's gotten her due. I'd say 95% of the people who post here thought the movies was great so as the saying goes to each their own. I won't try to explain why it's such a great movie because I don't think you're open to getting it.

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I'll tell you why I love it. Gena Rowlands portrayal of Gloria made the film work for me. Were there some problems? Sure. The pacing borders on torture. The music is a little overbearing. Some of the dialogue is like lead. However I overcame all of that because of her balls-to-the-wall portrayal of a woman who is determined to live and protect an innocent child at the same time. There is nothing that can be stronger than the maternal instinct.....and a snub-nosed gun.

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Gena Rowlands plays a woman who doesn't even think she has a maternal instinct in this movie.
It's true that if you don't 'get it', it's going to be hard to explain how brilliant this film is. I don't even think the pacing is bad. I even LIKED the fact that the kid seemed annoying to someone who doesn't understand or like kids - I wanted to slap the kid myself a couple of times (and Gloria never even does that).
The music does seem dated. Her dialogue is great, the kid's dialogue isn't. But, what the hell, he could have been speaking Spanglish and it still wouldn't have taken away from the power of the film. Loved it and I can see why some people don't. It's refreshing and unlike any film that would be made today.

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I hated it also after hearing a lot o praise for this film over the decades. Gloria is a great character but it's a crummy film. Did anyone see the SS remake?

"No! That’s not true at all. Elvis takes fifty percent of everything I earn." Col. Parker

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I tried watching the remake but it was so awful I couldn't get through it.

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they remade this tripe? the mind boggles

best so far this year:
The Revenant (2015)
A Gorgeous Girl Like Me (1972)

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[deleted]

Just got round to watching this last night and loved the sh it out of it! I can see why it mightn't be everyone's cup of tea right enough - it's slow in places and I guess you could say it gets repetitive... You could also say the kid gets annoying, but oddly enough I loved that about him. Let's face it, a lot of the time, kids ARE annoying. But to say it's horrible is drastic in my book, there's plenty to admire.

Here's why I love it, since you asked... well, Gena Rowlands, obviously. Apart from that, I found the gender politics to be very progressive, despite the film being nearly 30 years old. It's basically a gangster movie, but about a woman. And whilst it's something of a cliche these days to 'feminise' traditionally male genres by adding a kid into the mix to justify the presence of a female character, they don't have her soften into a traditional maternal figure as you might expect. She absolutely does it her own way. If anything, she is even tougher by the end of the film.

Saying that, she's not just a chick with a dick either. John Cassavetes thankfully resists the temptation to 'ironically' juxtapose the action with scenes emphasizing superficial elements of her femininity, as other directors probably would have done (I can just imagine Gloria whipping out her lipstick for a quick touch up in the taxi after the shootout...gah.) Even when she is screaming "you let yourself be beaten by a woman!" to the gangsters on the train, there's never a comedy wink at the audience, stylistically speaking. She does whatever she has to, and she uses everything she's got, but she doesn't have supernatural powers - either physical or seductive - like 'strong' woman characters often do, in a patronising attempt at empowerment. They're forever knocking out huge guys with one punch etc. She's just the ultimate pragmatist. She's actually a total anomaly as a film character, in the best possible way. This is probably due to Gena Rowlands extraordinary ability to be beautiful and warm, fierce and steely all at once. She's virtually psychotic in this film but you don't doubt for a second that the kid is as as safe as he can be with her.

Politics aside though - this is just a cracking film. It's got action and excitement; thrills and suspense; laughter and tears; a great pair of central characters & performances; evocative cinematography; and may i say, a wonderful wardrobe by Emanuel Ungaro. I don't know where they found that tiny freaky man-child but he absolutely amazed me. Can't wait to watch it again.

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Here's why I love it, since you asked... well, Gena Rowlands, obviously. Apart from that, I found the gender politics to be very progressive, despite the film being nearly 30 years old. It's basically a gangster movie, but about a woman. And whilst it's something of a cliche these days to 'feminise' traditionally male genres by adding a kid into the mix to justify the presence of a female character, they don't have her soften into a traditional maternal figure as you might expect. She absolutely does it her own way. If anything, she is even tougher by the end of the film.

Saying that, she's not just a chick with a dick either. John Cassavetes thankfully resists the temptation to 'ironically' juxtapose the action with scenes emphasizing superficial elements of her femininity, as other directors probably would have done (I can just imagine Gloria whipping out her lipstick for a quick touch up in the taxi after the shootout...gah.) Even when she is screaming "you let yourself be beaten by a woman!" to the gangsters on the train, there's never a comedy wink at the audience, stylistically speaking. She does whatever she has to, and she uses everything she's got, but she doesn't have supernatural powers - either physical or seductive - like 'strong' woman characters often do, in a patronising attempt at empowerment. They're forever knocking out huge guys with one punch etc. She's just the ultimate pragmatist. She's actually a total anomaly as a film character, in the best possible way. This is probably due to Gena Rowlands extraordinary ability to be beautiful and warm, fierce and steely all at once. She's virtually psychotic in this film but you don't doubt for a second that the kid is as as safe as he can be with her.


I watched this for the umpteenth time last night, and I couldn't have summed it up better than you have here. I enjoy this film very much, and yes, Gloria is in many ways a psychotic woman. But then again, many of the grittiest, exciting male leads are also psychotic, with also a semi-bizarre, 'moral' streak--think Travis Bickle, Michael Corleone, etc. But like you've mentioned, she never went over the top in her portrayal--no lipstick applications, or UFC scissor kicks, lol.

Rowlands ruled this role, and was never for a moment pretentious in her portrayal of Gloria. This is something I despise in most Hollywood fare, so I appreciate the 'soft glove' approach offered by Cassavettes, and also Rowlands. A fine film IMO, even despite the slower moments (which I actually appreciate). Modern Hollywood fare is too strongly focused on fast paced, action filled sequences that seem to never abate. Spare me. I'll take a semi-dead moment of sleepy dialogue, while a neon sign flickers outside any day.

Politics aside though - this is just a cracking film. It's got action and excitement; thrills and suspense; laughter and tears; a great pair of central characters & performances; evocative cinematography; and may i say, a wonderful wardrobe by Emanuel Ungaro.


I didn't realize her wardrobe was Ungaro. What a wonderful piece of trivia!






More science, less fiction.

Karlrobert Kreiten--http://tinyurl.com/n938vj

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[deleted]

This is a GREAT post and I totally agree with everything you said.

Cassavetes used an unusual, and rather ingenious, method to cast the kid: He held a casting call in a disco with hundreds of children and their parents together in the same room. A lot of the parents complained, but Cassavetes wanted a child that was tough enough to stand out in such an intimidating situation. He sure picked the right one!

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Because Gloria 's legs crossing sitting on the stairs smoking a cigarette is unpayable

"To photograph: it is to put on the same line of sight the head, the eye and the heart."HCB

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The direction. How the film was directed. What direction it went in despite the kid being annoying.

Oh and the fact the overrated PROFESSIONAL: LEON wouldn't exist without it.

My Cinema Site at www.cultfilmfreaks.com

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