MovieChat Forums > Love Liza (2003) Discussion > great movie...deep drama or dark comedy?...

great movie...deep drama or dark comedy??

posted 19 years ago by mattfransen99
11 replies | jump to latest

Let me start by saying i absolutely love this movie. I've seen it probably 25 times ( i know im a loser). There are so many lines that make me laugh. I understand the real life depression of the situation. So many parts stand out........1) wilsons first meeting with denny at the door....2) denny swimming ("I saw swimming!!") 3) wilson and denny talking about opening the letter.....so many more ...i understand that more of it is just PSH acting high on gasoline but i just can't get over how this movie makes me smile at the same time as making me feel sympathetic.

[–] DickSmoke_4 19 years ago

I also love this movie. Probably one of my top favorites. PSH gives such a great performance. It's so underlooked by people.

I really didn't see it as a comic tragedy though. It was funny during some parts, but for the most part I wouldn't label it as comic. It's just very entertaining for some reason though. Not in a funny laugh out loud sort of way, just it's amusing for some odd reason to watch this man find his way out of his pain. Either it be huffing gas, having outburst of anger towards clerks, just getting up and leaving everything except what consumes his new life, giving gas to kids, etc.

It's such a great movie. There isn't a dull part in it.

"We all have our pluses and minuses."

[–] 19 years ago

[deleted]

[–] Jay_Trotter 18 years ago

I would rate it as a drama, but really this movie has loads of laughs in it, even though it may not be the intended message.

I don't even know where to begin, probably 3/4 of the movie I was laughing at Wilson's interaction with others, or seeing him passed out with his gas/plane on the floor or outside.

This is one of the few movies, that whenever I see it's on IFC well I get pulled in and stay with it to the end.

[–] MonkeyBoyPaladin 18 years ago

To me it's more of a drama.

It's a shame we don't see more of these types of films, Play it Again Sam, etc etc.

Great underappreciated movie. Makes the shortlist of the most underrated movies on the IMDB.

Glad to see there are others here, thought I was thee only one :D

"Roads?..... where we're going we don't need roads.."

[–] intrigued109 18 years ago

I completely agree. This is an excellent film that I've watched quite a few times.

[–] sweet_nuthin 18 years ago

It's just beautiful...

wherever, whatever, have a nice day...

[–] indigentsoul 18 years ago

This movie was definitely tragic, and definitely funny, in spite of the situation( the kind of laugh you might here is the high pitched unrestrained kind of laugh that i uttered when i saw this movie.) The gas huffing scenes, combined with his new found remote controlled boat and airplane enthusiast friend made it very memorable; but i suppose the point and the ease with which the movie got laughs was the tension and the dramatic release that was needed. Hoffman was great as usual, as well as Kathy Bates and the rest of the supporting cast. I can't think of one scene that didn't drudge up a variety of emotions, that seemed to run parallel and intersect at the same time, like hoffman swimming in the lake while getting some fumes from his gas can; also, the scenes in which hoffman and his friend were deliberating why not to open the letter; it switches back from the bathroom, to the motel room, and etc; which kind of reminded me of the forrest gump comedic technique. anyway, i was expecting something worse, but was pleasantly suprised in the end.

[–] guitargrl90 18 years ago

i think it can be considered a dark comedy. if you watch it again, looking at it as if it were a comedy, there are many funny parts (the pancake scene, when he's yelling 'i've got a plane', when he's playing basketball, when he's swimming, etc) i always connect this film with happiness (also has PSH) cause they are almost similary senses of humor. both really dark comedies except that happiness is a helluva lot darker than love liza, but they are the same style in that they both depict the humor in everyday tragedies.. but i love this movie nonetheless.. its totally amazing, beautifully written, and beautifully shot

[–] xxMK_ULTRAxx 18 years ago

How come this movie only got a 6.7 rating? Did people not get it? I just saw it for the first time and I had not heard anything about it prior to viewing it. I think it is underappreciated/underrated in both the minds of the fans and those in the film community. It is at the same time funny and tragic and PSH is just amazing, as usual.

[–] n-dog 18 years ago

Ok, i watched this film last night, and i gotta say, i was pretty baffled. I too was trying to categorise it into one genre, because it definitely didn't feel like a tragic comedy to me. To be honest, i didnt actually find it funny at all. It seemed quite blatantly contrived, as if the writers were trying too hard to be funny, but failing to raise the slightest glimmer of a smile (but this could have been PSH's character's coping strategy for the loss of his wife). I think the film was a drama about grief, but i got the impression that the actors were quite uncomfortable, as if their lines were being force fed to them- so this detracted from the intended, sorrowful impact of it. I got quite bored about half way, it felt very repititious, like nothing else was gonna happen, on a tiresome journey to acceptance of the tragedy. Maybe i need to review it, but i wasn't convinced by the film at all, and i think a 6.7 rating is being generous, sorry emerys89.

[–] thepartydjz 9 years ago

It's undefinable, which makes it even better. Under what genre would you consider "Citizen Kane" to be ???