SHE'S SO LOVELY RATING: 5.5 / 10 --> Not good enough to recommend
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Nick Cassavetes' second attempt at directing is based on a script written by his late father, indie-actor/director John Cassavetes. Nick's initial foray into the world of cinematic direction produced the touching UNHOOK THE STARS (7.5/10) back in 1996, starring his mother, Gena Rowlands.
PLOT: Husband/wife Eddie (Penn) and Maureen (Wright Penn) are two poor, wild, crazy kids in love. One day, Eddie's erratic and aggressive behaviour goes too far. He snaps a twig in his brain, and is committed to an institution for 10 years. When he gets out, Maureen has divorced him, re-married another, had three kids, and resides in the suburbs. Eddie wants her back. Joey (Travolta), Maureen's new husband, doesn't appreciate Eddie's sentiment.
CRITIQUE: This movie was hard to rate because I really liked the first half of the film which dealt with the life and times of the young couple in love. Sean Penn and Robin Wright Penn put on some amazingly gritty performances (Sean received a best actor award at the 1997 Cannes Film Festival for his role) during this first period, and truly transport you into their loving eyes and hearts. The rest of the movie....well...
Unfortunately for all involved with this picture, the second half of the film turns into a completely unrealistic and outrageous scenario, in which we are meant to understand things which simply do not make any sense, and given very little support by way of the script by Cassavetes. I especially didn't care about the way the kids were treated in this film ("drink your beer!" to a nine-year old?).
Admittedly, perhaps the success of the first half, left me with a greater disappointment with the latter half, but either way, I would say that the ending of this movie does rate as highly unbelievable and unsubstantiated. Having said that, the first half was very good, and so were the performances by real-life husband and wife team, Sean and Robin Wright. Travolta was okay, but he is only in the movie for about 20 minutes or so, and does little more than smoke and swear. Cassavetes' follow-up to the endearing UNHOOK THE STARS seems to have been a great vehicle for the Penns to showcase their acting talents, but lacks the solid finale or any realistic conclusions in the second half.
Little Known Facts: This film was previously dubbed SHE'S DE LOVELY and CALL IT LOVE. Sean Penn was married to Madonna from 1985-89. He has since been quoted as saying "I'm very fond of my ex-wife, but at twenty-four I didn't realize the difference between a great first date and a lifetime commitment." Sean's brothers include musician Michael Penn and fellow actor Chris Penn. Sean and brother Chris used to hang out with Martin's Sheen's sons, Charlie Sheen and Emilio Estevez, throughout their junior high and high school years, occasionally dabbling in filmmaking with their handheld Super-8 cameras. When Robin Wright Penn was 15, she used to date Charlie Sheen. She was also married to fellow actor Jason Patric from 1988-90.
Review Date: May 3, 1998
Director: Nick Cassavetes
Writer: John Cassavetes
Producer: Rene Cleitman
Actors: Sean Penn as Eddie
Robin Wright Penn as Maureen
John Travolta as Joey
Genre: Drama
Year of Release: 1997
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(c) 1998 Berge Garabedian
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