PRELUDE TO A KISS
A film review by Mark R. Leeper
Copyright 1992 Mark R. Leeper
Capsule review: Romance, comedy, fantasy, and even a little softcore horror combine in an intelligent and thoroughly enjoyable film. PRELUDE handles an old idea, but at the same time says a lot about life and human relationships. Even the acting by minor characters is good. (This is one of those films whose actual premise comes as a surprise well into the film. I will be very vague below rather than spoil the plot.) Rating: high +2.
Peter Hoskins (played by Alec Baldwin) and Rita Boyle (played by Meg Ryan) are made for each other. They are both bright, lively people. Peter is quiet, sedate, and thoughtful. Rita on the other hand is all over the map. She clearly playfully loves life in the daylight but at night has terrors that something terrible will happen to her world. She does not know how right she is. Something will happen to her on her wedding day. It is something that is weird, right out of the Twilight Zone with touches of Kafka. At the same time Peter is going to be pulled into a strange struggle to prove his love.
Take an idea that has been done many times in films. Make it one that everybody thought could not be done one more time. Give this idea to a good enough writer and you occasionally can find fresh new approaches. In this case the writer is Craig Lucas who proves that an old fantasy mechanism can be given a new spin and can reveal insights into human nature and the aging process that nobody has seen in it before. Lucas wrote his story first as a Broadway play. Now he adapted his story into a screenplay. PRELUDE TO A KISS was his fifth play and second produced screenplay. His previous film was the excellent LONGTIME COMPANION. Lucas's play MISSING PERSONS, his film LONGTIME COMPANION, and now his film PRELUDE TO A KISS were all directed by Norman Rene'. Rene' who must be a great director, since just about every speaking performance in his films seems to be very good. I think many people will be enthralled by Richard Riehle's performance as an elderly man who crashes the wedding. I found myself fascinated with a small but magnetic performance by Stanley Tucci playing Peter's best friend, Taylor. It is just a small role, but Rene' invests the character with a lot of personality. Also notable is Ned Beatty as Rita's father, but most people expect Beatty to turn in a good performance. It is some of the lesser known actors who give this film its texture.
PRELUDE TO A KISS is a light fantasy with some heavy ideas that audiences can think about or choose to ignore. Operating on multiple levels, it is a surprisingly satisfying film to be coming out in the summer fluff season. I rate it a high +2 on the -4 to +4 scale.
Mark R. Leeper
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