LIVING OUT LOUD (1998)
Rating: 3 stars (out of 4.0) ******************************** Key to rating system: 2.0 stars - Debatable 2.5 stars - Some people may like it 3.0 stars - I liked it 3.5 stars - I am biased in favor of the movie 4.0 stars - I felt the movie's impact personally or it stood out ********************************* A Movie Review by David Sunga
Directed by: Richard LaGravenese
Written by: Richard LaGravenese
Starring: Holly Hunter, Danny DeVito, Queen Latifah
Ingredients: Recently divorced woman, friendship, fantasy
Synopsis: The movie opens with the main character, a nurse named Judith (Holly Hunter), learning from her husband that he has been having an affair with a younger woman (Tamlyn Tomita). Cut to after the divorce. From then on, LIVING OUT LOUD is mostly about the crazy little thoughts and actions that Judith goes through in order to steady her life after the divorce. Luckily she meets two new friends to help keep her mind off things. Pat (Danny DeVito) is the gamble-holic divorced elevator man at Judith's high rise. Liz Bailey (Queen Latifah) is a world-weary jazz singer at a local club. Will Judith be able to weather life's storms?
Opinion: LIVING OUT LOUD is one of those quirky, meandering, interesting, slice-of-life films. The whole idea is to map out how Judith comes to grips with her emotions through smaller actions. Holly Hunter, Danny DeVito, and Queen Latifah all give bravura performances, playing complicated but thoroughly human characters who form temporary alliances/friendships with each other for their own personal reasons. There is no tight plot or easy, satisfying resolution to LIVING OUT LOUD since it is more of an art house character portrayal (like a quick dab of the paintbrush on the canvas of human relationships) than a big screen exaggeration. I would love to see LIVING OUT LOUD adapted to stage, where it would no doubt achieve immediate and resounding success.
Reviewed by David Sunga November 6, 1998
Copyright © 1998 by David Sunga This review and others like it can be found at THE CRITIC ZOO: http://www.criticzoo.com email: zookeeper@criticzoo.com
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