#ulugrosbard

[adamwatchesmovies]

Falling in Love (1984)

Falling in Love is one of those romantic dramas that makes you want to question the people involved in it. There is something to say about finding the love of your life at the wrong time but the way this movie plays out is cringe-inducing.

Robert De Niro plays Frank Raftis, an architectural engineer who is married with two kids. Merryl Streep plays Molly Gilmore, a freelance artist who is married to a doctor. When they meet in a book store on Christmas Eve and then keep finding each other on the subway. Despite neither being able to move forward with the romance, they just can’t stay apart.

I wish the DVD that somehow found its way into my hands had included some amount of special features (instead of nothing) because I have no idea how anyone would sell this movie. Am I supposed to cheer for Frank as he contemplates abandoning his two children and his loving wife to get together with a woman he randomly bumped into? In any other movie, he'd be the villain the way he’s asking his friends how they went about with their affairs. The Same goes for Molly. She doesn’t have any children, not even a dog but her husband isn’t a jerk or anything. Everyone knows doctors work long hours saving lives. Did he surprise her career upon her?

You have a hard time accepting the concept so what's the draw? It certainly isn’t the chemistry between the leads. I didn’t feel any. There’s not even a steamy and cheesily shot love scene that would have appealed to the lizard component of my brain and had me appreciate the film on a sleazy level.

Often, I criticize films for having broadly-written characters. This movie could've used some. For the most part, everyone is realistic. The plot is a little contrived at times, with the two constantly bumping each other (and the beginning of the film seeming to imply that they should have met long ago but haven’t) but the people act like people do. We don’t have angry spouses that clearly resent each other, on one is abusive, we never learn Frank got married young because he got his girlfriend pregnant or anything like that. There’s not even some kind of animal desire where Frank and Molly are just lusting after each other and everything else becomes a blur.

I've got no complaints about the performances. The dialogue is fine. It's just difficult to accept what it's selling. Falling In Love - imaginative title by the way - is very much an “oh I want to be with you, but I can’t” kind of movie... and your inability to relate to its sentiments will make it feels like it lasts for an eternity. (On DVD, May 20, 2015)

[thepopcornpals-blog]

Beautiful #35mm print from #americangenrefilmarchive of #Georgia #georgiamovie #1995 #JenniferJasonLeigh #MareWinningham #TedLevine #JohnCReilly #MaxPerlich #uluGrosbard #movieaddict #moviemagic #alamodrafthouse #alamodrafthousenyc #alamodrafthousecinema #alamodrafthousebrooklyn #AGFA #brooklynny #brooklynliving #brooklynnewyork #igersbrooklyn #instabrooklyn #instanyc #igersnyc #bigscreen #musicalmovie #oscarnominee #academyawardnominee #sterlingstreets (at Alamo Drafthouse NYC)

[mysweetmood]

#fallinginlove #ulugrosbard #merylstreep #robertdeniro #kiss #love #confinement #jepenseatoi

A kiss per day ❤️💋😘

[josephfrady]

#straighttime #1978 #ulugrosbard #dustinhoffman #theresarussell #drama #crime #quote #movie DP #owenroizman (à Los Angeles, California)

[knitsybitsyspiders]

I definitely just recorded this to see young Martin Sheen. Who looks oddly like Kirk Douglas, no? #thesubjectwasroses #patricianeal #jackalberton #martinsheen #donsaxon #elainewilliams #grantgordon #ulugrosbard #tcm #1968

[inlovewith-oldhollywood]

Falling in Love, 1984