Customer Reviews

Dangerous Woman [VHS]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Although this movie is a little muddled, I still liked its tale of two--or really, three--lonely people.

This story raises the question: what happens when a mentally disabled woman (or man) has the same sexual desires as any other healthy adult? What happens when she desires a man who is "normal"? Martha's disability separates her from others in many ways, including the kind of romantic life that others take for granted. When Mac shows up on the doorstep, she discovers romantic and sexual feelings, and wants to express them as anyone else would. The others around her, especially her aunt, don't want this, perhaps even with good reason, but the movie sticks up poignantly for her right to blossom, including her right to be a sexual being.

However, there is a built in dilemma here. Martha can never be an appropriate partner for a "normal" man, so the relationship is doomed from the start. And Martha has no framework for understanding the impact of sexuality or rejection. Mac and Martha share a bond, but Frances, the aunt, is Mac's equal, and they too share the bond of being lonely people scarred by life. When they begin an affair, and Martha meets with the inevitable rejection, tragedy results.

The movie does wrap things up neatly--it's a movie, after all--and perhaps a little too patly, but on the whole I preferred the happier ending.

I was impressed with all performances here. Winger submerges herself completely in the character of Martha. Gabriel Byrne manages the tricky feat of making Mac sympathic, but repulsive at times, and keeping him sympathetic even when his carelessness has had such horrible results. I also thought he had good rapport with both actresses. His relationship with each was different, and both were watchable. Barbara Hershey has a smaller role than Winger, but I thought she did a good job, though I didn't know why her character had to be quite so insensitive to Martha.

This is more of a visual essay than a movie that one can sit back and enjoy. The question is: what happens to a young woman who always tells the truth? The answer: in an evil world, she is hurt, betrayed, kicked around, loses her friends, and winds up in prison. Debra Winger makes the role believable, and that's not easy to do. There are also things that happen "around" the Winger character that she doesn't quite see, and we the audience don't quite see either, so we're taken by surprise. The director almost pulled this one off. The two reviewers before me hated the movie, and I can see why. But maybe to a large extent they were thrown off by their expectations. The title, for instance, is ironic -- but who could have guessed that? (She's a dangerous woman in an evil world because she's a truth-teller.) The movie meanders; it's not the plot-rich kind of movie people want, nor is it a thriller, nor a suspenser; in short, it's a philosophical essay dressed up in movie clothes. And if that's all you expect, then it may be worth seeing. My two-star rating is pretty high for a cheapskate star-giver like me, and it's almost the kind of grade you give to a student who has written an essay that didn't come off but was the most ambitious essay in thc class: Two stars for a good try!

Being a huge fan of the Gyllenhaal/Hershey collaboration "A Killing in a Small Town" (aka "Evidence of Love"), I had very high expectations for this, especially with Debra Winger in the cast. Alas, 'twas not to be. This is a meandering slog of a movie, with an ending that'll make you throw up your hands in exasperation for wasting two hours of your life. Winger's performance could not be bettered; curiously, Hershey (who deservedly won an Emmy for "Killing in a Small Town") has very little to do. Take a pass unless you're a huge fan of the stars.

Except for a small, slight logical extension to the end, this adaptation is completely faithful to the book. To keep it to a reasonable length, chunks of plot and exposition in the original book have been left out - for example, the entire back story about Mackey being a published author is deleted, so when he goes back to his writing and Martha interrupts him at his typewriter, anyone not familiar with the original book may be lost as to why he's typing and why he reacts so strongly to being interrupted.

The cast assembled is a dream - Debra Winger, Barbara Hershey, Gabriel Byrne, Laurie Metcalf, David Straithairn, Paul Dooley. Because they've had a chance to read the original novel, they have complete backstories, and fully inhabit their characters.

When I first saw this movie, I was completely spooked by Debra Winger's portrayal of Martha Horgan. Watching it again on video, I think her portrayal sometimes veers a little too far towards "mentally ill," although the book takes great pains to portray Martha as a socially awkward woman who is situationally abused by everyone in her town. When she lashes out violently, which is true to the book, it can be shocking to watch. It's equally disturbing to observe the casual cruelty to which she is subjected, by children, adult friends, sales people. When Mackey, the stranger from out of town, treats her kindly, the contrast puts the injustice front and center.

So much of the book is missing, it almost makes the book seem overplotted. The ending has been cut back enormously; I suppose it would have played as melodrama. Still, the screen adaptation is completely true to these characters, the situation, and the actors embrace the roles with gusto.

I have known Martha Horgans in my life, and this is the only book - and only movie - to sympathetically portray these women, grown older out of the fire of high school into the isolation and loneliness of adulthood. This is a stand-out role and performance by Debra Winger, surrounded by a cast and script that deserves to be seen. Read the book, too, it's as harrowing as the movie. This movie does not deserve to languish in obscurity.

Despite the slightly Lifetime-for-Women feeling of 'A Dangerous Woman' this is pretty good. The cast is a director's dream, only this director must have cried every night wishing he had a bigger project! I love Barbara Hershey and Debra Winger, they should be in other stuff together. Gabriel Byrne is such a doll, and you get to see David Straithairn in nothing but briefs! Watch for Chloe Webb from China Beach in a minor part. Once the somewhat outlandish ending has played out, you won't mind because of the fun scenes where Byrne gets to emote and then there are the racier scenes but if you think I'm going to tell you what they are you're wrong, you will just have to watch it!

...that people who deceive themselves and others would also hate a character that portrays pure honesty. It's human nature to hate all truth. The book excellently "plugs in" what the movie expects viewers to figure out. People avoid those like Martha because she sees right through everyone (that terrifies people) and no one fools her. She completely lacks self-deception and is immune to being deceived. She knows Mac does not love her, but she still loves him anyhow. Anyone can love someone who loves her/him back, but not just anyone can love someone who she/he knows will not love her/him back.

People detest those like Martha. The motive to use labels as "retarded" in such ways portrays the principle of, "the best defense is an offense." Non-childlike people crave twisting everything around for self-serving purposes. Why is this so?...no other reason than for the denial of guilt. Mental illness is a SYMPTOM of practicing deception (inwards &/or outwards). Even God states those who are child-like have a sound mind. As much as it may not be socially correct to say so, truth be told, rare is the person who is not mentally ill and Martha in this movie is far more sound minded than all the other characters. She is simply living in a world that doesn't appreciate her.

All humans have feelings, but rare is the human who has bold convictions and complete intolerance for that which is not right. Causing the death of a person may not always be right, but in Martha's case, it wasn't done with malice intent; plus, she never denied what she did nor would she compromise truth to any degree for any reason even when everyone else kept urging her to take advantage of using a socially acceptable excuse. The movie leaves out the vital aspect its book contains of what happened to Martha earlier in her life. This adds to the understanding of why Martha acted as she did when Getso had her cornered (plus; you need more insight than even the book in order to understand what was going on in Martha's mind at that time). Her heart was never only on self-affections; quite unlike everyone else who's greatest concerns stemmed around self-pride. It is not to be expected that people who think like almost everyone else are going to be able (&/or even want) to understand a self-effacing, "oddball." How ironic it is that everyone likes to perceive themselves as being unique while at the same time craving to be popular by emulating their peers (ex: clothes, cars, lingo, homes, impressive jobs, etc.). The best reason for giving 5 stars is the brilliance behind creating a story that can prove it's theme through the reactions of those who view it. People find Martha repulsive. Martha represents truth. People find truth to be repulsive when it's put like an undeniable mirror in front of their exposed self. Most people find movies which trigger sensations as being entertaining, so naturally those who are entertained by intellect more than feel, will be bored by the "popular" movies Hollywood puts out.

Wow this should be called a Dangerous man not a dangerous woman! Gabriel Byrne was heartbreakingly gorgeous at this time in his career, actually he's still one of the sexiest men alive, as HBO's In Treatment clearly shows. I also think that Deborah winger was brilliant in this movie, she never broke character once. I know some people think she played the slow whitted "Martha" unsympathetically, but that's exactly what made the charater so believeable. The more I watch it the more I realize how good she was. However I wish they would bring it out on DVD, the VHS version is pretty awful, but still worth it to see Gabriel in all his glory.

A much, much better movie than I anticipated, with all three major characters achingly alive. Martha (Debra Winger) could easily have been someone I know. All the reviewers kept referring to "mental illness, mentally disturbed, fragile grip on reality, socially maladjusted". I think these are all dead wrong. She is a 10-year-old girl in a woman's body. Mentally retarded, not mentally ill. And Winger just dissolves into the role. She is totally, utterly believable; you can see her mind churning in each scene. But Hersey and Byrne are also very, very good. Look of movie similar to "Rich In Love", with Albert Finney, even though this was supposed to be California, and "Rich" was in one of the Carolinas. A fine ending, with lots of hope, and a hint that truth at any price may not be all bad. Martha never lies, but even though imprisoned, she is not unhappy, and neither are Hersey or Bryne, who picks up the pieces of his life. Lying is very much the issue here, from the first scene. Much to think about, e.g. exactly why Martha kills Getso, lying on two planes, cheating, and stealing.

A retarded woman ends up killing a guy who is annoying her and a bum who got her pregnant ends up visiting her in the mental institution. That's the plot. The acting is OK, but the story is ridiculous and nothing even remotely interesting happens during the entire movie.

This lackadaisical film is a huge disappointment. I loved the book and was hoping the characters created so vividly by Mary McGarry Morris would translate well to the screen. Alas, this was not to be. The original character of Martha Horgan, was an annoying, disturbed woman with a myopic view of truth. The character was totally unsympathetic as it embodied all the qualities we do not want to see in ourselves. Debra Winger's Martha is a childlike retarded woman. She plays this so drippy sweet, I'm surprised her blood sugar did not soar beyond human tolerance during the filming. The only annoyance I feel is that the film missed the whole point of the book, tries to slap the "Made in USA-Upbeat Ending" at the end of the travesty and wasted my time.

Save yourself the trouble and read the book. Use the VHS as a doorstop!