Customer Reviews

Edie and Pen

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

THIS MOVIE IS A MUST FOR EVERY WOMAN (OR MAN) THAT HAS EVER BEEN INVOLVED IN A DIVORCE FOLLOWED WITH A NEW RELATIONSHIP. THE DIALOG IS FULL OF THE LITTLE "TRUISMS" THAT WILL TOUCH ANYONE WHO VIEWS THIS FILM. "FUNNY"? ABSOLUTELY!! THIS IS A COMEDY IN THE TRUEST SENSE. JENNIFER TILLY AND STOCKARD CHANNING ARE HILARIOUS. I RECOMMEND SEEING THIS FILM NO LESS THAN TWO OR THREE TIMES, AS EACH TIME YOU WILL PICK UP ON A NEW PIECE OF THE PUZZEL THAT TIES THESE CHARACTERS. HOW MANY LITTLE "NUGGETS" CAN YOU FIND!! P.S. BETTER TO WATCH ALONE OR WITH A GIRLFRIEND. GUYS CAN HAVE A TOUGH TIME WITH THIS MOVIE!

Watching EDIE AND PEN the other day, it finally dawned on me just who(m) Stockard Channing reminds me of. She's got that tough/sensitive thing going on, sort of like Ida Lupino (with a little dash of Susan Hayward thrown in for good measure). She's a fine actress--as everyone probably knows--but she could have been a bigger star in an earlier era. Could you see her in a remake of THEY DRIVE BY NIGHT or I WANT TO LIVE. Unfortunately, for her and us, they don't make 'em like that any more.

She brings a certain hard-boiled sensitivity to her role as the abandoned wife who (in the sheerest of coincidences) unwittingly befriends the other woman (Jennifer Tilly) when both seek quickie divorces in Vegas. Turns out that her rival was never even aware of her existence and assumed her fiance was unmarried. Of course, none of this comes to light much before the very end of the movie, so the neither dramatic NOR comic effect is actually maximized. But you get the feeling that this is deliberate. These two women are allowed to become genuine friends well before they realize that they share the same (undeserving) man.

Hubby is not only undeserving, of course, but he's also kind of dumb when you come right down to it. He obviously knows that both his wife (Pen) and his mistress (Edie) are in Vegas to seek a divorce at the same time--actually on the same day and in the same courthouse, although perhaps he couldn't have known THAT much. Still, what if something had gone wrong with the finalization of his divorce? How could he jet off to Acapulco the very next day with the fiancee who doesn't even know he was married in the first place. Timing, m'boy, timing.

Well, none of this is anything to fret about particularly. EDIE AND PEN is actually a pretty slight movie, although it does manage to make its bittersweet statement about modern day marital break ups and shake ups. We can be optimistic about Pen's future happiness with the would-be local Lothario Scott Glenn, who despite agonizing over his own recent break up reluctantly falls big for the newly divorced Pen, than we can for Edie's, who does head off for Acapulco with Edie's ex, Victor, but sees him with new and jaundiced eyes. Romantic wins and losses are qualified, not at all clear cut, sort of like in real life. All true enough, if not especially revelatory.

But the cast is pretty solid. Channing and Tilly are all you would expect: Channing knowing and worldly wise (and a tad weary) serving as a counterpoint to Tilly's wide-eyed-but-still-pretty-darn-savvy ditz. Their unlikely friendship works precisely because the two actresses know how to make it work. The supporting cast is pretty impressive too, to the point where you wish they all had bigger parts. Beverly D'Angelo and Jean Smart are good enough that you wonder why THEY aren't getting title roles in indie films like this. Well, there are no small parts, right? They and a host of other well-regarded actors do interesting cameo turns here--and it looks like a good time was had by all.

You just wish they'd had a good time in a somewhat better movie.

Never heard of the movie and saw that Stockard Channing was in it and purchased. The entire cast were terrific and glad I purchased it. Gives you an aspect of divorce and relationships in a realistic view. Cast played REAL PEOPLE. Very enjoyable.

Jennifer Tilly is sexy, innocent, worldly, and adorable all at the same time. Stockard Channing tugs at your heart with feelings we've all experienced. Scott Glenn reveals the little devil that's in every man, but at the same time has a heart of gold. Stuart Wilson is the low-life every mother warns her daughter about. Put them all together and you have a heart warming comedy about infidelity, divorce, and friendship. And Edie and Pen leaves you with a happy ending and hope for the future.

Channing and Tilly...an appealing duet. Who would have thought. I just liked the movie.