Customer Reviews

Love at Large [VHS]

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

 

 

Those unfamiliar with director Alan Rudolph should not hesitate to buy this video. It's a carefully crafted mystery with a wry sense of humor, visually exciting, and well-scripted. Tom Berenger is at his best, well complemented by Elizabeth Perkins, Ann Archer (at her steamy best), and yes, a cameo by Neill Young (yes, that Neill Young) that is bound to please. This is a small film but one that aspires to greatness through its noir plot, crisp dialog, and excellent acting by all. The larger theme of identity seems, in a way, Hitchcockian, but the movie is not at all derivative. When it came out in the 1980s it received good reviews but went quickly to video, though it deserved wider recognition. Note: although not billed as a "family" flick, the absence of gratuitous violence et al is a welcomed relief. So when is the DVD coming out? It's about time. Until then, buy and enjoy the VHS tape.

If you're a fan of film noir, you should like this 1990 takeoff of those 1940s films with Anne Archer as an exaggerated femme-fatale in distress and private detective Tom Berenger paid to spy on her husband.

It turns out to be a comedy, however, as Berenger tails the wrong guy but finds things interesting as they are. Then Berenger's girlfriend gets nervous and hires a female detective (Elizabeth Perkins) to spy on him, so everyone is watching everyone!

Although there isn't a lot of action, the film never drags and is a good combination of suspense, humor and drama/action. Also nice is the soundtrack, a "Midnight Run" sound with good blues guitar and trumpet plus a Leonard Cohen song to start the film. Good colors add to everything.

On the negative side, I didn't care for the ending regarding Archer, nor understand why she did what she did. Also, everyone in the film is a bit too sleazy. The other fault likes not in the movie but in the DVD which had a very weak transfer. Overall, fun for a couple of looks.

If this movie were remade today with Brad Pitt, Matthew McConaughey, or equal star power (take your pick) in the male lead and Sandra Bullock, Jennifer Aniston, or equal star power (take your pick) in the female lead, it would be a smash hit. Tom Berenger, for all his talents, and despite how good he was in this film, is not heartthrob material, and Elizabeth Perkins, who I like a lot, lacks the sex appeal her role called for, and there was no real chemistry with Berenger. On the other hand, Anne Archer was perfect, as was Kate Capshaw and Annette O'Toole. My only other complaint is the pace of the movie was a little too slow, but things picked up nicely at the end. Still, I enjoyed the movie and felt it was worth the viewing.

I received the product in a timely manner and in the conditon for which it was advertised. I would purchase from Amazon again.

This movie reminds one very much of a 40's film:
the gravel voiced detective who gets his case all sideways,
but finds his own kind of true anyway.
The cast and script are both very good.
I really enjoyed this movie and except for being a little slow at times,
the movie delivers the goods.

Notwithstanding the occasional chuckles that pop up now and again in Love at Large, this is not a great movie. In fact, the filmmaker (writer-director) Alan Rudolph must have sat down and thought, "Gee, how can I make a movie that people will just love to chomp popcorn to?"

So that's what he did. This is not really a bad movie. It just ain't very good. Take a solid cast--Ann Magnuson, Anne Archer, Tom Berenger, Ted Levine, Kate Capshaw, Elizabeth Perkins, and rock god Neil Young--and stick them in a story that is meant to evoke classic film noir but doesn't raise the stakes very high at all for anyone in any situation, and you have the reason for the three stars here.

The acting is fine, no problem. Everyone acquits herself/himself very well indeed. But the story is just kind of there. If you're gonna have film noir, ya gotta have some intensity and it just ain't here, folks. If you DON'T have intensity, you gotta have some real laughs, and there's not enough of em to replace the intensity. So what you DO have is a really watered down film noir that just kind of ambles along good naturedly until the end when it says, Be seein' ya, and then it's over and you can go back to your knitting or whatever.

Too bad. If the story had been punchier OR the laughs had been more frequent and zingier, this coulda been a contender. For a much better film noir from Alan Rudolph, check out Mortal Thoughts with Demi Moore and Bruce Willis. This features some of the best performances from both of them, and is a powerful piece of cinema, written by the great William Reilly.

Love at Large is a kind of half-hearted homage (three H's in a row, how bout that?) to film noir that never really gets off the ground. Good acting, weak script.

So apparently everyone else sees something in this movie that I didn't because I thought it was awful. Waste of Money and Time.