Customer Reviews

Once Around [VHS]

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This is a true gem of a story about love and family. Richard Dreyfuss, Holly Hunter and Danny Aiello should have all been nominated for oscar's for their incredible performances in this quiet masterpeice. If you don't shed a tear and feel better about your life after watching this film. You are missing emotion. What surprises me is why this has never gotten released on DVD yet! Buy It! Rent It! Watch it! and "Fly To The Moon"!

What a great film. Holly Hunter and Richard Dreyfus shined in this movie. I have seen this film at least 10 times and every time I cry. What a beautiful love story.

A cast of Richard Dreyfus, Holly Hunter, Gena Rowlands & Danny Aiello would be hard to beat. Their characters are all richly expressed. Richard Dreyfus plays a wonderful role in this film and he does it with a fascinating lustiness. It is my favorite of his many excellent portrayals and one of my favorite movie characters. This film is perfect for a story of family, for romance and both can't-take-my-eyes-or-hands-off-of-you new love and matured love and for a plot that you can't forsee which carries you headlong through joy and sadness and a wealth of other emotions. There are some unique and memorable visual images.I've seen this movie a dozen times and appreciate it more each time. Like a great book, you are sorry when it ends and you have to part company.

Once Around is one of those 'different' love stories. It's about the younger woman falling in love with a man, somewhat older than she. But the difference in their years has nothing to do with the amount of true love that he has for her.
His love for her is absolute. His love for her is honest. And his love for her is undying.

Unfortunately, the difference in their years, and their cultural differences (he is from Lithuania) causes a large conflict with her family. This is what tries harder than anything to come between them. However, their love for each other will never allow it to become an issue. They are married, they have a child, and their love grows beyond all bounds.

The point of the love story is simple, it grows, evolves, blossoms, and possesses their lives, to the point that when her family still finds conflict with him, she simply tells them to make a choice.

They do, and all of their lives are forever changed, and the end of the movie gives a whole new meaning to the words in the title, "Once Around." Enjoy this movie for what it is. Enjoy the love, the strife, the difficulties, but most of all, enjoy it for what it brings out in all of us. And don't be afraid to shed a tear. For, it will truly be a tear from the heart.

And remember, life is only 'once around' Give it your best.

there are some movies you can watch over and over again, and get something out of it every time. the cast, to me, is what makes the movie. the best actors. it works so well. love it.

Richard Dreyfuss shows a dimension not previously demonstrated. His persona as a self-absorbed success who is unaware that he hurts others, reminds me of so many people I know in real life. Ditto Holly Hunter as a Plain Jane searching for love. Danny Aiello and Gena Rowlands, once again, show us that thier talents are used to perfection. Halle Hallstrom seems incapable of making a bad movie. That this picture failed to find its audience in first run, can now be corrected thru home video. I am looking for a DVD release, but in the meantime, my VHS tape holds up after repeated viewings. As with Moonstruck, you don't have to be Italian to love this film!

This is one of the best movies I've ever seen.

I loved everything about it: the acting, directing, and screenplay are top-notch. Richard Dreyfus knocked me out with his brilliant, ought-to-get-an-Academy-Award performance as the Lithuanian suitor. He is so intensely outgoing, he wants so much to embrace and touch people that it hurts to watch him. He is vibrant, enthusiastic, life-loving and warm, but one of the pivotal themes of the movie is that he is socially very clumsy. Typically, in a social situation Dreyfuss gives it his all with zeal and falls flat on his face.

There are equally brilliant performances by Danny Aiello as the bride-to-be's father and Holly Hunter as the bride to be.

The story is about an Italian-American woman from an upper-middle-class family in Winchester, Massachusetts. I mention the location because one of the charms of the movie is its attachment to place. Not only does Holly Hunter carry off the Boston accent perfectly (often attempted, seldom achieved), but the subtle social nuances are embroidered in the story. If you are not from this area, unfortunately, they will be lost on you. If you are, it will be a rich experience. Holly meets Richard Dreyfuss on a trip to Aruba. Dreyfuss falls madly in love with her, and she starts to fall in love with him. They see each other back in the States and decide to marry. A source of tension and drama is that Holly Hunter and Richard Dreyfuss are "odd ducks." The other members of the family have always handled their rara avis daughter with love and understanding (with the possible exception of her younger sister). But the pair of them start to rub these traditionalists the wrong way, and to an escalating degree.

One of the most affecting moments is when Holly Hunter's family gives a memorial service for Danny Aiello's mother. It is a large gathering of the family. Close friends and relatives get up on stage and make heartfelt speeches.

When Danny Aiello steps on stage to sing "Mama," the room goes quiet. When he finishes, everyone is overcome.

At that moment, Richard Dreyfuss insists on taking the stage to make his own speech. Danny Aiello's wife gasps, because she knows that somehow this would absolutely be just the wrong thing, perhaps the straw that breaks the camel's back after a series of so many resoundingly off-key gestures so many times by Dreyfuss.

But I found myself rooting for him and his bride when I thought the director and screenwriter didn't want me to. I thought they meant Mr. and Mrs. Danny Aiello and family to be the heroes and Holly Hunter and Richard Dreyfuss to be--not the villains, but the losers, the misfits, the inappropriate ones.

I won't tell you how the movie turns out, but it had me emoting and emoting and emoting and sometimes thinking and it had me to-ing and fro-ing, sometimes confused, and at one time sobbing deep, aching, profound sobs.

I must mention that in Dreyfuss's brilliant characterization of a Lithuanian man, he created a Lithuanian man. I don't know if it was his idea or the director's, but two devices that were used so brilliantly were music and religion, when Dreyfuss marries Holly Hunter and when their first child is born.

The marriage ceremony takes place in a real Lithuanian church with a real Lithuanian priest singing the real Lithuanian mass, which is chanted in a deep basso voice, something like the Orthodox Russian mass. The scene in the hospital room with Holly and the baby is totally awesome. There is beatific Holly, holding her newborn child, and in comes Richard Dreyfuss bringing a small chorus of Lithuanian women folk singers in beautiful folk costumes replete with flowers and embroidery. They sing several of the most beautiful a capella folk tunes. It is a magic moment.

If you like character driven movies, I can't recommend this movie highly enough.

this movie made me laugh and cry. It's about sacrifice, love of family and friends. The performances of Holly Hunter and Richard Dreyfuss were exceptional.

I saw this film when it first came out back in the mid-nineties on the recommendation of the late film critic Gene Siskel who hailed it as one of the best films of the year. After that first viewing it became one of my favorite films of all time. If you enjoyed director Lasse Hallstoms "Chocolat" or "The Cider House Rules", you'll enjoy this one even more. It's his best movie though sadly it was over-looked at the time of it's original release. Danny Aielo is un-believably good in this movie (whatever happened to him anyway??), and the rest of the cast is spot-on. My only criticism is that there are no extras at all. A commentary track from Lasse and even Richard Dryfeuss whould have been wonderful as well as a look back documentary. Perhaps that is coming on a new version in the future. I'm just happy to have it on DVD after a long wait. Fly Me To the Moon, indeed!!!!

Once Around is a must see about the different kinds of love and relationships that we experience in life. It is a must see for parents; it sheds light on the dynamics of their children and the mates they choose. As we all know, parents do not always understand or approve of who their children fall in love with. This film shows us that although we may not like our childrens' significant others, their partners often have the ability to bring them a joy that they have never known. After all, this is what is important, isn't it? This film also reminds us that relationships are often complicated among families, and that sometimes we must sacrifice and compromise for those whom we love. Finally, it also reminds us that life is short, and we often do not appreciate others until it is too late. This movie is a definite must see for learning and entertainment!