Customer Reviews

An Unremarkable Life

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

 

 

I rented this movie after I saw a clip on a talk show with Shelley Winters as a guest, and I was not disappointed. "An Unremarkable Life" describes the life of Patricia Neal's character, an old maid who doesn't appear to have done very much, according to her sister, Shelley Winters. Shelley, on the other hand, was a married woman with a home and family. But Shelley's image of herself is shattered when she loses her home and her adult children have no place for her; she is forced to move in with the sister she has always lorded it over. To make matters worse, Patricia has a late-blooming romance with a Japanese gentleman who encourages her to do the one thing she has always wanted to do: take flying lessons. So as one sister's life appears to be on the wane after having had so much, the other picks up with a vengeance.

Shelley Winters plays the bitter old widow excellently. She reminds me so much of a malcontent woman I used to know as a teenager--the characterization rings true. Here was another missed Oscar nomination. View it and you'll know I'm right.

This a little gem of a movie. I bought it because of the two
stars in it, I did not know anything about the movie. I found it to be
very enjoyable. Patricia Neal does a superb job and Shelley Winters is
hard to beat in roles where she can be disagreeable.
These were two of Hollywoods great actresses!!!!!!!

Made in 1989 the struggle against racial prejudice stemming from WWII was a subject of discussion then. but it is not now an issue any more. We have made some progress........I remember Patricia Neal from "In Harms Way"and she is and was a wonderful actress. So is Shelley Winters. The film does not solve the problem of care for the aged which is an open wound in America.On the positive side the English spoken is clean and beautiful and I do not feel I wasted my time watching this movie. The story of two elderly sisters living more or less peacefully together,until one falls in love with an oriental mechanic, is beautifully told, and the characters are warm and believable.I liked it.

Frances (Patricia Neal) and Evelyn (Shelley Winters) are sisters who have lived together for years. Frances meets a man (Mako), falls in love, and Evelyn properly senses a threat to the cloistered life she has chosen for the two of them. On the surface this is a relatively banal plot but there is much to raise this movie from banality.

First and foremost are the performances of the two iconic actresses. In the twilight of their careers they both demonstrate the skill that have brought them both academy awards and universal respect. Evelyn, like Shelley, is able to make you see enough inside of her to understand and care for her seemingly selfish and domineering manner. Francis, like Patricia, lures you into herself enough to see her strength and how she has the guts to break out of the many traps that life has set to destroy her happiness.
Beyond the performances the story touches on serious themes like racial and economic prejudice, the loneliness that often faces women as they age, the way people use guilt to manipulate other people. It does this without being preachy.

The story is developed sometimes painfully slowly and photographed too darkly but in the end,
watching two wonderful actresses playing against each other is well worth the effort.

patricia neal and shelley winters are terrific in this lovely story....shows what talented actresses they are...............mako is a wonderful actor.......