Scanialara You won't be disappointed!

Platicsco Good story, Not enough for a whole film

CommentsXp Best movie ever!

FirstWitch A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

powermandan She's So Lovely is one of the many great flicks to come out in 1997. The movie received lukewarm reviews with the acting being praised and the plot being criticized as wasted potential. The iconic John Cassavetes was about halfway done the script before he died, leaving his son Nick to finish and direct. Nick's take-over could have been better and the ending could have been so much better by anybody else.The first half of the movie is about Eddie and Maureen Quinn (Penn, Wright) who live in the ghetto part of town. Maureen is pregnant but still smokes and drinks. Both her and Eddie are stupid trashy people, which is kinda funny to see. Despite living in the slums, they both try their hardest to make and satisfy their love lives. When Eddie goes missing for 3 days and Maureen is raped by their neighbour (Gandolfini) Eddie suspects Maureen is lying about falling and he goes on an insane rampage to destroy him. The backstory that's given on their lives is good and just enough time for the movie to really take off. After nearly killing people on his way, he is taken to a mental institution where he remains for the next ten years. In that time Maureen divorced Eddie, married Joey Germoni (Travolta), had two more daughters and moved to a big house in a nice neighbourhood. When Eddie gets released, Maureen must choose between Eddie who loves her to the extreme and is overcoming mental problems and Joey who also loves her and their daughters and nice home. Sean Penn gives his most underrated performance and was cheated out of a potential win. He did better in this than most of the Oscar nods that year. But given his screen time and position in the film, it is kind of hard to see if he is really the main character. Robin Wright is arguably the protagonist. Either way, Penn's performance is nothing short of spectacular. Anybody with a vast knowledge of acting can vouch for this. Penn's transition from psychotic lowlife to a reformed hermit is great in the eyes of all, but it is the way he does it that goes unrecognized. A lot of the great acting performances feature people with tons of energy just belting out screams and cries. Yeah this is great to see--don't get me wrong--but it is even harder to try to hold it in. Crying and screaming often feels good, but trying to contain it is much harder and is often painful which makes it even that much harder. Sean Penn does exactly this in several scenes. I was blown away at his restraint. Robin Wright also gives restraint, but less often as Penn. Travolta may not have restraint, but he is the energy factor that carried the rest of the movie when Penn gets better.She's So Lovely doesn't quite seem to find its place in what kind of movie it wants to be. It seems like it tries to be a drama, romance, romantic-comedy, and dark comedy all at once. If John Cassavetes finished the script then gone back over and edited it himself, he would have been able to figure out where he went wrong and what could have been strengthened. The story is great and original, just what genre is it? The movie is about two totally opposite men trying viewing for the same woman; with a story like that and acting this good, it can affect anybody that sees it. Aside from the style of the movie being unclear, the ending is a complete fail that can ruin people's experience. I bet that most people that did not like this movie was overwhelmed by how bad the ending is. A great story with a fuzzy style poorly executed. We all know that Maureen will end up with Eddie again once he gets released, but after seeing her family we change our minds. When Maureen winds up with Eddie at the end, Cassavetes tries to say that love is eternal and true love can conquer all (or something like that). There are two reasons why this doesn't work. First, we don't get a good look at Maureen contemplating who she she wants. More of this would have strengthened the story. But she is so stupid for leaving her three daughters for an unstable man she hasn't seen in ten years! That just shows that she loves her first spouse more than her own children. I've seen this movie a few times and the ending always angers me. All parents that I know would die for their children. If she didn't have kids, this would not be that big a deal. She should have either stayed with Joey and her daughters and talked it over with Eddie, or have a scene after she leaves with the kids at her's and Eddie's apartment. I do recommend this. Just be prepared for the second half to plummet.

eran_aviad I didn't know what to expect of this movie, being a John Cassavetes fan. it was very surprising to find that this is in fact a tribute to Cassavetes Sr. Sean Penn is brilliant and actually seemed to be acting it the way John would have. same goes for Robin Wright, who seems to be acting Gena Rowlands style.all in all i think this is a must see for John Cassvetes fans who crave too see what he would have done next, if he had the chance. this film has a lot of heart, and Cassavetes Sr. fingerprints all over it.thanks to Nick for this loving tribute to his father. a very underrated film.

Aregie From reading these reviews, one can clearly see this is a film that polarizes viewers. Frankly, at first, I almost dismissed it because of the violence and hopelessness. But the acting in this tragicomedy is so utterly compelling, the pathos so real that I couldn't stop watching, and the spot-on dialogue kept me caught up in the story. The humour was not just icing on the cake, but it infused some credible lightness into this heavy tale. John Travolta's line to his nine-year old daughter, "..shut up and drink your beer!" would not have worked in a lesser film, but it was perfectly absurd and hilarious. In the ending, there is neither redemption nor catastrophe, and it feels authentic, because tomorrow is still another day...

triple8 SPOILERS THROUGH:I didn't love it or hate it. I was intrigued definitely and look at the acting! For film buffs who dig the performance driven piece, this is a dream come true. The Penns star as the married couple, Eddie & Maureen and both give performances that are stunning.There's a dark intensity about the movie that can hook one in but there's no denying this is not a pleasant film to watch and for those who like a bit of sweet escapism to their films, they should run like the wind if they put this on, because that isn't what their going to get.For those however, who like their films dark, character driven, edgy, capped off with a bit of despair look no further, it's all here. I happen to like a bit of both of the above mentioned types of movies. In terms of this film, I neither liked it or didn't like it. I appreciated it and was awed by the performances. And the relationship between Eddie & Mo, yeah, it is definitely more realistic then the characters of "Pretty Woman" to put it mildly!. In fact the EESENSE of the relationship is captured so deeply that it is genuinely surprising as a film. I have not seen that many relationships, both the love and the toxic aspect captured that compellingly.The choice that Mo makes at the end didn't surprise me that much because by then one could see the ties that bind this couple were stronger for Mo, then anything else. There was NOT just love between this couple but need and an almost desperate addiction. At the end, the connection these two had, is captured in that one look between them in the last scene which was done flawlessly and didn't need any dialog. This movie reminded me of "Sid & Nancy". It's a painful movie to watch at times but well done, very much so, on the character study and the cinematography and atmosphere were also perfect.But in spite of the positives I wouldn't give it higher then a 7. In fact I almost gave it a 6. This is due mainly to the second part of the film. John Travolta was very good but the way his character suddenly changes from a sensitive hardworking guy to a screechy scowling gun toting bully was baffling. There's also the change of attitude toward the little girl. The whole gun storyline did not strike me as even necessary and I guess I felt, honestly, that the themes explored here-insanity, rape, codependency,child neglect-were way to serious to make into a black comedy which starts happening in the second half of the movie. I haven't seen that many movies this serious go into black comedy territory that unexpectedly and I will admit I didn't like that. There was a lot I didn't like toward the end of the film.Everyone has their own rating system when it comes to movies. For me a 6 is about average or slightly above and is also reserved for those "guilty pleasure" type movies. A 7 is anywhere from OK to good and an 8 and above are those movies that are really very good to excellent. I'd give this a 7, not because I loved it but for the reasons mentioned above and will freely admit this movie stayed with me after longer then I would have thought it would. 7 of 10.