Unhook the Stars

1996 "When prim & proper meets wild & crazy get ready to..."
6.5| 1h43m| R| en
Details

Widowed mother Mildred must suddenly redefine herself and find an outlet for her nurturing side when her adult daughter moves out of the family home. Though Mildred thinks she's found her purpose when her neighbor, overworked single mother Monica, asks her to look after her little boy, she has great difficulty learning to strike a healthy balance between giving selflessly to others and remembering to take care of herself.

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Reviews

Linkshoch Wonderful Movie
Nessieldwi Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.
Murphy Howard I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.
Deanna There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.
MarieGabrielle the title of this film goes along with the song ..."nothing left to do here, but unhook the stars".... After the death of her husband, Gena Rowlands finds herself in a big house, with no family, and nothing to take care of.She begins to care for the young son of Marisa Tomei, who is involved with an abusive soon to be ex-husband. The actor playing her son does very well, he develops a relationship with Rolands, she becomes a surrogate grandmother.Such a nice story, because it is realistic, and not overdone. Rolands has another son who lives in San Francisco, and wants her to move into his penthouse; when she realizes her daughter-in-law just wants a live-in babysitter, she says ..."No-I'm done"...; While she loves her children she now realizes it is her turn; her time to do something SHE actually wants.At the end we see her packing up the house; her younger daughter is upset; there will be no more family home. But Rowlands realizes she is doing the right thing; her relationship with the young boy has faded; she now needs to do something for herself.There are also a few amusing scenes with Gerard Depardieu, as a truck driver who she meets at a bar with Tomei and her friends. Overall a bittersweet movie which is a nice change, showing a mature woman re-discovering her life, and not taking care of everyone else, at the expense of her own identity. 9/10.
george.schmidt UNHOOK THE STARS (1996) ***1/2 Gena Rowlands, Marisa Tomei, Gerard Depardeau, Jake Lloyd, Moira Kelly, David Sherrill, Bridgitte Wilson, David Thornton, Clint Howard. Excellent acting by Rowlands and Tomei as a widower and a troubled neighbor, respectively, who become friends after the latter asks the former to babysit her quiet, yet bright boy (Lloyd in a remarkable debut that eschews cuteness for real depth, no easy task for a five year old; Lloyd later was cast as the young Darth Vader in the Star Wars prequel!). Emotionally satisfying thanks to an even-handed directorial debut by Rowlands' son Nick Cassavettes(the late auteur John's prodigy), who co-wrote the well-written scrip with Helen Cladwell. Guaranteed to have you laughing and crying; dare you not to get a lump in your throat by the film's poignant ending between Lloyd and Rowlands. Nice job by all around! ** Personal note: I relate this film to my own upbringing between my mother and grandmother.
unamachita I saw this movie about a year before Star Wars: The Phantom Menance came out. It's an enjoyable movie, non-formulaic and with some good acting. I particularly enjoyed Jake Lloyd's performance, which is why I looked forward to seeing him as Anakin Skywalker. Boy, all I can say is that direction must make a huge difference. He was much stiffer and forced in SW:TPM than in this movie, in which he was natural and sweet. Worth a rental just to see how talented this kid actually is.
flicker-16 Targeted to the intelligent, non-adolescent. Character driven story, extraordinarily well written. How did this ever get the green light from a major studio? Marisa Tomei displays her trademark ability to portray hard edged, gritty women.