Zärtliche Liebe

This movie was filmed in Cincinnati and northern Kentucky, where I was living at the time. I hung around some of the days of shooting, as the house where Molly Ringwald "lives" stands right outside my town.

Andrew McCarthy was a darling who signed autographs, talked to whomever was around as if they were lifelong friends and even joined us for lunch. He won some lifelong fans during those days. However, Molly Ringwald was too grand for the likes of us

Kentuckians; she snubbed everyone and hid in her trailer. She kept stopping production during the cold weather because she was absolutely adamant about not being filmed with a red nose.

I have to admit, when the film was shown, we laughed until we cried when we noticed that her nose was Rudolph red -- a lot.

That is my fondest memory of this waste of good talent (McCarthy's). They should have saved the money and spent it on nose makeup for Ms. Ringwald. Or maybe charm

school.

I'm not sure why I've watched this movie 4 or 5 times. The plot isn't particularly believable or intriguing. What has always hooked me is the eerie winter landscape seen throughout, the barren woods of Ohio and Kentucky. It's definitely atmospheric, and at times even haunting. The final scene at the ice skating rink is kind of sad, too.

This movie is really only for those who were/are serious fans of either Molly Ringwald or Andrew McCarthy. The storyline is implausible and the characters are woefully underdeveloped. McCarthy stars as a young man named Matt who is engaged to marry his socialite girlfriend, but scraps those plans when he meets Jewel(Ringwald). The film follows Matt as he tries to figure out who exactly Jewel is and what secrets she might be hiding. For her part, Ringwald does a decent job. Her southern accent isn't overdone or ridiculous, though it is a bit odd. To her credit, she believably portrays a character that is totally unlike any of those in her previous movies. McCarthy, on the other hand, seems like a reincarnation of every part I've ever had the displeasure of seeing him in. He wanders through the film aimlessly and seems totally disinterested the whole way through. Overall, not a bad effort on Ringwald's part, but I would only recommend watching this movie if you happen to catch it on cable.

Molly Ringwald, softer and more contemplative than in her John Hughes/high school comedies, plays a shady girl from the wrong side of the tracks who meets and has an affair with preppy Cincinnati college kid Andrew McCarthy; the fact his rich friends disapprove and she has such a questionable background may prevent things from going further. Not a terrible movie, but filled with self-defeating clichés and occasionally overwrought dialogue. Ringwald struggles a bit with her redneck accent, and McCarthy does nothing to elevate his pinched, emotionally-parched persona, but the look of the film is quite vivid and the atmosphere is well-captured. Perhaps it was a good idea to re-team the teen lovers from "Pretty in Pink" in a more grown-up setting, but the filmmakers didn't go far enough with the idea, and the coy finale seems a little undernourished. ** from ****

Andrew McCarthy plays a college student that falls in love with a less educated and less cultured young girl(Molly Ringwald). Two immediate problems are: McCarthy needs to break off an engagement to his well to do girlfriend; only to find out that Ringwald is younger than he thinks and needs an annulment from an abusive husband.

Dark, moody and almost full blown depressing. If you liked PRETTY IN PINK, this is the more grown up version. I always seem to find McCarthy a sympathetic character, but I really like his cool attitude he brings to the part. Miss Ringwald is simply great in this role.

Rounding out the cast are: Ben Stiller, Patti D'Arbanville, Viggo Mortensen and Molly Hagan. Stay with this one, don't jump off in midstream. This is very under rated and deserves your attention.