Gélidas escenas invernales

I first saw this film in Berkeley around 1982 or '83, wasn't aware until now that it had been made 3 years earlier. At the time, I had already read and was a fan of Beattie's Chilly Scenes of Winter, upon which this is based, and was confused as to why Silver had retitled it "Head Over Heels", but it's not uncommon, and I thoroughly enjoyed the film, especially as it was true to the book. I then heard that Silver had been unsatisfied with the ending, re-cut it for video, and changed the name back to "Chilly Scenes of Winter". I rented the video to see the changes, and discovered that she had cut the last ten minutes or so of the film, which totally changed it from the way the book ends, and, incidentally, lessens the quality of the film. Thus, it went from a 9 to an 8 for me. As for the previous poster, Mary Beth Hurt was in fact in a relationship with William Hurt, to whom John Heard bears a resemblance; MB and William were married for 10 years.

I am a little unclear about what moves the female protagonist to act as she does, but since a woman wrote the novel and another woman wrote the screen play and directed the film, who am I to quarrel with that? The male protagonist is older than I was when I suffered the way he does. I sympathize with his pain, and the movie makers are right about the common response to it - trivial violence, rather than the tragedy of commonplace film.

I think it is a very good film. My only reservation is that an excessive amount of it occurs in the man's car, but I guess that's life in Salt Lake City.

This whimsical if inconsequential romantic comedy owes a lot of its idiosyncrasies to 'Annie Hall', but while not in the same league as Woody Allen it has an offbeat charm all its own. The original, numbskull title 'Head Over Heels' aptly describes love struck civil servant John Heard's fixation with married girlfriend Mary Beth Hurt. Neither character is particularly complicated, but an eccentric secondary cast and some unpredictable plot lines keep the film buoyant and enjoyable even at its most superficial, although it helps to share some of the couple's featherweight romantic angst. The script was adapted from a novel by Ann Beattie.

more aptly describes this gem of a movie. Not on cable as much as lesser films, unfortunately.

John Heard is excellent as the unrequited lover, pursuing Laura, a woman in a mediocre marriage, on-again off-again.

What is nice about this film is it sort of imitates life: things happen for no reason, odd characters (Gloria Grahame as mom is very good) People with their own quirks and problems. This was filmed in Salt Lake City Utah, and gives us a nice backdrop of emotion, estranged relationships, hopes for the future.

Peter Riegert (amusing as the unemployed jacket salesman with a physics background). John Heard is quirky and sympathetic at his office job, where he pours a cup of vodka for himself, trying to figure out how to win Laura back. Mary Beth Hurt is also believable, as a confused woman on the fence about her marriage to an A-frame salesman named "Ox".

Joan Micklin Silver is to be commended for her direction in this film. Oddly, I also reviewed an LMN movie she directed, "Hunger Point" with Barbara Hershey. I enjoyed that film. The director seemed to add touches of humanity into that film as well. "Chilly Scenes of Winter" is not to be missed, a nice human film which anyone who has wondered why they can't just have a "normal life", will relate to and enjoy. 9/10.

I am a huge movie fan, and usually am a huge fan of John Heard, but this movie was one of the most depressing I've ever seen. Heard plays a semi-psychotic stalker type character that is extremely unnerving. They need to lock this up and throw away the key. I still think John Heard did a wonderful job of capturing the insanity and depression of the main character though.