Breathing Lessons

This movie is hilariously funny. I was on the ground laughing through most of the movie. But it's not a pointless kind of hilarious. I'm a big fan of both Joanne Woodward and James Garner so this movie was heaven for me. I enjoyed every minute of it. Woodward and Garner were great together! Almost every word out of Woodward's mouth had me in hysterics, and every look and reaction of Garner's was equally as funny. And the scene when Woodward sings "Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing" at Serena's husband's funeral is a CLASSIC! And, ofcourse, the scene on the road where Woodward pops her head out of the window and tells some old guy his tire's falling off...now that is funny. She feels so bad after seeing who was in the car that she makes Garner turn back.

This movie is everything you could want in a movie- a ton of comedy, a tad bit of drama to give the movie some meaning, and even a little bit of suspense. Not to mention high class performances by Garner & Woodward. See this movie!!!!

What a disgrace! I was checking this out hoping it would be an undiscovered James Garner gem and what a stinker it turned out to be! The production quality was fine, but the plot was undeniably lame and I can honestly say that I am only a couple hours older and a lot dumber now. The movie really had no redeeming qualities and if this kind of stuff keeps coming out, it will give Hallmark a bad name. For those of you who insist on knowing what it was about, it's about nothing, and in this case, it's not a good thing. We are subjected to watching one old ornery woman who is one of the dumbest creatures ever to roam the earth, who happens to be married to a real sweetheart who is probably the only person alive that could put up with her. She drags him through one mess after another, gets him into one embarrassing situation after another, and is proud of herself the whole time. Then the movie ends. What a relief that was! Not worth the time it would take to watch it, so do yourself a favor and skip this one, you'll be glad you did if you knew how bad this one really is.

Though pretty faithful to Anne Tyler's Pultzer Prize winning

novel, and despite the excellent Joanne Woodward & James Garner

in the leads, this TVM adaptation is disappointingly bland. What

was hilarious in the book is only mildly funny, and what was

abrasive and infuriating is all too cosy.

I enjoyed this Hallmark TV presentation when it first aired back in 1994 and I have enjoyed it just as much upon repeat viewing on video. The work of veteran performers Woodward and Garner is always a joy to watch , and the pacing and story are enjoyable to watch! I think this is a great piece of work from all involved.

So it was TV movie - I only saw it fairly recently but feel I must write something about it. Some of the comments on here indicate that the viewer has never read anything by Ann Tyler (my favourite writer). She writes about ordinary people who have their strengths and weaknesses, their hopes and dreams. And that's what this couple were like. One viewer found the Joanne Woodward character irritating - and so one might if you view her out of context. The wonderful thing about Ann Tyler is how she gets into the heads of ordinary men and I presume women. The Joanne Woodward character brings an optimism and 'romance' to the relationship with the Garner figure. I enjoyed the movie - just like I enjoy Tyler's novels - I'm always disappointed when I get to the last page, just want to know more. If you've not read her stories give her a try. The movie is a reasonable introduction.