Changing Habits

I guess this film never found a distributor, since I never heard of it until it hit cable. A lot of familiar names in the cast, who all did creditable performances. Moira Kelly did well with her role, which contained considerable character development. Christopher Lloyd played his role refreshingly low-key. A better film than I expected.

Combine booze, nuns, love in a film. You get camp.

This movie is all... yet not.

It is quite lovely.

Sush (Moira Kelly) works in a theatrical costume shop by day and is an aspiring painter by night. She gets her talent naturally, being the daughter of a somewhat famous artist named Theo (Christopher Lloyd). As a skinflint personified, Sush sets her mind on finding a small apartment in a large convent run by a worldly nun (Eileen Brennan). Telling the sister that she was abandoned by her boyfriend and suffered a painful miscarriage, too, Sush gets her apartment all right. Considering that the rent is $25 a week, Sush would be hard pressed to find anything as cheap in the city of Los Angeles. Of course, she must do some chores for the convent and look over an elderly resident during the night hours. One night, she finds a basement area that is never visited by the convent's inhabitants. She decides to paint a large mural on one of the walls. Paint costs money, however, and Sush is a world class shoplifter. Nevertheless, the art supply store manager, Felix (Dylan Walsh) catches her in the act. Since he is young and handsome and Sush is a pretty lady, he declares that he will let her have the tubes of paint if she has dinner with him. She agrees, reluctantly. In truth, Sush has a lot of issues, from a painful estrangement with her father to a general mistrust of the male population. Will Sush be willing to engage in a romance and a possible reconciliation with her dad? This is an interesting little movie, far off the beaten path. The principal actors, including Kelly, Walsh, Lloyd, Brennan, Teri Garr, and Shelley Duvall are a total delight and add greatly to the film's enjoyment. The Los Angeles setting is diverse and beautiful, from the lovely old convent to the seedy costume shop to the waterfront, where Felix lives in a tugboat. Then, too, the costumes have been nicely selected and the look of the production is fine. The script has imagination and zest but also sports a bit of raw language. In summary, you could change your movie viewing habits considerably if you track down this movie for an evening's pleasure. Far from being formulaic, this film has enough surprises, ingenuity, and romance to turn the tables on more mundane entertainment choices.

The movie is about a girl named Susan who is trying to live her life independently from her father. She has a lot of animosity for her father because she blames him for the abject memories of her childhood. Moira Kelly plays Susan who steals and lies to get what she desires. She deceived her way into a convent after she was evicted from her apartment. She shop lifts paint supplies from a local art store. She justifies her actions by the moral standard she learned from her parents. Then she meets a guy named Felix who looks past these moral flaws and helps her face the past. She learns a lot from Felix and over time she decides to face her past and learns that her father isn't the person who is to blame for her wretched childhood.

Susan carries a lot of emotional baggage from her past like resentment, anger and hatred. I got a chance to witness another side to Moira's acting abilities that I haven't seen in a previous film. Moira displays these emotions very vividly and her mannerisms add another dimension to her character. I also liked Christopher Lloyd who has starred in the Back To The Future trilogy. His character is in turmoil over Susan's past and how he desperately wants to be a part of her present life.

I neither liked nor disliked this movie. I am indifferent. This movie can be somber or uplifting and humorous. It just depends on how you interpret the subject matter. Moira and Christopher are very good and I only wish other actors and actresses could take lessons from them. The memories that Susan and her father share is the reason why I think this movie is very sad.