That Cold Day in the Park

Robert Altman is one of my favorite directors, and I had succeeded in seeing all but two of the many films he made during his career: "Health" and "That Cold Day in the Park." Neither were available anywhere to see for the longest time, and then a month ago or so the Gene Siskel Film Centre in Chicago had "That Cold Day" on its calendar, so I finally got a chance to review it.

It's a much better movie than I had expected given its obscurity and the dismissive response from critics and audiences upon its release. It's the first of four dream films centering on the psychological distress of primarily female protagonists that Altman would make over the course of his career. Sandy Dennis plays a Canadian spinster who takes in a younger man who's only too happy to let her buy him clothes, food, etc. There is no sexual component to their transaction, but the sexual tension nonetheless builds to a breaking point, at which point Dennis's character goes off the rails in a macabre finale.

Dennis is quite good and tones down her mannered acting habits. The film stylistically bears many of the hallmark Altman traits, like images broken up and refracted in reflective surfaces or the roving camera that will zoom in on a particular detail. I quite enjoyed this film and think that it deserves more mention in discussions about Altman's canon than it customarily receives.

Grade: A-

Sandy Dennis plays a lonely woman who sees a young man sitting on a park bench in the rain and invites him in to dry off. He does not speak and she feeds him and buys him new clothes to wear. Dennis is perfect as the troubled lady with severe mental issues. She lives in a world of intense sexual repression, which is never fully explained. The boy turns out to be involved with the 1960's drug and free love culture. The finale is heart breaking and Robert Altman went on to a successful directorial career. Dennis won a Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf" and she should have one another for this film.

A rich but lonely spinster, Fraces Austen (Sandy Dennis) invites a stranger, young man (Michael Burns) to her home and lets him live with her.

This movie sounds intriguing because the plot and the promotional materials suggest the subject matter of sex even more so involving an older woman, but if viewed through today's standard, this would likely confuse and could potentially garner the worst rating from its audience. And that is because this movie is totally something different. I say this pertaining to how the story was executed. More recent films tend to spoon-feed moviegoers to avoid alienating them from the story of the movie, but at the expense of losing the audience's active participation. I have realized that the movie holds up because it does not follow that trend. It offers so much more beneath the surface for the thoughtful and patient viewer. This is certainly a film that would get better upon repeated viewings. The performance of Sandy Dennis alone is a testament to that. With her almost blank facial expression, her performance adds to the emotional depth of the character. She is perfect for it. The direction of then newcomer Robert Altman (who would later direct classic films such as Nashville and M.A.S.H.) is rightfully subtle. He was able to both reveal and conceal elements for the benefit of the material.

If you are looking for a movie with straight forward storytelling and a clear quick payoff to enjoy and relax to, this might exhaust and bore you to tears. But if you are interested with unconventional narratives that will make you more an active watcher and immerse you in the subject of psychology or simply in how people in the same position think and behave, this will pass as entertaining to you or even more than that. You will surely be rewarded one way or another.

I would have given this more stars but for the contrived ending that sort of ruined the whole thing for me. Up until that point, I was seriously considering this work to be the equal of any work by Ingmar Bergman. Despite the corny ending, I still think that Sandy Dennis was easily the equivalent of Liv Ullman or Isabelle Hupert. It's shame that she died when she did, and I don't think she ever really received the accolades that she was due. Of course there was her work in "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolff", in which she played a supporting role, and lighter fare such as "The Out of Towners", but one viewing of "That Cold Day in the Park" should be enough to convince any discerning viewer that Sandy Dennis was a great talent that was taken away far too soon.

One of the gifted Robert Altman's earliest and most underrated films, and a real showcase for the exceptionally talented Sandy Dennis who is at her best as the deluded heroine. Granted, Dennis has been known to overact a time or two, but definitely not here. She delivers a quietly intense, effective performance that sticks with you. If you're a Dennis devotee like me, THAT COLD DAY IN THE PARK is a terrific little gem you simply can't afford to miss. Michael Burns, as the odd young man that Dennis takes under her wing, also does well in his role, but the film belongs to Sandy who should have won a second Oscar for this film(she won the Academy Award three years earlier for her scene-stealing supporting role in WHO'S AFRAID OF VIRGINIA WOOLF?). Altman should have also won an Oscar for his superb direction. This dark, disturbing drama makes a great companion piece to William Wyler's THE COLLECTOR. After watching both films innumerable times, I still find it difficult to say which is the better flick. If I absolutely had to choose between this dynamic duo, I'd choose THAT COLD DAY IN THE PARK.