Head Over Heels

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.

The pivot on which this story turns is Laura's character; unfortunately, that character is drawn less thoroughly than one might wish. How are we to understand her vacillations? (We have to guess, because the picture doesn't explain them, and she herself is apparently unable to explain them.) Saying that she is confused by her choices tells us nothing worthwhile about her character. Does she - out of a sense of guilt - feel compelled to draw away whenever her lover draws nearer? An interesting enough concept, but it isn't brought out in the film, so such an interpretation is no more than speculation. If Laura's attachment to her daughter is so strong, how was she able to walk away? (There is, by the way, little in the film itself to suggest that the two were especially close.) As for the men in her life: her husband seems no better or worse than average, and her lover - except for his persistence - also seems unremarkable. As for the ending: the one in the version I saw (running, running, running faster in the park) is no ending at all. It just happens to be the last scene of the picture.

This is one of my favorite films and the lead performance by John Heard is sterling. It is one of the most honest, heartbreaking performances I have ever seen on someone's obsession with another person. Heard plays a state government worker who happens to meet a pretty girl who is on the rebound. They have amazing times together until she decides to move back in with her husband and the young stepdaughter (who she misses). Heard won't let it be over and plans and plots on various ways to get her back. The film is based on Ann Beattie's brilliant novel, CHILLY SCENES OF WINTER (which is the title the movie was released as). I prefer that title to the generic HEAD OVER HEELS. I own a copy of this film and have watched it so many times. Aside from Heard, there is an amazing cast of supporting players: the late, great Ken McMillian, Gloria Grahame (as his crazy mother), Peter Riegert as his deadbeat friend and even Mary Beth Hurt gives a strong performance (I'm not usually a fan of hers). This movie is worth seeking out.

This movie is a nice lil' gem, and notable for future lumanaries such as Animal House's Peter Reigert, Griffin Dunne (treemendous in After Hours) and John Heard (late of the Sopranos). But, the real steal in the film is Ms. Violet Bick herself, Jimmy Stewart's guilty pleasure in It's a Wonderful Life: Gloria Grahame.