Maux d'amour

More of a drama, this movie is one of the saddest movie about love, it only show the worst part of it, in every scene the hero is strained and hurted, you can only cry about his fate until a little before the end, they describe it as "A Painfully Romantic Comedy" on the poster, but they really should change it to "A Painfully Dramatic Comedy " because the romance is simply not present, only rejection and questions about relationship, overall the movie is not badly played or written, but they lied about it, and I don't like being lied to..

It's beyond fiction when he calls the married woman "beautiful" . Makes zero sense takes you right out of what might have been a passable movie.

This is quite the period piece - Jeff Daniels plays the "hero" role and he is an incredible a**hole - he jumps every woman he crosses paths with, mostly married - altho he has two kids he has neglected per a divorce in process - and it's all OK because the editor had overlaid (no pun intended) all his dalliances with cute-sey 1980's style romantic music.

And Daniels exacerbates the effect by, for some reason, choosing to "act" the part by constantly erupting into screaming fits at the top of his voice like a spoiled 13 year old in every situation in which the character is slotted to express frustration at his existential dilemmas.

John Mahoney plays the Jeff Daniel's character's lout of drunken father - but he's oh so witty, so that that's OK too. And he does a lot of excessive cursing - Mahoney's facile analog to Daniels' screaming fits - and is the best arm-wrestler at the local prototypically small town, oh so friendly & wholesome, local drunks' bar/poolhall and has a vintage Cadillac in his garage - oh wow, emotionally abusive to wife (played by Cloris Leachman who gives the only noteworthy performance in this debacle), but has vintage car, it's all OK then.

Worst part is there is then a "mentoring" scene at the local bar where father and grandfather drunkenly encourage teenage grandson to follow in their paths. It's quite sickening to think the writers and director thought this was the comical scene.

Of course the other supporting cast married guys who are faithful to their marriages are chumps or orgres.

Really don't know what the value schema of this thing is - but it's dated and pretty repulsive by any normal measure.

Oh well.

This is an excellent film in every manner with the impulse behind its artistic success being the script by Ron Nyswaner, wry, witty and moving, each in its turn, detailed when it needs to be, and only suggestive, when that is appropriate. Varying concepts of what a person's home is and what it should be molds this comedic drama, the final directoral essay by Bud Yorkin, and unjustly overlooked or carelessly reviewed. Jeff Daniels portrays Paul Weaver, freshly divorced but not having altered his causative rakish ways, obligated to sojourn at the home of his parents for the wedding of his sister (Amy Wright), an awkward circumstance as his former wife (Cynthia Sikes) and two children are temporarily living there due to plumbing troubles in their own house. Paul is eager to become closer to his estranged children, but his daughter Sarah (Mary Griffin) has toted an abundance of resentment with her and is puzzled by the obviously ongoing mutual attraction between her parents. During a hectic nuptial weekend, Paul finds an available exchange of ardour with a bridesmaid (Judith Ivey) and this, along with his damaged association with his father (John Mahoney) supplies additional provender for Nyswaner's well-crafted script. Yorkin's fastidious direction allows for able ad libbing from Daniels and Wright, and is nicely supported by resourceful camerawork from Adam Greenberg who employs classic technique when isolating Weaver within a disquieted environment, by superb editing from John Horger, and by faultless sets and costumes from Leslie Rollins and Elizabeth McBride, respectively. In the last analysis, the film fares well because of attention to detail, originating largely from the writing of Nyswaner who strongly evokes small-city working-class Pennsylvania (although primarily shot near Dallas-Fort Worth) with each scene neatly sculpted and generally avoiding the cliched, helped by strong acting through the final scene, remarkable itself for its insouciant sense of actuality.

Paul (Jeff Daniels) is a womanizer. It ruined his marriage, as his wife divorced him about one year ago. He is repentant, naturally, but just can't seem to stop chasing the females. Going home to Pennsylvania for a wedding, he encounters his ex-wife, his children, his dotty mother, his alcoholic father, and the bride, his jittery sister. While waiting for the wedding to occur, Paul and his family go through one trial after another. Paul even makes passes at one of the bridesmaids. Will he ever learn? This film is so tuned to reality that it is a downer to watch. Daniels gives an outstanding performance as the likable guy with big flaws. Sikes also does a fine job as the ex-wife with a lot of baggage. The ending strives to approach a more upbeat tone. Fans of Daniels will want to see this work. All other viewers should be cautioned that it is not a romantic comedy. It is a dark comedy at best, with the happy romance vibes registering a zero on the love meter.