Faithful

I have to admit, I enjoyed this movie tremendously when I watched it alone, and later when a group of friends watched it in my house I was embarrassed by how much they hated it. You have to be in the mood for it.

Cher must be commended, to carry off a movie when you spend exactly half of your screen time tied to a chair is pretty remarkable. The interplay between Tony and Margaret is much better when it is just the two of them, Ryan O'Neal doesn't bring much of anything to his part and the film declines somewhat when he enters the home.

The only real annoyance is the HORRIFIC injections of Mazurski as some kind of freak shrink that is supposed to be funny; it may well be the single unfunniest and most unnecessary character in the history of film. You could totally fast forward through every second Masurski is on the screen and it would only improve the film.

I think women will like this a lot better than men, but it's a good film and very underrated. For most of 1996 it was my favorite film.

"Faithful" is a worth-watching film, somewhere between comedy and drama, but not tragicomedy. It stars Cher as a rich but rejected wife who wants to take her life on her 20th anniversary. But then a hitman hired by her husband gets into her house. He ties her to a chair and they start to talk - as it's an adaption of a play - and slowly Cher's wish to live on is growing. The dialogue is quite spirited and also funny, you shouldn't miss it. And it's pretty cool when the hitman is making phone-calls to his psychiatrist and vice versa, again and again. You have to enjoy this, it's almost 'tarantinoesque', but better, because there is no celebration of violence here. Nevertheless, in the end it gets kind of disturbing and boring. Now the movie finally suffers from the fact that basically only three actors are involved. Cher's acting is very good in the beginning, her facial acting is fabulous when portraying the desperate woman meeting her killer. But from the moment when her husband (Ryan O'Neal) returns, her character is much less convincing and her face of vivid emotion turns a face of a pale mask of make-up, which - forgive me - she may think makes her look one or two decades younger. Now my vote: 7 out of 10!

I came across this movie on late night TV with no previous knowledge of the movie not knowing any of the cast and was pleasantly surprised. Do not get me wrong this in not a great movie but it is certainly a lot better than the usual late night moves we find on terrestrial TV her in the UK. As I learnt from the opening credits that this was adapted from a play by the co-lead Chazz Palminteri and it really shows with the vast majority of the movie being set in the one location the house of the female lead Margaret (played by Cher whom normally really grates me by in this is not to bad, though she has had so much plastic surgery she does look like an extra from 'The Dark Crystal). The premise is of Tony a hit-man being sent by Margaret's husband to kill her, but this turns into a wiseguy farce with lots or role reversals especially with the re-appearance of the husband Jack (a slimy Ryon O'Neil). The direction really is point the camera and the set and shoot adding to the theatre feeling but considering there are pretty much only three characters on screen most of the time we get some decent chemistry between them and a not totally predictable outcomes. I would not go out of my way to see this again but would not avoid it on a bored afternoon trapped in some hotel or another.

Ok, so it's not an action packed thriller, but if you're in the mood to laugh, it's a great movie. Cher's acting was wonderful when you consider the fact that it was mainly just her and Chazz Palminteri for the majority of the movie. I personally thought that Chazz's acting was excellent. I mean, he wrote the movie AND was the main character. To me that seems like it would take a lot of talent which he obviously has to accomplish such a thing. I've heard some people say that they were disappointed at the fact that Chazz played his normal mobster character. In my opinion, his best rolls are when he plays a hitman, mobster, etc, because you know he's Italian, and makes a great tuff guy, even though in reality I bet he's probably really sweet. Another comment I've heard is that it was boring. If you thought it was boring, see it again because you didn't understand it. Keep in mind that the strength of this movie is the witty dialogue BECAUSE it was based on a play and BECAUSE it was a play/movie that was from the perspective of a cheated housewife held captive. What did you expect?

"Faithful" directed by Paul Mazurski doesn't add anything to his otherwise prestigious resume. As a comedy director, Mr. Mazurski has done better. Unfortunately, he doesn't appear to have been inspired, by the story or by his cast.

In fact, one of the worst things in the film is the overbearing role of Chazz Palmentieri, whose Tony is one of the most obnoxious things he has played in the movies. Cher, as Margaret, the redheaded woman, married to a rat fink, doesn't bring anything new to the screen. She could do much better, but unfortunately, not here. Finally, Ryan O'Neal doesn't have much to do.

The best thing about "Faithful" is its 91 minutes running time! Sorry Mr. Mazurski, you need to stay away from whoever told you Chass Palmentieri's screen play had possibilities.