winstonfg

This is one of my favourite movies of the 80's: A sophisticated, adult story in the 'Funny Girl' mould, about relationships and suffocation, growth, change, and moving on, leisurely and wittily told with barely a false note or step, except perhaps a slight tendency to tug at the heartstrings; and one of the best endings I can remember.

And boy, is there a lot of smoking; literal and figurative.

The Bridges make a great ensemble, and Michelle Pfeiffer has never been more radiant (as well as proving she has a great set of pipes), and the score and cinematography are sumptuous. And along the way it introduced me to the work of Dave Grusin and Lee Ritenour and, by proxy, artists like David Benoit and Diane Schuur.

Good as they are, you can keep your Shinings and Platoons and Raiders. For me they are a class behind this film, which rightly belongs in the running with Blade Runner, Raging Bull and The Color Purple for movie of the decade.

Possibly the best episode of series 5, this is an improbable tale of ruffians, duplicitous females, and plenty of swash and buckle, with the feel of some of the more light-hearted programs of the earlier black-and-white series, and set in a mythical Ireland of tinkers, poitín, and blarney that probably never existed in the 1860's, let alone the 1960's.

Nevertheless, if you can suspend your disbelief for long enough, it's an enjoyable romp, with its tongue firmly planted in its cheek and enough twists and turns to satisfy the most Machiavellian of plot-hounds.

Perhaps not; but the message I took away from this movie was much the same as I got from Voltaire's book: - Life may not be great, but it's what we've got; so get on with it.

Of course it comes at it from a completely different perspective; and for a 21st century American audience, Holden Caulfield is probably more accessible than Leibnitz; but the theme is similar: Passion is overpublicised and has a "sell by" date; friendship and children are timeless.

Structurally, I thought the drabness was a bit overplayed and the action could have moved faster but, all in all, I enjoyed it; and I particularly enjoyed seeing Jennifer Aniston in a movie that allowed her to exercise some acting chops.

And the rest of the cast were uniformly good too, with particular kudos to John C. Reilly as JA's husband and John Carroll Lynch as the "store manager".

I suspect it was a flop because (a) its message was one nobody really wants to hear, and (b) JA wasn't her usual perky self.

But you know what? We all have to grow up sometime. Which is kind of what the movie's about...