Raspberry Ripple

I'm astonished that there are no reviews and no plot submitted yet for this excellent movie. It's got a 6.8 rating, so I'm not the only one to enjoy it. I guess all 12 of the other voters were in a hurry. ;-) I just submitted a plot, so hopefully that's taken care of now.

As for a review: I liked everything about this movie, and some things I liked a lot. The cast was all new to me aside from Dunaway, and everyone was perfect. All the people in wheelchairs seemed like real wheelchair-bound people (and I suspect that at least some of them really are), and also had enough acting ability to portray interesting and believable characters. The plot was simple enough to follow easily, yet we aren't entirely sure just where things are going, either.

Particularly fun are the wit of the main character and the gleeful paranoia of the would-be snitch. There are also bits of drama and pathos in which we're not quite sure how serious things are between some of the characters; they all clearly know each other well, and we spend lots of the movie catching up to whatever the situation is. That process is handled very well here and provides for plenty of laughs and some poignancy.

This is a movie anyone can enjoy. There is nothing in it beyond a PG rating, and it might even qualify for a G rating, aside from some bloodless imaginary gun-play (and meanwhile, there's graphic violence on TV every day). The writing, acting, directing, editing, and production quality are all solid. Young viewers might get a little lost at first, though; it's not clear at the outset just what is real and what is not. Anybody making it past that murk should find "Raspberry Ripple" taking an immediate place amongst their favorite quirky movies.

I must have seen this movie soon after it was made. I remember being engrossed with it, and I'm so glad to find it here. I was really taken by how humorous and believable it was. I actually don't recall all that much of it (it's been probably about 30 years since I've seen it) but I have thought of it occasionally ever since and would very much like to see it again. I would love to be able to share it with a number of people who I believe would really enjoy it, too. The characters were terrific, and the cast really captured them.