Por um Pouco de Amor

In view of some of the comments categorizing this film as unsatisfying soap opera, it all depends on what you're looking for. If what you want are excellent performances from a superior cast, then this is your kind of movie. Robert Ryan gives his typical outstanding performance as an extremely cynical newspaper editor who inflicts his particular brand of misery to the full on his long-suffering wife, beautifully portrayed by Myrna Loy. Maureen Stapleton is electrifying in her movie debut and received a well-deserved Oscar nomination for her riveting performance. Montomgery Clift's fragility works to his advantage here as an advice columnist whose sensitivity runs a little too deep. The haunted eyes and pained expressions perfectly match what the character in this situation would realistically feel and express. Overall, a nicely done, well-photographed film that is sure to hold the attention and is definitely worth the time to find and view.

I have been a Clift fan for years reading his biographies and having seen all of his films numerous times. The only exception was the 1958 film Lonelyhearts; for some reason I couldn't locate a DVD and had missed it when shown on TCM. I finally caught up with it on the network this week and all what I heard about the film to my perspective was misdirected. I had read/heard it was a soap opera, meandering and somewhat lifeless. As I saw this movie almost a week ago I can't help in not thinking about it from time to time. To me this was a moving film with amazing performances topped by Stapleton, Ryan and of course Clift. Monty Clift...what a gift of an actor who in this role after his major auto accident plays his character with such intensity and emotion. Incredible. There are scenes where you can see the emotion in his eyes that are so moving and the thought processes of the impact of his actions are so simple but awe inspiring and transparent. He was truly an artist and the shame of it was because of all the pain and ups and downs in his personal life we never got to see his full potential. The amazing Robert Ryan is incredible as well as he plays a cynical character with variation and depth that you have to marvel at the dexterity he uses in communicating the pain and mistrust of anyone he comes into contact with. Great actor. Maureen Stapleton is brilliant with her longing for connecting to something she is missing in her life and right when you begin to feel sympathy she changes on a dime. Brilliant! The only reason I gave it an 8 was the structure of the script and the backstory of Clift's character was a bit weak and rushed. Never the less...very good film that is a near not to be missed because of the performances. Must see for Clift fans.

Nathaniel West's "Lonelyhearts" is a haunting novella about how an idealistic young man is affected by his job as an advice-giving columnist for his town's newspaper. It was intelligently adapted for the stage in the mid-50's, and the film version plainly uses that adaptation as a reference point as much as the novel itself. In ways, the film expands on the play's success, opening it up to reveal an idealized 50's picture-postcard town on the surface before centering on the insensitivity lying just underneath. Writer/Producer Schary and Director Donohue are to be commended for the atmosphere they have successfully created. It is unfortunate that they did not have enough faith in the material to resist the temptation to give it a happy ending, an ending which really is not in keeping with the events which precede it.

It must have seemed like a great idea to cast Montgomery Clift in the lead role of Adam, and a few years earlier it would have been, but this compelling actor's personal demons had so impacted upon him by this time that it is impossible not to be distracted by his unhealthy state of being. His slurred speech, unsteady gait and jerky mannerisms are entirely at odds with this character, who is said to have never had a stronger drink than a coca-cola. He is too good of an actor not to have effective moments - he works beautifully with Onslow Stevens, who plays his father - but this is a performance that holds our attention largely for unintentional reasons. Maureen Stapleton is sensational in her film debut as a writer to the column who manipulates Adam, and her performance would be right at home in a more faithful and successful version of this novel. Otherwise, this is a well-intended film which fails both to adequately reflect the novel on which it is based and to succeed on it's own terms.

To display his acting prowess, you could not find two more different roles for this excellent actor. Knowing the sadness of his personal life will give you even more perspective into this movie. I am not a soap opera fan, so I can't say how close to sentimental melodrama this gets, but it is saved from 'B-ness' (as in B-movie) by the sensitivity that Montgomery Clift puts into this movie. Having seen Robert Ryan in many war movies, I was not as impressed by his dry, cynical newspaper editor role. Not as routine as John Wayne playing himself (or what he would have LIKED to be) throughout all his movies, but close.

The last scene was well written, as was much of the dialogue. I liked the real sturm-und-drang that Clift's girlfriend has to go through after his lies are confessed to her. To watch Jean Stapleton go from victim to witch was quite interesting, and the plot has some interesting twists.

The suffering in Montgomery Clift's eyes, as he portrays an 'Advice to the Lovelorn' writer who gets too close to his 'clients' was not all acting. An automobile accident left him permanently marred and brought about his early death several years after this movie was made.

You will not erase his haunted eyes from your brain soon. And don't think too long about the issues here: How close can we 'civilized human beings' get to another's suffering without being swept away by it? It will hurt your brain.

... because of its cynicism and brutal honesty portrayed by the characters. However, at the end of it, I felt the men and women who worked on the film put forth a very good product. The underlying moral tones in the film got a little preachy to me, but it was from 1958, and adultery was still pretty big deal back then.

Montgomery Clift has the lead in this one, and while he does his usual good work, I thought his delivery of lines was quite similar to the way he played characters in "Judgment at Nuremburg", "A Place in the Sun", and "From Here to Eternity"--it seemed halted or deliberately tentative. If that's what the role called for, then he did well. If not, well, it just seemed hackneyed (to me anyway). I much rather like Clift in roles like he had in "The Search".

Robert Ryan was verbally sadistic in this one, and I thought he gave a fine performance, although admittedly, I haven't seen too many of his films. Myrna Loy played his wife and had a really emotional scene with Ryan in their apartment...and I absolutely loved it...it's not something you see from her all the time! Jackie Coogan and Dolores Hart provide good supporting roles, as does Maureen Stapleton as a sensuous psycho! Too bad for moviegoers that Hart answered a higher calling. I thought she was really good in this.