Breathing Lessons

What a disgrace! I was checking this out hoping it would be an undiscovered James Garner gem and what a stinker it turned out to be! The production quality was fine, but the plot was undeniably lame and I can honestly say that I am only a couple hours older and a lot dumber now. The movie really had no redeeming qualities and if this kind of stuff keeps coming out, it will give Hallmark a bad name. For those of you who insist on knowing what it was about, it's about nothing, and in this case, it's not a good thing. We are subjected to watching one old ornery woman who is one of the dumbest creatures ever to roam the earth, who happens to be married to a real sweetheart who is probably the only person alive that could put up with her. She drags him through one mess after another, gets him into one embarrassing situation after another, and is proud of herself the whole time. Then the movie ends. What a relief that was! Not worth the time it would take to watch it, so do yourself a favor and skip this one, you'll be glad you did if you knew how bad this one really is.

Interesting day in the life of a long time married couple who cope with each other's ways. They obviously don't always get along, their kids are alienated and maladjusted; their life is mundane and purposeless. I got a few laughs but also felt somewhat disgruntled while viewing the nothing lives of these folks and those they came into contact with.

As this is one of my favorite Anne Tyler novels and movie adaptations are usually disappointing, i was pleasantly surprised by this one. It's a cliché of movie promotion but Joanne Woodward IS Maggie Moran - from her somehow busybody-ish walk to her expressions of quizzical dismay, hopeful desperation etc. when her well-meaning plans for fixing someone's life go awry. Like rain and sun alternating as her mind races trying to save the situation; "...Maggie always trying to patch patch patch..." says Fiona.

James Garner* is OK as Ira; he greets Maggie's foibles with attitudes ranging from fond acceptance to dyspeptic irritation. Maybe it's just because i like Eileen Heckart but if anything her take on Mabel is better than the original character. Same for Debra Mooney as Mrs. Stuckey; her sidelong squinty-eyed dislike for all things Moran is something to see. And Delphi Harrington's brief appearance as Sugar; "Boys had always been fascinated by Sugar." - and i can see why. Maybe it's unfair to judge by my personal reading of Tyler, but some of the other characters seem to diverge farther and farther from the story; i just don't see Joyce Van Patten as the former bohemian bad girl of Maggie's & her youth, and what happened to the Barley twins? - they're now the Barlow twins and totally unrecognizable.

Then there's the music; it has a kindly naivete, a homey, ambling feel, a bit of whatever it is about Tyler's novels that i'm so enamoured of. The Moran house is very Tyler/Baltimore and the Stuckey place engagingly trashy; that hanging rain lamp is perfect. In this case i think it helps to have read the book for the background and history that wouldn't fit into a movie; how LeRoy's very existence is a consequence of Maggie's meddling for instance. For whatever reason i think this movie has more of that distinctive Tyler something than "The Accidental Tourist" or "Earthly Possessions".

* Search james garner ira on youtube for his take on Ira.

This movie is hilariously funny. I was on the ground laughing through most of the movie. But it's not a pointless kind of hilarious. I'm a big fan of both Joanne Woodward and James Garner so this movie was heaven for me. I enjoyed every minute of it. Woodward and Garner were great together! Almost every word out of Woodward's mouth had me in hysterics, and every look and reaction of Garner's was equally as funny. And the scene when Woodward sings "Love Is A Many-Splendored Thing" at Serena's husband's funeral is a CLASSIC! And, ofcourse, the scene on the road where Woodward pops her head out of the window and tells some old guy his tire's falling off...now that is funny. She feels so bad after seeing who was in the car that she makes Garner turn back.

This movie is everything you could want in a movie- a ton of comedy, a tad bit of drama to give the movie some meaning, and even a little bit of suspense. Not to mention high class performances by Garner & Woodward. See this movie!!!!

Though pretty faithful to Anne Tyler's Pultzer Prize winning

novel, and despite the excellent Joanne Woodward & James Garner

in the leads, this TVM adaptation is disappointingly bland. What

was hilarious in the book is only mildly funny, and what was

abrasive and infuriating is all too cosy.