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IMDbPro

Mal à l'âme

Original title: Between Two Women
  • TV Movie
  • 1986
  • 1h 35m
IMDb RATING
6.8/10
275
YOUR RATING
Mal à l'âme (1986)
Drama

When shy schoolteacher Val marries Harry, the son of an aged opera star, she quickly discovers that Harry's mother Barbara is not very happy with their union. In fact, Barbara tries to separ... Read allWhen shy schoolteacher Val marries Harry, the son of an aged opera star, she quickly discovers that Harry's mother Barbara is not very happy with their union. In fact, Barbara tries to separate the couple. But when Barbara suffers a debilitating stroke, Val's compassion and empat... Read allWhen shy schoolteacher Val marries Harry, the son of an aged opera star, she quickly discovers that Harry's mother Barbara is not very happy with their union. In fact, Barbara tries to separate the couple. But when Barbara suffers a debilitating stroke, Val's compassion and empathy mend the rift between the two women, giving Barbara the will to survive. But will Barba... Read all

  • Director
    • Jon Avnet
  • Writers
    • Larry Grusin
    • Jon Avnet
    • Gillian Martin
  • Stars
    • Farrah Fawcett
    • Colleen Dewhurst
    • Michael Nouri
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • IMDb RATING
    6.8/10
    275
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Jon Avnet
    • Writers
      • Larry Grusin
      • Jon Avnet
      • Gillian Martin
    • Stars
      • Farrah Fawcett
      • Colleen Dewhurst
      • Michael Nouri
    • 9User reviews
  • See production info at IMDbPro
  • See production info at IMDbPro
    • Won 1 Primetime Emmy
      • 1 win total

    Photos10

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    Top cast19

    Edit
    Farrah Fawcett
    Farrah Fawcett
    • Val Petherton
    Colleen Dewhurst
    Colleen Dewhurst
    • Barbara Petherton
    Michael Nouri
    Michael Nouri
    • Harry Petherton
    Bridgette Andersen
    Bridgette Andersen
    • Kate Petherton
    Danny Corkill
    Danny Corkill
    • Sandy Petherton
    Steven Hill
    Steven Hill
    • Teddy Petherton
    Terry O'Quinn
    Terry O'Quinn
    • Dr. Wallace
    Kenneth Danziger
    Kenneth Danziger
    • Charles
    Carmen Argenziano
    Carmen Argenziano
    • Robert Walker
    Jayne Atkinson
    Jayne Atkinson
    Lora Staley
    Lora Staley
    Angelica Andersen
    • Young Kate
    Fran Bennett
    Fran Bennett
    • Night Nurse
    Alexandra Borrie
    Brandon Call
    Brandon Call
    Freddie Dawson
    Jeffrey Lampert
    Bronson Pinchot
    Bronson Pinchot
    • Photographer
    • Director
      • Jon Avnet
    • Writers
      • Larry Grusin
      • Jon Avnet
      • Gillian Martin
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    User reviews9

    6.8275
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    Featured reviews

    gofish911

    This movie was carefully crafted, a gentle master work worth catching if you can; it is one of those rare gems that inspires without sappiness or a sledgehammer

    This quiet movie worked for me. I have never seen the potentially explosive, often confusing relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law addressed so sensitively--or at all, come to think of it. Every character was believable, even the children. Watch for the subtle history lesson the son communicated with just a few words and body language in the dinner table scene. This movie was carefully crafted, a gentle master work worth catching if you can (I saw it on Lifetime). It is one of those rare gems that inspires without sappiness or a sledgehammer. In the end, we are left wanting to pick up the phone and appreciate the people in our lives, no matter how difficult they are, even when it doesn't seem to make sense.
    9guypaul-2

    Response to the last comment

    The film does explain the cause of Dewhurst's overbearing nature and there is resolution to the story, though to be more specific than that would be to "spoil." I agree that the tension for most (but not all) of the picture is grueling, but the end product is one of the most realistic portrayals I've seen of what it is like to provide in-home care for a family member. I was glad that the characters weren't Hollywood-obvious "good" and "bad" and that the plot wasn't tied in a neat and tidy (tiresome and clichéd) manner. The choice of opera in the soundtrack and the inclusion of W.B. Yeats poem, "The Second Coming" is especially powerful.

    There's a lot between-the-lines here too about vulnerability in the guise of brashness, masking insecurity with micro-management, and how the sins of one generation are spilled to the next. This is a film worth watching several times.
    Chief Yo

    Great story of love and hate

    This is probably the best I have ever seen Farrah Fawcett act in any tv series or movie. I am not a great follower of Ms Fawcett but she has come a long way since Charlie's Angels. I do have to give her credit she really carried this movie with her acting abilities and not her looks.
    9elizabeth-9

    This was a bittersweet movie

    It was hard to like the great Colleen Dewhurst's character in this movie, but her worth to Farrah Fawcett's character was endearing. This was a good movie. It was sweet. There is a scene where she plucks the whisker out of her stroke-victim mother-in-law's chin...a woman that tormented her, but she wanted to be the better person. No, that's not right, she didn't want to be better, she wanted to be a good person. She was.

    Farrah Fawcett was a good actress remembered for an icon poster and Charlie's Angels. Ultimately, she was a good actress.
    rubies_canada-1

    The responsibilities of life are often difficult but can have great rewards.

    This movie, though I saw it when it first came out has never left me. It is often difficult to minister to those we do not care for but we find that our responsibility for them and our guilt take over and we "do what we have to do". The scene where Amy is removing the hairs from her mother-in-laws chin is so powerful it still evokes tears when I think about it. I think that this is the turning point for them both and I feel that they accepted one another then. I have had the responsibility of looking after my father-in-law for a short time and my remembrances of this movie have helped with my own struggle with that time. The rewards of that experience will never leave me.

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    Storyline

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    Did you know

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    • Trivia
      Spalding Gray was considered for Michael Nouri's role. He even discussed being considered for the part and auditioning for it in his monologue Spalding Gray: Terrors of Pleasure (1987). According to Gray, the original title of the film was "Leftover Life to Kill".
    • Connections
      Featured in The 38th Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (1986)

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    Details

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    • Release date
      • March 18, 1988 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Rivales par alliance
    • Production company
      • The Jon Avnet Company
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Tech specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      • 1h 35m(95 min)
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.33 : 1

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