- Loving (film)
Infobox_Film
name = Loving
caption = DVD Cover
imdb_id = 0066017
amg_id = 1:100591
director =Irvin Kershner
writer =Don Devlin J.M. Ryan
starring =George Segal Eva Marie Saint
producer =Don Devlin
music =Bernardo Segall
cinematography=Gordon Willis
distributor =Columbia Pictures
released =4 March , 1970
runtime = 89 min.
language = English"Loving" (1970) is an American motion picture released by
Columbia Pictures . It was directed byIrvin Kershner , famous for directing the second movie in the "Star Wars " trilogy "The Empire Strikes Back " (1980) and based on the novel of the same name by authorJ. M. Ryan .It starred
George Segal andEva Marie Saint in the lead roles, as Brooks Wilson and his wife Selma. The film also featuredSterling Hayden as a tycoon,David Doyle ofCharlie's Angels fame, comedianKeenan Wynn ,Roy Scheider of "Jaws" fame, and future20th Century Fox presidentSherry Lansing in small roles.ynopsis
Brooks Wilson (
George Segal ) is a busy man, juggling his work as a commercial artist with a marriage to Selma (Eva Marie Saint ) and two young children. He also has a girlfriend on the side named Grace (Janis Young ) who wants him to commit to her, but he cannot do this.Brooks is trying very hard to land an elusive account from Lepridon (
Sterling Hayden ), but this is seeming harder to achieve than he thought. A party is held one evening in a grand Connecticut home, where both Brooks and Selma are invited. Feeling his life is falling apart at the seams, Brooks realises another affair, this time with flirty Nelly (Nancie Phillips ), wife of his associate Will (David Doyle ).They go to a children's playhouse which is outside the home where the party is being held, and their indiscretions are caught on closed-circuit television. Selma and Will are devastated, and a fist-fight between Brooks and Will ensues. After the commotion dies down, the harried Brooks tells Selma that he finally landed the Lepridon account. She smacks him senselessly with her handbag, and they stare at each other in silence, seeing their marriage honestly for the very first time.
Critical Reception
The film has generally been well received by critics.
Steven Scheuer found the film "quietly intense" and "humorous, human, and insightful", but found the film's final scene "incongruous in its farcical mayhem," (Scheuer, 1990: 641). On the other hand,Leonard Maltin found the film's climax "superb" and praised the director on his "great feeling for day-to-day detail [of the characters' lives] " (Maltin, 1991: 730).Roger Ebert found the film "an amusing and intelligent comedy of manners" (Ebert, 1970) with a great central performance by George Segal.Clive Hirschhorn noted the while the film was "well-observed", and was truly "Segal's film", it was still "uneven" in content (Hirschhorn, 1989: 285). Perhaps the review that most sums up the film comes fromLeslie Halliwell , "smart New York sex comedy, typical of many but better than most," (Halliwell, 2000: 496).References
*Ebert, Roger (1970) "Loving" Chicago Sun-Times, October 15, 1970. (accessed 15 January 2008). [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19701015/REVIEWS/10150301/1023]
*Halliwell, Leslie (2000) Walker, John (ed.) "Halliwell's Film & Video Guide 2001", HarperCollinsEntertainment, London.
*Hirschhorn, Clive (1989) "The Columbia Story", Pyramid Books, London.
*Maltin, Leonard (1991) "Leonard Maltin's Movie and Video Guide 1992", Signet, New York.
*Scheuer, Steven H. (1990) "Movies on TV and Videocassette", Bamtam Books, New York.
External links
*imdb title|0066017
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