Up Close & Personal

"Up Close and Personal" proves again that charismatic stars and good production values can overcome a weak story. This story of two television journalists (Redford and Pfeiffer) has few surprises, no fresh insights about the news business, and its big moments are both predictable and overblown. Nevertheless, Redford and Pfeiffer provide enough star power to make for a reasonably entertaining couple of hours. There is one particularly funny line, though. When the Pfeiffer character says of a co-worker, "He's so stupid!" her boyfriend, the Redford character, with a quizzical expression on his face, says, "He's an anchorman." 6 out of 10, marginally recommended.

I don't know how anyone could watch this movie and not love it. The line up of actors in the move are amazing and maybe that's why some people expected a different kind of movie. The movie moves a long perfectly, telling the story in a great time line. It doesn't drag and there is not one part of the story that doesn't fit. It's as if a friend is telling you the main highlights of a friends' love life. I gave it a ten - Redford an Pfieffer make a great, believable couple and you can tell they put their heart into this movie. They both play people who are intelligent and aren't afraid to fight for what they believe it, something we all strive for. Get a tissue, you'll need it.

Even though I feel Robert Redford is getting a bit old to play the romantic hero, I did enjoy this movie. I liked the newsroom setting. I felt Michelle Pfeiffer gave a very good performance and that she and Mr. Redford had a very likeable chemistry. I didn't care for the ending, but it was good viewing on the whole. A good love story.

The struggles in reporting the news are shown in such an interesting way in the 1996 movie, 'Up close and personal'. It also shows that a little bit of luck can help a person go a long way in an industry like that of TV journalism. This movie's story, which has a strong and very emotional romance within it, also has some surprising twists that I am sure people will not expect once they have watched it.

Sally Atwater is fresh from a small-town trailer park when she arrives in Miami, overdressed and overeager to be the weather girl. He debut is disastrous but her boss, experienced newsman, Warren Justice, admires her spunk and takes her under his wing, making her an on air reporter. As Justice moulds Sally into one of the county's most sought after journalists, the pair fall in love, only to have their relationship threatened by the very success they have created.

Here is one of the great romance movies I have seen in a longtime. I love the way that the main stars first meet and how their relationship develops. By the time that Tally is a great journalist, what is more important than her career, is the man that she loves that being Warren Justice. The screenplay for this movie was beautifully written by John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion. I love how the two main stars are able to fall in love, but at the same time, able to do what they do as a career. Sure it might take a little while for the movie to show that this is important, but I feel that the time needed to be taken, so that both Tally and Warren fall deeply in love.

The director of 'Up close and personal' was Jon Avnet, who has been a part of some great movies such as that of 'Risky Business', 'When a man loves a woman', and the 'Mighty ducks' trilogy. In this movie, I love the way that Avnet shows Tally Atwater at the start, to be someone who is a struggler, ignored and made fun of. Then to make her character be so vital and important in the whole make-up of the film, was great. This I believe is the good work of Avnet and makes the movie all the more compelling. I also like the world that Avnet has created for the film, that of the pressurised, TV journalism environment.

The stars of the movie are two of Hollywood's better known actors in Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer. The pair have a good chemistry in this movie, with the way that they fall in love very believable. I also like how Redford's character, Warren, refers to Tally at the start of the film, saying that 'she eats the camera'. This scene shows that Warren not only likes Tally as a journo, but as a woman as well. I also like the way that Pfeiffer appears in this film. She looks very much like a reporter does on the news and it is in her appearance that this needed to be so definite.

The supporting cast of 'Up close and personal' is a pretty good one. I like Marcia McGrath (Stockard Channing), who is the tough as nails anchor girl, who is pushed out of her position by the rising career of Tally Atwater. She treats Tally pretty bad in the film, if the truth be known. I also like Joanna Kennelly (Kate Nelligan), who we find out is one of Warren's former wives. She is one of the reasons why Warren has had a turbulent journalism career. Do not discount the little role taken on by Tally's cameraman Ned Jackson (Glenn Plumber). He is an incredibly brave cameraman, who admires Tally for the work that she does. Trust me I would not have liked doing the camera work that he was doing in the prison.

'Up close and personal' might not have the greatest of sound tracks, but it does have one song that I really like. That song is 'Because you loved me' sung by Celine Dion. It is a song which was used well in the film and its lyrics suit this movie beautifully. How great a song this was, made me want to watch the film all the more. By the way, there is one scene in the movie that shows Pfeiffer's character singing 'The impossible dream' at an empty football stadium in front of Warren. All I will say about this is that Pfeiffer should stick to the acting game, because she does not sing that well.

This movie, is such 'a good drama love story', because it shows how tough the 'TV journalism' area can be, and does not shrug away from showing how difficult and dangerous such a career can be (the prison scene is wonderfully shot and one of the great parts of the film). I also like how this movie concludes, and I am not afraid to admit that it has gotten me upset both times I have watched it. You will notice, that I say that Sally Atwater's name is actually 'Tally'. I will not reveal how this change happens, just to say that I like it. I believe it was placed in the story for a bit of fun. But I am not so sure I would like my name changed for my chosen career. Would you?

CMRS gives 'Up close and personal': 4 (Very Good Film)

While this is definitely a "women's movie," a man can enjoy this, too. I did, but not enough to see it twice or to purchase it. Supposedly, it's the story of former television news reporters Jessica Savitch and Ron Kershaw.

Robert Redford is good at playing the veteran newsman teaching Michelle Peiffer (Savitch) the business. He does more than that, of course, being her lover and then her husband. With Redford, you know you are going to get a dose of Liberal politics in the mix and in here, it's let's-feel-sorry-for-the-prison inmates. The preaching is "they are in jail to be rehabilitated." Well, that sounds nice but whatever happened to jail as a form of punishment for someone committing a crime against someone else? Liberals - like Redford, who is never shy about giving us his views in movies like this - sometimes seem to have more compassion for thugs than they do victims of crime! He goes so far in here as to preach that if you don't treat prisoners with kid gloves you deserve to have a riot on your hands.

Outside of all that heavy-handedness, you get a nice romance with solid acting all around, not only from the two leads but the supporting case with people like Stockarrd Channnng, Joe Mantegna, Kate Nelligan, Glen Plummer and James Rebhorn.