Jake's Women

My wife and I were watching tv and flipping the stations until we saw a tv movie beginning on cbs called Jake's Women. Keep in mind that I dislike made for television movies as much as going to the dentist or repeating my senior year in college. TV movies are horrible. However, as with life, there are exceptions to everything. Jake's Women is the best TV movie EVER made. The acting level is so high, we were amazed. If you ever have the chance to see this, do it. You will be so surprised. We were. This is one of the best movies ever made.

Extremely talented and experienced author sentence by sentence one can see Neil Simon's genius writing. The script has rhythm! It is well directed! Beautiful cinematography! Mira Sorvino ( Mighty Aphrodite ) is beautiful in this role, and this is one of her best performances. This is a pre-Oscar winning performance by Sorvino that touched my heart! Those scenes where she is fishing in beautiful Vermont mountains are very touching. The performance of Alan Alda is flawless. He is just a wonderful actor. Anne Acher in her Laura Ashley dresses is very good. Julie Kavner plays this is funny character who wears crazy clothes and does all kinds of very imaginative things. Mollie who is played by Ashley Peldon is adorable, changing her hair does every five minutes because she is nervous! Those tender scenes with Mollie and father just kills' me! Kimberly Williams did a good job also. The music is perfect by David Shire, and that wonderful sound of the Gershwin brothers, (George and Ira) so traditional to American Cinema adds rhythm to the script! This wonderful movie needs to be released, or, at least made available in tape for the audience.

Jake (Alan Alda) is a delirious and delusional writer: in his mind, he lives surrounded and talks with his dead wife Julie (Mira Sorvino), his sister, his psychiatrist, his daughter, his present wife Maggie (Anne Archer) and other women, mixing reality and delirious. He has many unresolved problems and they affect his relationship with Maggie and their marriage ends. Through his visions and conversation with these women, the viewer becomes aware of his traumas and ghosts from the past. The beginning of this movie is very intriguing. Alan Alda has a great performance, but the story, although having no clichés and some funny and dramatic situations, is too long. In the end, I was bored and waiting anxiously for the end of the film. My vote is five.

Title (Brazil): `As Mulheres de Jake' (`The Women of Jake')