No Looking Back

I love this movie, and it's really too bad that hardly anyone's ever seen it because it's absolutely fantastic. The dreary setting is perfect for the depressing subject matter. It's a pretty heart-wrenching, realistic movie, just too indie for most moviegoers to appreciate.Other than 'She's the One,' this is easily Ed Burns' best movie.

I watched this movie just recently (had video-recorded it from the TV). Very solid performances of all the actors and I was pleasantly surprised by Jon Bon Jovi. In my view, Edward Burns has given us better performances than this one, although no complaints. Blythe Danner, even though her role is short, is intense and completely into it as always. The setting, a small coastal town, was great and perfectly reflected the mood of the entire movie. As to the soundtrack: superb! But where can I get a hold of it?! The recording I have did not show the credits all the way to the end and I would especially like to know which female singer performs at least two of the songs. Springsteen is, of course, recognizable.

It's always refreshing to see movies that deal with ordinary people and their lives. Burns has made it his "thing" to create normal, fragile characters who live very ordinary lives and, in this film at least, are sad and disappointed over how mundane and uneventful their existence is. Burns taps into this genre quite well but here, unlike his excellent debut The Brothers McMullen, his characters aren't as interesting or well defined.

Lauren Holly plays a waitress who seems to be bored out of her mind, living with blue collar mechanic Bon Jovi. Her old sweetheart (who completely broke her heart) Burns returns and promises her a better life if she will pack up and go with him.

Holly gives an excellent performance in the lead role. She's the best written character as well, and you feel for her and root for her. Other characters aren't as well defined and are fairly one-dimensional and uninteresting, especially Burn's character. The film moves along very slowly and, aside from one scene involving Bon Jovi, avoids any real emotional outbursts. It's very subdued and could have used some form of life injected to it.

Cast is mostly excellent. Holly is terrific, Burns good as usual but most unexpected; Bon Jovi is actually quite effective as Holly's unfortunate boyfriend.

Praise goes also to the excellent music score. There's not one but three Springsteen songs and in my books that indicates some good musical taste.

A slight disappointment from Edward Burns after the fine comedies "The Brothers McMullen" and "She's The One."

There's no faulting the performances, most of which are decent...but the story goes nowhere and neither do the characters here. The movie feels aimless and lacks energy. Burns himself plays a ne'er-do-well and manages to make him almost likable in a scruffy sort of way and Jon BonJovi isn't half bad as a regular Joe. It's just a shame that none of the characters exhibit any real growth or transformation during the picture.

Burns' comedies were somewhat aimless too, but they felt more alive that his stab at drama here. Maybe he should stick to the funny stuff he does best.

My biggest grievance with No Looking Back is that it doesn't have a character like the ones Mike McClone played in The Brothers McMullen and She's the One. He had a great chemistry with Ed Burns who just isn't as funny without him. Having said that, No Looking Back is a nice little slice-of-life thing. It won't change your perception of life or anything else except perhaps Lauren Holly who is quite adorable. I give it a 6 out of 10.