Big Bad Love

Marks the return of Debra Winger to our video stores if not the big screen. For those who wondered, she is still a wonderful actress and is surrounded by a fine cast here. But this is basically the pretty boring story of an unpublished writer whose skills fail to equal his vocabulary which reeks of the platitudes and 'truisms' he decries.

Arliss Howard plays the writer, Barlow, and his drinking bouts with his Vietnam War buddy, Monroe, Paul LeMat, are well handled and sufficiently depressing to attract 'artsie' viewers. The subsequent tragic events in the actual plot are universal enough to hold our attention while we hope that something major will be said. But alas, nothing is and we are left with nothing but a empty story with good acting.

It is a shame that these notably good artists haven't found anything better to do. Special kudos though to Angie Dickinson who plays a role that no one had ever envisioned for her and does quite nicely.

One has to admire an actor like Arliss Howard for his courage in bringing this film to the screen. It is a painful story to watch, but it has its own rewards. The movie played locally only for a very short time, and sadly, it disappeared until it was shown recently on cable, for which we are grateful.

Perhaps with another director, some of the kinks in the film would have been ironed out. There are scenes that are just too painful to watch. Our hearts go out to Barlow and what he is going through at this time of his life. His writing is brilliant, but most everyone he submits his novels to, end up rejecting them. Barlow cannot take another defeat in his life.

To make matters worse, his divorce from Marilyn is driving him insane. We often wonder how these two unmatched pair thought they were going to make it at all. In bad marriages, both parties remain bitter over every little detail dictated by the court when they must separate.

Arliss Howard, as Barlow gives a heart felt performance. We see him sinking lower and lower without a safety net to hold him. Unfortunately, Debra Winger's time on screen is very short. Ms Winger makes this woman an enigma since we don't really know where her head is at. The other actors are good. Paul Le Mat, Rosanna Arquette and above all, a short, but very excellent turn by Angie Dickinson, make us care about the fate of these people.

During the entire decade of the 1980's and toward the early 1990's,Debra Winger was one of the hottest actresses working in Hollywood at the time and she had a beau of leading actors that took her to the title of the box office queen. Some of her leading men were John Travolta,Richard Gere,Marlon Brando,and Jack Nicholson as well as with actors Robert Duvall and Ed Harris. However,she would win the Best Supporting Actress Oscar in 1983 for "Terms of Endearment",and after that she went in submission for a while.......only to resurface.

However,Debra Winger makes her return here in one of the best performances of her career. "Big Bad Love" is a film based on the writings of Mississippi author Larry Brown. She people think that she retired from the cimema in recent years(her last film was nine years ago under the direction of Bernardo Bertlucci),but takes this chance to star opposite her real-life husband Arliss Howard(who stars,directs,and wrote the script). Howard plays,Leon Barlow,a depressive,alcoholic Vietnam veteran and aspiring writer. Aside from holding a candle for hs ex-wife(Winger),most of Barlow's time focuses on daily trips to the mailbox,sending off plies of manuscripts,and following enough rejection letters to wallpaper hs bathroom. He is played as a sympathetic ne'er-do -well,lovable enough to be excused for shirking his familial responsiblities as a father(including his two precious children),until the end of the film,when tragedy strikes and Barlow is forced out of his cynical melancholy.

Strong performances from Angie Dickinson as well(in a grand return to the silver screen)as Rosanna Arquette(whom I haven't heard from since the 1990's)and Paul Le Mat. This movie had the heart,the guts and the soul that makes it a piece of grand cimematic work. A must see!

Rating: **** out of *****

Big bad love is a truly beautiful movie. Arliss Howard has done what I have been eagerly expecting for a long lime,i.e. portrayed a tormented human being without the typical Hollywood string-quartet having to tell you when to feel something. The acting itself along with the perfect script and footage render this film a credibility and sincerity seldom found in American movies. Thanks Howard Arliss!

Big Bad Love achieves what few films even strive for -- that gritty level of believability (laced with wonderful dream sequences throughout) that makes it seem as though the camera was simply dropped into the center of these characters' lives.

There are a number of wonderful lines, and few scenes funnier than when unsuccessful writer, Leon Barlow (played by Howard), sits down to type a response to a letter from a magazine editor, rejecting one of his short stories.

Not to say that the film isn't uneven at times. Howard (who not only stars in the film, but also directs), remains true to his narrative, which does become difficult to watch as Barlow becomes more self-destructive. The dream sequences become muddled after a while, but only because that's how Barlow is experiencing them.

Performances by Paul Le Mat, Debra Winger, Angie Dickinson, and Rosanna Arquette are all very strong. The soundtrack is top-notch.

I highly recommend this film, particularly as an anti-dote to the vapid doggerel Hollywood continues to churn out like link sausages.