romantic drama | pinartarhan.com

Up Close and Personal starring Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer. Beautiful romantic drama from 1996. Directed by Jon Avnet.

Sally Atwater (Michelle Pfeiffer) is from a small town, living with her sister Luanne (Dedee Pfeiffer). Her dream is to become a big star as a TV reporter and she gets her chance when she lands a gig in Miami. She realizes that it will be a long time before her new boss, seasoned reporter/news coordinator Warren Justice (Robert Redford) will take her seriously. But she works hard and Warren gives her the chance to prove herself. While her career is on the rise, she gets to know Warren and his ex-wife, successful reporter Joanna Kennelly (Kate Nelligan). Warren doesn’t exactly have a great track record for long term relationships but with the attraction growing between them, can they really just be friends and colleagues? Or is it possible that Warren did indeed meet his match and they are perfect for each other?

The two finally get together but now Sally’s getting in the way. Can they make it work? And can Warren readjust his career for her or is too late for him?

Up Close and Personal is a lovely romantic drama from 1996, directed by Jon Avnet (Red Corner, The War, Fried Green Tomatoes). Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer make the perfect couple, and I have to say Robert Redford looks fantastic at 60 (with Michelle being 38, there is quite a bit of age difference). It is entertaining, emotional only when necessary and apart from a bit long and being interrupted with a silly pop song in the middle when romance was supposed to be shown, it rarely has any flaws. But how happy can the movie be? If you have seen a Jon Avnet drama, you know exactly what I mean.

Spoilers:

Frankly, the only part I didn’t enjoy much was the ending but that’s because I am a romantic who expects to get a happy ending for every true love story. But I wasn’t surprised it ended the way it did, after all- we had gotten a good, anti-climactic moment 1.5 hours into the movie, with 20 more minutes to go, which is not a good sign.

Yes, the ending is very decent but I still wish I got a happy one.

Fun notes:

* The actress playing Michelle Pfeiffer’s sister in the movie is Dedee Pfeiffer, the actress’s real life, fellow actress sister.

* I have a feeling feminists might have gotten worried about the movie in the late 1990s. After all, we have a 60-year-old male romantic lead, ending up with a gorgeous woman 22 years his junior. And it might have been difficult to imagine the situations reversed. Fortunately, for Michelle, it was reversed: three times. She starred with Paul Rudd in the romantic comedy I Could Never Be Your Woman in 2007, who is 11 years her junior. In 2009, she starred as the romantic lead for Rupert Friend, who is 23 years her junior in Chéri and in another film called Personal Effects with Ashton Kutcher– who is 20 years her junior. And the feminist in me is glad that an actress is getting the same treatment as an actor.

Other Posts on Michelle Pfeiffer

Chéri starring Michelle Pfeiffer and Rupert Friend

I Could Never Be Your Woman starring Paul Rudd and Michelle Pfeiffer

20 Reasons to Love Stardust starring Pfeiffer, Robert De Niro, Charlie Cox& Claire Danes

Wolf Movie Review- starring Michelle Pfeiffer, James Spader and Jack Nicholson

Tequila Sunrise starring Mel Gibson, Michelle Pfeiffer and Kurt Russell

Other Posts on Robert Redford Movies

Lions for Lambs starring Tom Cruise, Meryl Streep, Robert Redford and Andrew Garfield

Ordinary People starring Timothy Hutton, Donald Sutherland & Mary Tyler Moore (directed by Redford)

I hate tearjerkers if I think that the storyline has been constructed to try and make the audience cry. You know the type. It feels artificial from the beginning to the end. Of course everyone has a different sense of what feels natural. Some find the love story in Titanic tragically beautiful and I, on the other hand, find it tragically boring. But with Griffin and Phoenix, I found a great emotionally intense drama whose strength came from the powerful acting performances of Dermot Mulroney and Amanda Peet.

Griffin is a guy in his late 30s/early 40s (whatever- he is just too young to die), and he has a terminal illness. He refuses hospitalization and tries to make the best of his remaining days. He makes amends with his two young sons who stay with their mom and stepdad, enjoys fixing his lovely car and being idle in general. One day he attends a conference and meets a young woman named Phoenix. They hit it off, although Phoenix seem indecisive about starting something. However once they start dating, they are inseparable. Phoenix doesn’t know about his condition. One day, she finds out a lot of books on dying and she storms off, outraged. He doesn’t understand what it is all about so refuses to let her go until she says what the problem is. It turns out that Phoenix has cancer, also incurable and she- unaware that he is dying too- thought he was playing some sort of joke on her. They are both crushed to find out the other is also dying. They have already fallen in love and this brings them even closer. So they are determined to make the best of whatever is left of their lives, together…

I love this movie. Yes, I love passionate love stories about couples who just get each other and have fun together and are just there for each other when push comes to shove. This is such a story. If course it is not an original concept. The movie itself is the remake of a 70s movie. But this doesn’t change the fact that it is heart-warming, touching and beautiful: It rises your spirits, restores your faith in love and life yet it upsets you- you have to just wonder why the concept of death exists at all. I am not giving away anything about the ending. But it is just very depressing when death comes so early and at a time when things are just right. The movie is fun, despite the illnesses of the two lead characters. But if a guy comes up and says it is a chick flick, I suggest he goes and has a heart transplant.Oh, and a brain too, while he is at it.