Up Close & Personal
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DVD details
Actor: Joe Mantegna, Kate Nelligan, Michelle Pfeiffer, Robert Redford, Stockard ChanningBrand: Buena Vista Home Video
DVD: Region Code 1
Audio: English (Unknown), Dolby Digital 5.1; English (Subtitled); English (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1; French (Original Language), Dolby Digital 5.1
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, DVD, Letterboxed, NTSC, Widescreen
Picture Format: 1.85:1
Running Time: 124 minutes
DVD Release Date: 1999-09-14
Audience Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Studio: Touchstone Home Video
DVD Reviews of Up Close & Personal
DVD Review: Really tried to like it, but the film is too silly to enjoy
Summary: 1 Stars
Michelle Pfeiffer is far too old for her role and since she is not the most talented actress (although she was great in What Lies Beneath, where her limited abilities were well suited), she is very awkward in the part. Silly and ditzy at first, she willingly falls under the influence of Robert Redford's character, a controlling sexist who bitterly dreams of better days when journalism was about telling the facts rather than making up stories or ridiculing citizens. I liked Redford's character to some degree, only the sexist and belligerant portions were hard to stomach. He needed a strong woman to tell him off, at least, or to set him right. Pfeiffer's character doesn't provide this. She becomes Redford's protege, and we have a Pygmalion plot which is sure to appeal to women who want to be sheltered and guided by a father-figure who later takes them to bed. Kind of gross idea. There are a lot of childish antics from Pfeiffer's character, Tally, in her pursuit of friendship and later sex with Redford's Warren Justice (his character's name sounds like he should be on the Supreme Court, doesn't it?). Finally, Pfeiffer gets what she wants, and the romantic love scene pretty much consists of Redford ungraciously throwing her against a wall (ouch!) and finally, being nice and kissing the small of her back. Hmm. Is this the high romance we expect from Redford? Well, no, but it suits his character, who is not a particularly likeable guy. Following this, there are a lot of silly professional antics. Warren Justice suffers from an attitude problem, expecting to be revered rather than treated like an ordinary, unemployed guy. Tally has a big scene at some prison riot which sends a message to the audience that prisons should be reformed (ho, hum, not another Redford liberal political message, embedded in a movie that's suppose to be entertaining, even though this one is not). Warren Justice, or rather Redford, manages to get himself rescued from this film in a terminal way, removing any possibility for a sequel even though the original film is so bad that sequels are far from anyone's mind. The film ends awkwardly, with Tally or Michelle on stage talking about how wonderful Redford is and a huge photograph of Redford, with his classic smile, looming behind her. It looks like war of the movie star egos, and not a decent film about love, journalism, ethics, or adventure. There are a lot of awkward, nonsensical one-liners in this film too. They are thrown out as little romantic bits -- Redford wants to be with Pfeiffer so much that it hurts. One day together is more than they deserve. That sort of thing. Poor acting, poor directing, poor script -- very poor story idea. Granted there are women who are like Pfeiffer's character, helpless and dependent and silly and barely educated. They do turn to men to help them, rather than get some of the generously available financial aid and go to college, during the day or at night, to work hard and make something out of themselves. And there are plenty of men like Redford's character who like women that they can view as being less than they are, as being inferior. I don't think we needed a film about this, nor did Redford need to belittle his reputation this way. Honestly, if you can sit through this film twice, or even once (I kept getting up to clean the apartment, which is a sign of how bad a film is if I cannot sit still and would rather -- horrors -- vacuum and dust), you have more stamina than me. I disliked this film, but I hope you manage to find something to like in it. Films should be entertaining. Maybe this one has some merit buried in it?
Description of Up Close & Personal
Hollywood favorites Robert Redford (SPY GAME) and Michelle Pfeiffer (I AM SAM) sizzle together in this acclaimed story of heated passion and burning ambition! When aspiring news reporter Tally Atwater (Pfeiffer) tries to break into television, only veteran newsman Warren Justice (Redford) will give her a shot. In time, he teaches her everything she knows about news ... and she teaches him how to love again! But with her rise from local TV weather girl to network anchor, Tally and Warren must balance the dream of success ... with their desire for each other. Also featuring Celine Dion's #1 hit single "Because You Loved Me" -- you'll find this entertaining motion picture an absolute must-see!Here's a classic Hollywood star vehicle. Up Close and Personal--the story of Tally Atwater (Michelle Pfeiffer), an inexperienced but ambitious TV news personality, and her well-weathered journalistic mentor, Warren Justice (Robert Redford)--was carefully tailored to fit its stars. What began as a screenplay based on the biography of troubled TV anchorwoman Jessica Savitch (Golden Girl, by Alanna Nash) took more than eight years to reach the screen, written and rewritten, on and off, over the years by husband-and-wife team John Gregory Dunne and Joan Didion, mainly because they needed the work to qualify for the splendid Writers' Guild health-insurance plan. Although the considerable charisma of Pfeiffer and Redford go a long way, in many respects Nash's original nonfiction book (and even Dunne's peculiarly disingenuous "insider" account of the writing of the screenplay, Monster: Living Off the Big Screen) offers tales more compelling than the one that eventually made it to the screen. But, all things considered, that's a little like comparing apples and oranges, since the slick Up Close and Personal bears about as much resemblance to its gritty original source material as...well, an apple does to an orange. Critic Roger Ebert, who awarded the movie three stars, nevertheless said he was reminded of the time producer Samuel Goldwyn commissioned a screenplay about the Lindbergh kidnapping. Only, to quote Goldwyn, "it can't be about kidnapping, which is against the Code. For legal reasons, we have to change the name from Lindbergh. And the kid's father shouldn't fly." Read the book, see the movie, read the book about writing the movie. Anyone interested in how movies are made will learn an entertaining lesson about the studio system by devouring all three. --Jim Emerson
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