A smashing directorial debut by actor Arliss Howard in which he also plays the chronically smashed lead character, "Big Bad Love" is an underdog IFC Films release that opens today in New York and March 9 in Los Angeles. The film premiered at last year's Festival de Cannes and also screened at Toronto, where it failed to pick up any awards or much critical support.
While joining the shortlist of good films about inebriated writers, "Love" may not equally intoxicate all moviegoers who stumble upon it in limited release. But from the performances and the cinematography to the outstanding soundtrack and unconventional narrative, the film is blazingly alive and admirable on many levels.
Written by Howard and his brother James Howard and based on the short stories of Larry Brown, set in the specific north Mississippi hill country, "Love" also marks the return of Debra Winger, both as producer and co-star, after a six-year absence from the screen. Howard and Winger are married in real life, but in the film, they credibly portray divorced parents of two young children.
Showing that she's lost none of her skills and willingness to explore dark material, Winger, however, is not onscreen that much in a scenario that plays for long stretches like a one-man circus of misery. "Love" dips into its bluesy, hazy world with perhaps its least accomplished montage. Passed out in the bathtub in his clothes, dreaming of making love, manic writer Barlow (Howard) is simultaneously receiving in the mailbox an armful of rejected manuscripts. After the opening credits, he's awoken by best friend and fellow Vietnam veteran Monroe (Paul Le Mat) for another day of drinking beer and thinking about work.
Painting houses with skill and one side of a boxcar with artistry, writing stories about his fractured lifestyle, plunging into fights in bars, Barlow is both sympathetic and majorly flawed. He's in such a daze that it's amazing he gets anything accomplished, but his backwoods soulfulness keeps him focused on a writing career, even if his biggest supporter -- former spouse Marilyn (Winger) -- also has a restraining order against him.
Another helpful presence in Barlow's life is a young lawman (Alex Van) who early on looks the other way when Monroe and the lead are driving very drunk. Later, their bad behavior behind the wheel has a part in a roadway calamity that seriously injures Monroe. Barlow's family is represented by his well-heeled, critical mother (Angie Dickinson), while Monroe marries his heart's desire (Rosanna Arquette).
It's the death of his long-incurably sick daughter that has a lasting impact on Barlow, as well as finally getting an acceptance letter from an (in his mind sexy) woman editor. In front of the camera, Howard seems born to play the character, like Mickey Rourke in "Barfly". His scenes with Le Mat, in a career-highlight role, are often humorous, which helps balance out the film's many shades of morose. Winger has several short, poignant scenes that more than illuminate the turbulent depths of her character, but "Love" is much more than just another tale of an artist's struggle and redemption.
Throughout "Love", Howard adventurously mixes Barlow's dreams and fantasies with the drunken life he leads. He tries and pulls off some marvelously cinematic sequences. Of course, sobering doesn't begin to describe the ultimately hopeful journey Barlow makes, but it helps that the music is loaded with such "hard blues" gems as Kenny Brown's "Boxcar Blues", R.L. Burnside's "Everything Is Broken" and Tom Waits' "Long Way Home", one of two original songs he contributed.
BIG BAD LOVE
IFC Films
A Pieface/Rocking S production
Director: Arliss Howard
Screenwriters: James Howard, Arliss Howard
Producer: Debra Winger
Executive producers: Manfred Wilde, Barry Navidi, Arliss Howard, Debra Winger
Director of photography: Paul Ryan
Production/costume designer: Patricia Norris
Editor: Jay Rabinowitz
Casting: Penny Perry
Color/stereo
Cast:
Barlow: Arliss Howard
Marilyn: Debra Winger
Monroe: Paul Le Mat
Velma: Rosanna Arquette
Mrs. Barlow: Angie Dickinson
Deputy: Alex Van
Mr. Aaron: Michael Parks
Running time -- 110 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
While joining the shortlist of good films about inebriated writers, "Love" may not equally intoxicate all moviegoers who stumble upon it in limited release. But from the performances and the cinematography to the outstanding soundtrack and unconventional narrative, the film is blazingly alive and admirable on many levels.
Written by Howard and his brother James Howard and based on the short stories of Larry Brown, set in the specific north Mississippi hill country, "Love" also marks the return of Debra Winger, both as producer and co-star, after a six-year absence from the screen. Howard and Winger are married in real life, but in the film, they credibly portray divorced parents of two young children.
Showing that she's lost none of her skills and willingness to explore dark material, Winger, however, is not onscreen that much in a scenario that plays for long stretches like a one-man circus of misery. "Love" dips into its bluesy, hazy world with perhaps its least accomplished montage. Passed out in the bathtub in his clothes, dreaming of making love, manic writer Barlow (Howard) is simultaneously receiving in the mailbox an armful of rejected manuscripts. After the opening credits, he's awoken by best friend and fellow Vietnam veteran Monroe (Paul Le Mat) for another day of drinking beer and thinking about work.
Painting houses with skill and one side of a boxcar with artistry, writing stories about his fractured lifestyle, plunging into fights in bars, Barlow is both sympathetic and majorly flawed. He's in such a daze that it's amazing he gets anything accomplished, but his backwoods soulfulness keeps him focused on a writing career, even if his biggest supporter -- former spouse Marilyn (Winger) -- also has a restraining order against him.
Another helpful presence in Barlow's life is a young lawman (Alex Van) who early on looks the other way when Monroe and the lead are driving very drunk. Later, their bad behavior behind the wheel has a part in a roadway calamity that seriously injures Monroe. Barlow's family is represented by his well-heeled, critical mother (Angie Dickinson), while Monroe marries his heart's desire (Rosanna Arquette).
It's the death of his long-incurably sick daughter that has a lasting impact on Barlow, as well as finally getting an acceptance letter from an (in his mind sexy) woman editor. In front of the camera, Howard seems born to play the character, like Mickey Rourke in "Barfly". His scenes with Le Mat, in a career-highlight role, are often humorous, which helps balance out the film's many shades of morose. Winger has several short, poignant scenes that more than illuminate the turbulent depths of her character, but "Love" is much more than just another tale of an artist's struggle and redemption.
Throughout "Love", Howard adventurously mixes Barlow's dreams and fantasies with the drunken life he leads. He tries and pulls off some marvelously cinematic sequences. Of course, sobering doesn't begin to describe the ultimately hopeful journey Barlow makes, but it helps that the music is loaded with such "hard blues" gems as Kenny Brown's "Boxcar Blues", R.L. Burnside's "Everything Is Broken" and Tom Waits' "Long Way Home", one of two original songs he contributed.
BIG BAD LOVE
IFC Films
A Pieface/Rocking S production
Director: Arliss Howard
Screenwriters: James Howard, Arliss Howard
Producer: Debra Winger
Executive producers: Manfred Wilde, Barry Navidi, Arliss Howard, Debra Winger
Director of photography: Paul Ryan
Production/costume designer: Patricia Norris
Editor: Jay Rabinowitz
Casting: Penny Perry
Color/stereo
Cast:
Barlow: Arliss Howard
Marilyn: Debra Winger
Monroe: Paul Le Mat
Velma: Rosanna Arquette
Mrs. Barlow: Angie Dickinson
Deputy: Alex Van
Mr. Aaron: Michael Parks
Running time -- 110 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 2/25/2002
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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