Runtime: I saw the 93 minute Reprise Cut
Directed by: Francis Ford Coppola
Starring: Teri Garr (RIP), Frederic Forrest, Raul Julia, Nastassja Kinski, Lainie Kazan, Harry Dean Stanton
From: Zoetrope Studios
A belated RIP to Teri Garr. Hearing two months ago she passed away made me as sad as it did many others, even if I haven’t reviewed too many of the prominent roles Garr had. I don’t love After Hours or Close Encounters of the Third Kind like most do but my not liking those movies had nothing to do with the quality performances Garr gave.. Back in the summer when the film released on 4K UHD, a blind buy was made. Those rarely occur these days yet the hope was that it’d at least be something to play on mute in the future to have something pretty on screen. That presumption was correct, BTW. To clarify, I saw the new Reprise cut rather than the Theatrical cut included on the accompanied Blu.
Back when the disc was purchased, I was hopeful that Megalopolis (a.k.a. the other example of Coppola spending millions of dollars on a passion project only for it to be ruinous for him critically and commercially) would be a delight. Instead, Megalopolis was pure misery, utterly stupefying! Romantic musicals aren’t a genre I seek out-be that as it may, the talent involved plus the deliberate artificial artifice of creating Las Vegas on soundstages intrigued. One from the Heart was at least better than Megalopolis.
Garr and Forrest were a tumultuous couple who broke up on their 5th anniversary & spent the night w/ new partners; of course it’s more complicated than that, but… to state a controversial opinion right off the bat: the popularity of Tom Waits & his music is a phenomenon that will forever be perplexing. In Heart, it is full of chilled jazz which sounds nice and I enjoyed Crystal Gayle’s contributions. Lamentably, I wish someone else would have been the male singer other than Waits… someone whose singing voice isn’t like fingernails on a chalkboard, sorry. At least there were long stretches where he didn’t sing and otherwise the soundtrack does rate highly.
The film as a whole: a shame it wasn’t as enchanting as it was for many here on Letterboxd. My confusion over why Hank and Frannie were even a couple after the venomous, vindictive argument they had in the opening act—that was a problem. I was hoping they’d find loves more compatible. An even bigger problem: was I supposed to hate Hank by the end? I sure as heck did. The first two acts it was alright but the final act, I hated him. Then again, I HATED most of the final act and it ruined the entire movie; blunt, yet I did get angry at the decisions that were made, the odd moments of editing, the random 30 seconds of slapstick that stuck out like a sore thumb. It made me turn against One from the Heart.
What a , the movie’s artifice did work in the context of the movie and it was a nice main cast on display. It’s always nice seeing the likes of Raul Julia & Nastassja Kinski; the most amusing characters to me were portrayed by Lainie Kazan and Harry Dean Stanton. Stanton’s tanned appearance, his clothing, and especially his hair… incredible, and that’s even before I heard him utter some hysterical lines.
Garr did arguably have the best performance; it was more than just how she looked in that red dress… she was fetching and at least for me, I was hoping she would find a happy outcome, no matter it be with Ray or another character that was not Hank. As much as I didn’t like the final 20 minutes before they hit the end credits, there’s about a 5 minute stretch that I loved—it was the big elaborate musical number. The 4K release I do rate quite highly so if you have a UHD player and love the film…
While I wish it wasn’t the case that Teri Garr was the best part of several films I don’t love like most everyone else… it was overdue for me to offer her praise. Her lengthy struggles w/ MS + other health issues: a shame. She still left an impressive legacy behind.
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