Nobody's Fool

Rating:
Summary: High level of maturity needed absolutely. Great movie!
Review: A real sleeper - a quirky caricature town masks wonderful character development. Roberts is extraordinary as vulnerable, loner, insecure, long reformed bad boy from LA; Arquette tugs at heart strings as Scarlet Letter woman in small town, an outcast as much because she's an individual as because of what she's done. Watch for Roberts' scene with Arquette in the spaghetti dinner hall near the end - if you're not moved, you haven't loved. One of my all-time favorite movies, a personal discovery.

Rating:
Summary: Good characters in a modest movie
Review: Hi, as one of the actors in this small film, I really appreciate the kind words about it. The screenplay by Beth Henley was very funny, infact, in it's original form, the script was a laugh riot. Somehow, either by cost cutting or by director and editing cuts the film was whittled down to a quirky romance, with a lot of the comedy missing. It's still a sweet and funny film. So buy it or rent it, but if you like quirky characters, you'll like this film. -Dean Ricca

Rating:
Summary: Sweet, offbeat romance
Review: I saw this film when it ran in NYC in 1986, and like the rest of the audience (who applauded when it was over), was totally charmed by it. I could never understand why it didn't do better at the box office - poor marketing, perhaps? I understand it's done very well as a video.

The performances and the originality of the script are what stand out in this film. Rosanna Arquette manages to be funny and heartbreaking at the same time. Eric Roberts is so damned sexy and appealing in this film, it's hard to understand why he didn't get more romantic leads. When Arquette's character shouts at him, "Stop looking at me with those eyes!", every woman in the audience knows what she is talking about. He is magnetic, and gives great dimension to a somewhat underwritten part. The chemistry between these two is great. All of the supporting actors give first rate performances.

Some of the quirkiness of Beth Henley's script could have been whittled down - she seems to delight in presenting odd characters for effect, such as the albino bride, schizophrenic cousin and the obese younger brother, who don't add a lot to the story, but seem like contrived distractions. These elements might work in her plays, but only take away from the development of the main characters and their relationship to each other.

What she does get right is the complex relationship between love, obsession, humor and disaster. In Henley's world, tragedy exists right around the corner from happiness, and nothing is black and white.

It was interesting to read the comments from Dean, an actor in this film. It does seem like editing might have done this one in. I could have used more development of the Riley character, a little more humor, and less parading of oddballs.

But all in all, a worthwhile film for its performances and originality. It looks good too, with lovely shots of the outdoors, and attractive, appealing leads. All in all, one of the more memorable movies I've ever seen. Even if it stunk at the box office, those involved should be proud of it.

Rating:
Summary: Sweet, offbeat romance
Review: I saw this film when it ran in NYC in 1986, and like the rest of the audience (who applauded when it was over), was totally charmed by it. I could never understand why it didn't do better at the box office - poor marketing, perhaps? I understand it's done very well as a video.

The performances and the originality of the script are what stand out in this film. Rosanna Arquette manages to be funny and heartbreaking at the same time. Eric Roberts is so damned sexy and appealing in this film, it's hard to understand why he didn't get more romantic leads. When Arquette's character shouts at him, "Stop looking at me with those eyes!", every woman in the audience knows what she is talking about. He is magnetic, and gives great dimension to a somewhat underwritten part. The chemistry between these two is great. All of the supporting actors give first rate performances.

Some of the quirkiness of Beth Henley's script could have been whittled down - she seems to delight in presenting odd characters for effect, such as the albino bride, schizophrenic cousin and the obese younger brother, who don't add a lot to the story, but seem like contrived distractions. These elements might work in her plays, but only take away from the development of the main characters and their relationship to each other.

What she does get right is the complex relationship between love, obsession, humor and disaster. In Henley's world, tragedy exists right around the corner from happiness, and nothing is black and white.

It was interesting to read the comments from Dean, an actor in this film. It does seem like editing might have done this one in. I could have used more development of the Riley character, a little more humor, and less parading of oddballs.

But all in all, a worthwhile film for its performances and originality. It looks good too, with lovely shots of the outdoors, and attractive, appealing leads. All in all, one of the more memorable movies I've ever seen. Even if it stunk at the box office, those involved should be proud of it.

Rating:
Summary: Good characters in a modest movie
Review: Rosanna Arquette and Eric Roberts, especially, are very good in this movie. Their budding relationship and the unfolding of their ambitions for the future, circumscribed by their clear limitations, weaknesses, and past histories, is interesting and worthwhile. Unfortunately I was distracted by what I felt were cheap laughs at the expense of many characters, including Arquette's ridiculous birthday-balloon costume, the incompetence at the acting workshops, and the characters at her workplace. While it was insightful that Arquette was vilified for actions that would be easy to forget in a big city, her family's nature would be enough to place her at the margins of society. Pretty good and worth seeing, too bad it wasn't better.

Rating:
Summary: Favorite Movie of all times
Review: This movie needs to come out on DVD.... Does anyone know WHEN it might?

Rating:
Summary: Favorite Movie of all times
Review: This movie needs to come out on DVD.... Does anyone know WHEN it might?