Head Over Heels (1979)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Joan Micklin Silver

Writers:

Ann Beattie (based on the novel "Chilly Scenes of Winter" by)
Joan Micklin Silver (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 July 1982 (Australia)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

A romantic comedy for all seasons.

Plot:

Charles is a Salt Lake City civil servant who loves (*LOVES*) Laura, a lovely housewife with a lovely step-daughter and an A-frame-selling...

Plot Keywords:

Stepdaughter | Husband Wife Relationship | Extramarital Affair | Salt Lake City Utah | Love Triangle

Cast

John Heard	...	Charles
Mary Beth Hurt	...	Laura
Peter Riegert	...	Sam
Kenneth McMillan	...	Pete
Gloria Grahame	...	Clara
Nora Heflin	...	Betty
Jerry Hardin	...	Patterson
Tarah Nutter	...	Susan
Mark Metcalf	...	Ox
Allen Joseph	...	Blind Man
Frances Bay	...	Mrs. DeLillo
Griffin Dunne	...	Mark
Alex Johnson	...	Elise
Beverly Rowland	...	Woman in park (as Beverly Booth Rowland)
Oscar Rowland

Also Known As:

Chilly Scenes of Winter (USA) (new title)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Company:

Triple Play Productions

Trivia:

Cameo: [Ann Beattie]the author of the original novel plays a waitress.

Quotes:

Sam: What do you want from a child her age? She never even went to Woodstock!
Charles: Neither did we.
Sam: But we *could* have.
Charles: That's true.
Susan: Listen, Woodstock was just a bunch of naked stoners looking for a place to pee. I saw the movie!

Movie Connections:

References Woodstock (1970)

Soundtrack:

Get It While You Can

the highs and lows are REAL

I have always loved this film, ever since I first saw it in its re-release as "CSOW" in 1982. I have never seen the "Head Over Heels" version, thankfully. What really hit me then was the parallel to an obsessive love affair I had just experienced. I was dumped by a woman I met at work, and it was several months before I got over it. I had an unfulfilling, drab office job, and an unemployed roommate sharing a house with me.

As a film, what makes this so special is its lack of pretense. The characters are as flawed as they are lovable. The relationship between Charles and his mother is as unsettling as it is comical. Even though Charles is a self-obsessed jerk, his simple devotion to the one wonderful, transcendent thing in his life - the love he and Laura shared - is endearing. He is not so much a stalker as someone who simply cannot bear the thought of returning to the uneventful, empty life he knew before Laura.