Love Letters (1983/II)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Amy Holden Jones

Writer:

Amy Holden Jones (writer)

Release Date:

27 January 1984 (USA)

Genre:

Thriller

Plot:

A story of love and obsession. A young radio personality who, after her mother dies, discovers she had been having a love affair for 15 years...

Plot Keywords:

Affair | Radio | Loss Of Mother | Nudity | Love Letter

Cast

Jamie Lee Curtis	...	Anna Winter
Bonnie Bartlett	...	Maggie Winter
Matt Clark	...	Chuck Winter
James Keach	...	Oliver Andrews
Amy Madigan	...	Wendy
Brian Wood	...	Frank
Phil Coccioletti	...	Ralph Glass
Larry Cedar	...	Jake
Michael Villella	...	Oliver's client
Jeff Doucette	...	Hippy
Sally Kirkland	...	Sally
Betsy Toll	...	Marcia Newell
Lyman Ward	...	Morgan Crawford
Shelby Leverington	...	Edith Andrews
Emma Floria	...	Emma (as Emma Chapman)

Also Known As:

My Love Letters
Passion Play

Runtime:

98 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Belgium:16 (video rating) | Singapore:R21 | UK:18 | USA:R | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Millenium

Goofs:

Boom mic visible: After Anna is pulled from the bathroom crying, and she's lying in bed while Oliver sits on the edge of the bed explaining how he feels about his marriage, the boom mic keeps poking in from above.

Underrated sleeper still works

This damn film still makes me cry.

There are elements of it that seem schmaltzy and trite at times, but the overall power of the story never lets up. Curtis has probably what are her finest moments in this tiny, almost never-seen film debut from Amy Jones (who did "Slumber Party Massacre" the year before to get the cash to make this Labor Of).

It's probably the most honest and gut-wrenching depiction of obsessional love I've seen, or maybe it's just obsession. Whatever it is, it's lacerating and not to be missed. There are times when, watching Curtis' performance, it's hard for your body not to ache at the anguish she seems to be feeling.

Back to Jones' script for a second... it's full of dark, moody moments that in another film would be over-the-top and pretentious, yet work beautifully here. The photographic portrait session comes immediately to mind...an awesome scene and the two actors playing it are never shown once. The whole affair is filled with little one-offs like this, all of which are presented with a late-autumn chill.

Add to the mix Amy Madigan and Bud Cort's usually fine work (and don't forget the underrated James Keach, whose seemingly at-first overly clinical readings are awkward, then completely fit the character once he's fleshed out). Oh yeah, and Ralph Jones' score is one of the most haunting and beautiful I've ever heard.

Gets me every time.