Grief (1993)

User Rating:

5.7/10   

Director:

Richard Glatzer

Writer (WGA):

Richard Glatzer (written by)

Release Date:

7 December 1995 (Germany)

Genre:

Comedy

Plot:

We spend a week in the L.A. offices where the daytime TV show "The Love Judge" is written and produced...

Plot Keywords:

Homosexuality | Screwball | Bereavement | Gay Interest | Soap

Awards:

2 wins & 1 nomination

Cast

Craig Chester	...	Mark
Illeana Douglas	...	Leslie
Alexis Arquette	...	Bill
Kent Fuher	...	Jo
Carlton Wilborn	...	Jeremy
Lucy Gutteridge	...	Paula
Robin Swid	...	Kelly
William Rotko	...	BIll #2 (as Bill Rotko)
Shawn Hoffman	...	Ben
Frank Rehwaldt	...	Mover
Greg Bennett	...	Mover
Mickey Cottrell	...	Judge
Katherine Connella	...	Beverley / Ginger
Mary Woronov	...	Attorney
Mauri Bernstein	...	Attorney

Runtime:

Germany:90 min | UK:87 min | USA:87 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M

Company:

Grief Productions

Soundtrack:

By the Time It Get's Dark

I Liked It--A Soap Opera About A "Daytime Drama"

I think some other reviewers here have missed the point. It's a soap opera.

The characters--script writers and producers--take details from their soap-opera lives and put them into the cheesy daytime drama they work on. That's obvious, of course, because we hear various references to their lives in the dialog of the show.

They're all grieving for different things, but they deal with the tragicomedy of their lives in a flip, sardonic way most of the time. It's one of the ways they manage to keep a lid on everything. Still, things boil over every once in a while. And, like a soap opera, situations escalate to high melodrama. These are theatrical people, after all.

So, I like the script. And the performances are all good; some are perfect. If there's a weak link in the acting, it's Kent Fuher (Jackie Beat) as Jo. Initially he seems overly wound up and unconvincing, but he's so dedicated to the part that eventually you buy in. Chester and Douglas are wonderful, as usual.

You can tell it's a low-budget production, but it doesn't look cheap or haphazard. Okay, the cinematography isn't the best, but it's good enough.

Yes, by 2009 some of the gay genre story lines are over-familiar. But I say, don't be so hard on this movie. I think it captures the era well, and I, for one, was entertained throughout.