Faithful (1996)

Director:

Paul Mazursky

Writers (WGA):

Chazz Palminteri (play)
Chazz Palminteri (screenplay)

Release Date:

3 April 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Crime | Drama

Tagline:

A comedy about a wife, her husband and his hit man.

Plot:

A depressed housewife whose husband is having an affair contemplates suicide, but changes her mind when she faces death by a killer hired to do her in.

Plot Keywords:

Black Comedy | Suicide Attempt | Doctor Patient Relationship | Professional Killer | Bathroom

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Cher	...	Margaret
Chazz Palminteri	...	Tony
Ryan O'Neal	...	Jack Connor
Paul Mazursky	...	Dr. Susskind
Amber Smith	...	Debbie
Elisa Leonetti	...	Maria
Mark Nassar	...	Maria's Boyfriend
Stephen Spinella	...	Young Man at Rolls
Jeffrey Wright	...	Young Man at Rolls
David Marino	...	Little Tony
Steven Randazzo	...	Tony's Father
Olinda Turturro	...	Tony's Mother
Max Norat	...	Jewelery Store Salesman
Allison Janney	...	Saleslady
Chris O'Neill	...	Priest

MPAA:

Rated R for language and sex-related dialogue.

Runtime:

91 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Certification:

UK:15 (TV rating) | Iceland:12 | USA:R (certificate #33683) | Australia:M | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Singapore:NC-16 | Germany:12 | Portugal:M/12 | Spain:13

Filming Locations:

Harrison, New York, USA

Company:

Miramax Films

Trivia:

Elizabeth Taylor and Paul Newman were originally down to play the parts later taken up by Cher and Ryan O'Neal.

Goofs:

Continuity: The sandwich that Margaret is eating.

Quotes:

[two men are admiring a Rolls Royce parked near the sidewalk]
Young Man at Rolls: Nice Rolls. Beautiful. Incredible.
Young Man at Rolls: You see the line, though?
Young Man at Rolls: It's incredibly beautiful. I wonder what it costs.
Young Man at Rolls: More than we could ever afford.
Young Man at Rolls: Yeah, well, wouldn't it be great to have a car like this? Totally awesome.
Margaret: [looking miserable] It wont make you happy.
Young Man at Rolls: [realizing her presence] What?
Margaret: This car, it won't make you happy.
Young Man at Rolls: [scoffs] I'll look happy, though.
[...]

Movie Connections:

References The Rains of Ranchipur (1955)

Soundtrack:

Let's Face The Music And Dance

Cher can be a good actress - but not always

"Faithful" is a worth-watching film, somewhere between comedy and drama, but not tragicomedy. It stars Cher as a rich but rejected wife who wants to take her life on her 20th anniversary. But then a hitman hired by her husband gets into her house. He ties her to a chair and they start to talk - as it's an adaption of a play - and slowly Cher's wish to live on is growing. The dialogue is quite spirited and also funny, you shouldn't miss it. And it's pretty cool when the hitman is making phone-calls to his psychiatrist and vice versa, again and again. You have to enjoy this, it's almost 'tarantinoesque', but better, because there is no celebration of violence here. Nevertheless, in the end it gets kind of disturbing and boring. Now the movie finally suffers from the fact that basically only three actors are involved. Cher's acting is very good in the beginning, her facial acting is fabulous when portraying the desperate woman meeting her killer. But from the moment when her husband (Ryan O'Neal) returns, her character is much less convincing and her face of vivid emotion turns a face of a pale mask of make-up, which - forgive me - she may think makes her look one or two decades younger. Now my vote: 7 out of 10!