A Cooler Climate (1999) (TV)

User Rating:

6.4/10   

Director:

Susan Seidelman

Writers (WGA):

Zena Collier (novel)
Marsha Norman (teleplay)

Release Date:

22 August 1999 (USA)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Envy. Fidelity. Outrage....the start of a beautiful friendship.

Plot:

Iris is broke after her divorce and takes a job working as a housekeeper for a wealthy woman named Paula. When Paula and her husband separate, an unlikely friendship blossoms between the women.

Plot Keywords:

Housekeeper | Rich Woman | Male Nudity | Hiking | Kitchen

Awards:

Nominated for 2 Primetime Emmys. Another 3 nominations

Cast

Sally Field	...	Iris
Judy Davis	...	Paula
Winston Rekert	...	Jack
Jerry Wasserman	...	Leo
Carly Pope	...	Beth
Jessalyn Gilsig	...	Callie
Gerard Plunkett	...	Graham
Alec Willows	...	Marcus
Denalda Williams	...	Yvonne
Peter Yunker	...	Oliver
Rick Ravanello	...	Handsome Welder (as Rick Ravenello)
Tasha Simms	...	Boutique Owner
Suzanne Ristic	...	Iris' Lawyer
Doug Abrahams	...	Manager
Claire Riley	...	Customs Lawyer

MPAA:

Rated R for some sexuality and language.

Runtime:

99 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

UK:15 | USA:TV-PG (tv rating) | Germany:6 | USA:R | South Korea:18 | Argentina:13

Filming Locations:

Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada

Company:

Daniel L. Paulson Productions

Goofs:

Continuity: When Iris goes to the beach to read and eventually takes a nap, the sun is in the same position when she awakes as it was when she first got there.

Quotes:

Paula Tanner: Iris, I don't want to breathe. Why the hell would I want to go to the garage?

Movie Connections:

Featured in The 52nd Annual Primetime Emmy Awards (2000) (TV)

Maybe it's a woman's film. Maybe, but I wonder why.

I've read all the reviews of this film and wonder at some of them. I wonder why people think women's films are somehow exclusive to women, that men would not understand them. I wonder why others think a chick flick is somehow inferior to so called male films.

Women's films represent the most critical event in human relationships. We need to understand dreams, broken dreams, promises, broken promises, aspirations, reduced aspirations, truth between people, lies we tell, moral paths followed, moral paths abandoned, elation, depression, acceptance, rejection, power and pain. That's quite a list to get into about 90 minutes.

This film centers around 2 women who have endured a prickly relationship. Iris (Sally Field) divorced her husband after 26 years of marriage because she was bored with him and had an affair. The film makes clear that she made a mistake in not accepting 1/2 his net worth and alimony. Because she was "stupid", she took job housekeeping for a woman (Paula -- Judy Davis) who was brittle, unfeeling, arrogant, bossy and hopelessly unsympathetic to what Field might be going through (which included debt that would make most of us think of bankruptcy). Iris will endure almost anything except intrusion into her life.

That is the beginning of her introduction to the problems of humanity. Field cares enough about her to become angry and correct her (Paula). The film gently shifts as Iris declares her own needs. Iris begins to distance herself from Paula by developing outside interests, and in so doing strengthens herself to deal with Paula's collapse when her husband leaves her.

Paula must at last face herself, and what she sees is devastatingly destructive in its thoroughness. Her pain consumes her. Iris treats her with compassion, though Paula does not think so. She forces by constant nagging to get Paula out and their friendship such as it is, develops through anger to a deep honesty.

In the end, this film is about failure, about betrayed trust, about ignoring the reality of current circumstances, about getting up off the floor and breathing in and breathing out (as Tom Hanks said), about making the best of what is near us. It does not take divorce and pain to reach that conclusion. It takes only recognition of our own humanity.