Chilly Scenes of Winter

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.