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IMDbPro

Fool for Love

  • 1985
  • R
  • 1h 46m
IMDb RATING
6.0/10
2.8K
YOUR RATING
Kim Basinger and Sam Shepard in Fool for Love (1985)
May is waiting for her boyfriend in a run-down American motel, when an old flame turns up and threatens to undermine her efforts and drag her back into the life that she was running away from. The situation soon turns complicated.
Play trailer2:51
1 Video
92 Photos
Drama

May is waiting for her boyfriend in a run-down American motel, when an old flame turns up and threatens to undermine her efforts and drag her back into the life that she was running away fro... Read allMay is waiting for her boyfriend in a run-down American motel, when an old flame turns up and threatens to undermine her efforts and drag her back into the life that she was running away from. The situation soon turns complicated.May is waiting for her boyfriend in a run-down American motel, when an old flame turns up and threatens to undermine her efforts and drag her back into the life that she was running away from. The situation soon turns complicated.

  • Director
    • Robert Altman
  • Writer
    • Sam Shepard
  • Stars
    • Sam Shepard
    • Kim Basinger
    • Harry Dean Stanton
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    6.0/10
    2.8K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Robert Altman
    • Writer
      • Sam Shepard
    • Stars
      • Sam Shepard
      • Kim Basinger
      • Harry Dean Stanton
    • 16User reviews
    • 16Critic reviews
    • 64Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 1 win & 2 nominations

    Videos1

    Trailer
    Trailer 2:51
    Watch Trailer

    Photos92

    Fool for Love (1985)
    Fool for Love (1985)
    Kim Basinger at an event for Fool for Love (1985)
    Rebecca De Mornay and Randy Quaid at an event for Fool for Love (1985)
    Rebecca De Mornay and Richard Cox at an event for Fool for Love (1985)
    Fool for Love (1985)
    Fool for Love (1985)
    Fool for Love (1985)
    Randy Quaid in Fool for Love (1985)
    Harry Dean Stanton in Fool for Love (1985)
    Kim Basinger in Fool for Love (1985)
    Kim Basinger in Fool for Love (1985)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Sam Shepard
    Sam Shepard
    • Eddie…
    Kim Basinger
    Kim Basinger
    • May…
    Harry Dean Stanton
    Harry Dean Stanton
    • Old Man
    Randy Quaid
    Randy Quaid
    • Martin
    Martha Crawford
    • May's Mother
    Louise Egolf
    • Eddie's Mother
    Sura Cox
    • May…
    Jonathan Skinner
    • Eddie…
    April Russell
    • May…
    Deborah McNaughton
    • The Countess
    Lon Hill
    • Mr. Valdes
    • Director
      • Robert Altman
    • Writer
      • Sam Shepard
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Kim Basinger replaced Jessica Lange as May. Lange was set to star opposite real-life partner Sam Shepard but became pregnant and the part had to be re-cast with Basinger stepping in.
    • Quotes

      May: Do you want me to finish the story, Eddie?

    • Connections
      Featured in At the Movies: Young Sherlock Holmes/Fool for Love/Rocky IV/The Official Story (1985)
    • Soundtracks
      Let's Ride
      Written and Performed by Sandy Rogers

      Produced by Jim Gaines

    User reviews16

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    Interesting failure from the doldrums of Altman's career.
    The 80's were not very kind to Altman. After the disappointment of Popeye, both artistically and at the box office, he was banished from Hollywood. Altman burnt too many bridges on the Popeye shoot and so ended up at the University of Michigan teaching his films and staging plays, among other things. His filmography during this time tended towards smaller stories, often derived from stage plays. He had limited artistic success and almost no commercial success during this time. Fool for Love is among his most successful works from this time period, both critical and commercially but it is one of the Altman's most inaccessible films.

    This film is a bizarre marriage of ponderous melodrama and the light detached bemused tone that is iconic Altman. Shepard's script, from his play, tells a battle of the sexes doomed romance story with a dash of family squabble that reminds me of a striped down version of Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf? As written the story is a series of preposterous reveals and twists that upon final analysis add up to very little. It is all smoke and mirrors. The story is engaging because it is utterly weird. It has a roughness to it that shows promise, but Shepard does not know what to do with these characters in the end.

    Fortunately, Altman leans into the script's limited setting. The motel on the edge of society coupled with the Western motifs present really allows Altman to bring out the absurdity present in the script. The film is dryly funny; it really undermines the Western image of masculinity. But the direction doesn't seem to link up to the script which also makes the film not add up too much. (And the photography is quite lovely to look at)

    A must for Altman fans but others would be advised to check out other Altman films first.
    helpful•8
    0
    • CubsandCulture
    • Jul 30, 2019

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    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • May 14, 1986 (France)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Language
      • English
    • Also known as
      • Fool for Love - Verrückt vor Liebe
    • Filming locations
      • Las Vegas, New Mexico, USA
    • Production companies
      • Cinema '84
      • The Cannon Group
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $836,156
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $55,637
      • Dec 8, 1985
    • Gross worldwide
      • $836,156
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 46 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 2.35 : 1

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