Rich in Love

An exquisite little film from director Bruce Beresford, from Josephine Humphrey's wonderful novel. An ensemble cast does terrific work with Albert Finney and Jill Clayburg outstanding in their roles. The true gem of a performance comes from Kathryn Erbe in a part she gives depth and beauty. As the young high school girl coming-of-age, she is nothing less than superb. Once she steps before the camera, she is mesmerizing in her loveliness and her gifts as an actor are electric on screen. It is certainly a performance deserving of an Oscar nomination and I expected such after I saw this in the theater. By all rights, this should have been a star making role for Erbe and though she has done very well in her distinguished career, for some reason Hollywood powers did not take note of the stunning talent she displayed in this movie. She is worthy of far more recognition than she has received if only an Emmy for her wonderful portrayal of Detective Alex Eames in Law and Order: Criminal Intent. She gave that understated character complexity, sensitivity, and humanity while too often in the shadow of her co-star. She held her own, however, and Eames is some of her finest work. Perhaps the casting couch was simply not worth it to Erbe and she chose to act without compromising her honor. Whatever the reason, one can only watch this film and wonder why she isn't given roles played by much less talented actresses today. The script is also well written, intelligent, and often moving. One of the most touching films about the South, youth awakening to the real world, and life itself. A beautiful film with some outstanding acting that some how slipped under the radar and never was as acclaimed as it should have been.

"Rich in Love" is a slice-of-life film which takes the viewer into the goings on of a somewhat quirky Charleston, SC family. Highly romanticized, beautifully shot, well written and acted, "RIL" washes over you like a summer breeze as its plotless meandering breathes life into the characters such that at film's end you'll feel like an old friend of the family.

A wonderfully crafted character-driven film from the director of "Driving Miss Daisy", "RIL" is a somewhat obscure little "sleeper" which will appeal most to mature audiences.

As her family begins to unravel, young Lucille Odom (Kathryn Erbe) enburdens herself with the job of holding the whole deal together, including a casual father (Albert Finney) and a wild older sister (Suzi Amis).

Erbe, a Chicagoan who does far too much work on stage and too little on film (What About Bob?), is wonderful, Finney, brilliant. The story does tend to wander, and each of the new characters that crosses our path (including Piper Laurie and Alfre Woodard) tend to show us as many weaknesses as strengths. Such is the honesty of the tale.

The Southern (Charleston?) setting is wonderfully comfortable-we ride the visual images as much as the heartfelt characters. The whole thing has a Hallmark Hall of Fame feeling---with not the perfunctory payoff in the end

I like this film very much.

After all the relentlessly hyped bad movies, it's a treat to stumble on a gem that was shelved or underpublicized a few years ago, this one on the Romance Channel. (This channel turns out to be, surprisingly, a source for some excellent modest movies in addition to the occasional bodice-ripper). "Rich in Love" is a 1992 movie that manages to be heart-warming without sentimentality. The focus is on a high-school girl (Kathryn Erbe) whose mother, with great deliberation, has walked out on the likeable slob of a father (Albert Finney) and her. The girl, Lucy, misses her high-school graduation in order to stabilize her stunned father, to try to understand the action of her mother (Jill Clayburgh), to head off her dad's new girlfriend (Tuesday Weld), and to cope with her neurotic older sister when she makes a surprise appearance with a new husband and an unwanted pregnancy. Finney, whom I find insufferably mannered in most of his recent roles, is marvelously believable as a cheerful but bewildered southern good-ol' boy. Weld and Clayburgh are both equally good as very different and very real women. Still, the acting honors, which the whole cast earns, go especially to Erbe who plays the youngest daughter with a kind of low-key truth and strength that is a pleasure to watch. One of the chief charms of the direction is a sense of reality in the place. Almost every scene evokes small-town South Carolina, and even the interiors of three houses seem far more like actual places than Hollywood usually manages. This movie is the antithesis of "sensational," but when your last megamonster movie leaves a crater in your memory, you will

Director Bruce Beresford brings Josephine Humphrey's beautiful novel with sensitivity and amazing insight. His use of locations and the stunning backdrop is done with an eye for the landscape, just as his depiction of the characters is done with an instinct and empathy for humanity. Those characters are portrayed wonderfully by Albert Finney and Jill Clayburgh as very real people and not simply as caricatures of typical Southerners. Outstanding in the role of the young girl Lucille is the gifted Kathryn Erbe. She is nothing less than superb and would have been a true star making role if the film had been more successful at the box office. Although the film was not seen by many, Erbe's performance is some of her finest work and her incredible talent shines even among the members of this veteran cast. She is deeply moving in this film and Erbe makes Lucille one of the most memorable young women in cinema history.