Friday, December 30, 2005
THEATER OF CRUELTY
This has to be the meanest of the NYTimes Best 1176 Films that I have seen.
Directed by Elaine May from a play by Neil Simon, this movie features Charles Grodin as a pure asshole who makes a bad decision with his first marriage and acts to take back his vows on the first night of the honeymoon. The wife is pretty bad but he did choose her.
The vehicle for his betrayal is his obsession with a blond he meets on the beach, Cybill Shepherd.
There is no way for us to get by the awful scenes of rejection of the nebbish wife. It is very painful to watch.
On the other hand, this nasty bastard deserves the cold calculation of Shepherd and her family headed by the wonderful Eddy Albert.
They even live in frigid Minneapolis/St. Paul.
I have the feeling that might be the actual heartbreak; life with these awful people.
Yeh, I know it is social commentary and almost satire and so on. And, I didn't like it. Not one bit.
I will give it a 1 out Netflix5.
