Head Over Heels (1979)

User Rating:

6.9/10   

Director:

Joan Micklin Silver

Writers:

Ann Beattie (based on the novel "Chilly Scenes of Winter" by)
Joan Micklin Silver (screenplay)

Release Date:

15 July 1982 (Australia)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

A romantic comedy for all seasons.

Plot:

Charles is a Salt Lake City civil servant who loves (*LOVES*) Laura, a lovely housewife with a lovely step-daughter and an A-frame-selling...

Plot Keywords:

Stepdaughter | Husband Wife Relationship | Extramarital Affair | Salt Lake City Utah | Love Triangle

Cast

John Heard	...	Charles
Mary Beth Hurt	...	Laura
Peter Riegert	...	Sam
Kenneth McMillan	...	Pete
Gloria Grahame	...	Clara
Nora Heflin	...	Betty
Jerry Hardin	...	Patterson
Tarah Nutter	...	Susan
Mark Metcalf	...	Ox
Allen Joseph	...	Blind Man
Frances Bay	...	Mrs. DeLillo
Griffin Dunne	...	Mark
Alex Johnson	...	Elise
Beverly Rowland	...	Woman in park (as Beverly Booth Rowland)
Oscar Rowland

Also Known As:

Chilly Scenes of Winter (USA) (new title)

Runtime:

92 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:PG | USA:PG

Filming Locations:

Salt Lake City, Utah, USA

Company:

Triple Play Productions

Trivia:

Cameo: [Ann Beattie]the author of the original novel plays a waitress.

Quotes:

Sam: What do you want from a child her age? She never even went to Woodstock!
Charles: Neither did we.
Sam: But we *could* have.
Charles: That's true.
Susan: Listen, Woodstock was just a bunch of naked stoners looking for a place to pee. I saw the movie!

Movie Connections:

References Woodstock (1970)

Soundtrack:

Skylark

Other title: Chilly Scenes of Winter

more aptly describes this gem of a movie. Not on cable as much as lesser films, unfortunately.

John Heard is excellent as the unrequited lover, pursuing Laura, a woman in a mediocre marriage, on-again off-again.

What is nice about this film is it sort of imitates life: things happen for no reason, odd characters (Gloria Grahame as mom is very good) People with their own quirks and problems. This was filmed in Salt Lake City Utah, and gives us a nice backdrop of emotion, estranged relationships, hopes for the future.

Peter Riegert (amusing as the unemployed jacket salesman with a physics background). John Heard is quirky and sympathetic at his office job, where he pours a cup of vodka for himself, trying to figure out how to win Laura back. Mary Beth Hurt is also believable, as a confused woman on the fence about her marriage to an A-frame salesman named "Ox".

Joan Micklin Silver is to be commended for her direction in this film. Oddly, I also reviewed an LMN movie she directed, "Hunger Point" with Barbara Hershey. I enjoyed that film. The director seemed to add touches of humanity into that film as well. "Chilly Scenes of Winter" is not to be missed, a nice human film which anyone who has wondered why they can't just have a "normal life", will relate to and enjoy. 9/10.