Head Over Heels

This movie is a nice lil' gem, and notable for future lumanaries such as Animal House's Peter Reigert, Griffin Dunne (treemendous in After Hours) and John Heard (late of the Sopranos). But, the real steal in the film is Ms. Violet Bick herself, Jimmy Stewart's guilty pleasure in It's a Wonderful Life: Gloria Grahame.

I couldn't find this anywhere to rent, so I bought it. I wasn't going to MAKE myself like it, just because of John Heard, but I actually turned out to love it. It took another watching to really like it though. It's not that exciting, it's laid back. The plot isn't really unique, but Heard does GREAT with the role. I think it's his best to date. The movie is cute, but serious at the same time. I'm now convinced, that if he was young today, he'd be as popular (should be more) than people like Tom Cruise. He had it all! Mary Beth Hurt was good in the other role, too. Well, good movie, it's not for everyone though. 8/10.

"Chilly Scenes of Winter"was originally called, "Head Over Heels" and had its ending re edited and dramatically changed so that the film swerved from a positive, uplifting little character study of quirky, interesting and flawed people into a sad, depressing portrayal of losers mired in their failures with no hope of redemption. I always wondered why Joan Micklin Silver decided to re edit the original film,which had an ending that fit the tone so much better. Was she forced by a studio? Did she actually think that she was improving it by abandoning the positive and embracing the dark? The title "Chilly Scenes of Winter"may fit its edited ending, but diminishes the film.

The one good thing here for me was John Heard's acting. I think he did what he was asked to do and did it well. But overall the movie is a flat, depressing ramble through a meaningless life with no focus, no belief, no honor or integrity. It's petty and it is gross. All you can do to finish the movie is put aside every good instinct that the honorless ,immoral sects of society belittle and hate and ramble along with them getting depressed by their low and meaningless mistakes.

This whimsical if inconsequential romantic comedy owes a lot of its idiosyncrasies to 'Annie Hall', but while not in the same league as Woody Allen it has an offbeat charm all its own. The original, numbskull title 'Head Over Heels' aptly describes love struck civil servant John Heard's fixation with married girlfriend Mary Beth Hurt. Neither character is particularly complicated, but an eccentric secondary cast and some unpredictable plot lines keep the film buoyant and enjoyable even at its most superficial, although it helps to share some of the couple's featherweight romantic angst. The script was adapted from a novel by Ann Beattie.

I first saw this film in Berkeley around 1982 or '83, wasn't aware until now that it had been made 3 years earlier. At the time, I had already read and was a fan of Beattie's Chilly Scenes of Winter, upon which this is based, and was confused as to why Silver had retitled it "Head Over Heels", but it's not uncommon, and I thoroughly enjoyed the film, especially as it was true to the book. I then heard that Silver had been unsatisfied with the ending, re-cut it for video, and changed the name back to "Chilly Scenes of Winter". I rented the video to see the changes, and discovered that she had cut the last ten minutes or so of the film, which totally changed it from the way the book ends, and, incidentally, lessens the quality of the film. Thus, it went from a 9 to an 8 for me. As for the previous poster, Mary Beth Hurt was in fact in a relationship with William Hurt, to whom John Heard bears a resemblance; MB and William were married for 10 years.

I, for one, love Head Over Heels more than the newer release of CSOW. I loved the choices the director made with camera angles in telling the story - halting to allow the protagonist to talk directly to the camera. It was a brilliant and witty film, and Heard was so good I actually felt his pain of pining away over a lost love. There were so many memorable characters in addition to Charles' mom: the stepfather; the office worker, Betty; the boss; the roommate; the sister and her fiancé; Laura's ex-husband. I loved this movie, and I would love to get a copy of the original Head Over Heels version. I liked the original ending much better. Why this movie didn't win a plethora of awards is beyond me. Valerie.