Grief (1993) User Reviews

I Liked It--A Soap Opera About A "Daytime Drama"

[ekeby · 7/10 · 15 June 2009]

I think some other reviewers here have missed the point. It's a soap opera.

The characters--script writers and producers--take details from their soap-opera lives and put them into the cheesy daytime drama they work on. That's obvious, of course, because we hear various references to their lives in the dialog of the show.

They're all grieving for different things, but they deal with the tragicomedy of their lives in a flip, sardonic way most of the time. It's one of the ways they manage to keep a lid on everything. Still, things boil over every once in a while. And, like a soap opera, situations escalate to high melodrama. These are theatrical people, after all.

So, I like the script. And the performances are all good; some are perfect. If there's a weak link in the acting, it's Jackie Beat as Jo. Initially she seems overly wound up and unconvincing, but she's so dedicated to the part that eventually you buy in. Chester and Douglas are wonderful, as usual.

You can tell it's a low-budget production, but it doesn't look cheap or haphazard. Okay, the cinematography isn't the best, but it's good enough.

Yes, by 2009 some of the gay genre story lines are over-familiar. But I say, don't be so hard on this movie. I think it captures the era well, and I, for one, was entertained throughout.

Professional cast rescues pointless drama

[Libretio · 4/10 · 28 January 2000]

GRIEF

Aspect ratio: 1.66:1

Sound format: Mono

Richard Glatzer's comedy-drama is an interesting, though somewhat pointless, glimpse into the lives of several people involved in an el cheapo TV soap opera. There's much to enjoy: The brilliant ensemble cast rise above the impoverished production values; Alexis Arquette kisses men with extraordinary relish; and the fabulously sexy Carlton Wilborn strips down to the bare essentials (only briefly, but *what* an eyeful!). But the script doesn't seem to go anywhere and fails to offer any startling revelations or insights into the lives of these characters. There's a few scattered laughs along the way and the acting is fine, but the film adds very little to the burgeoning subgenre of Queer Cinema.

A fantastic movie, shockingly overlooked and unappreciated

[jm10701 · 30 July 2013]

Grief is a fantastic movie. Most of the (shockingly few) other reviewers must have had their heads elsewhere while they watched it.

It is a modest but beautifully written, directed and acted drama about the family-like team of misfit writers of a low-brow afternoon-TV divorce-court show. The excerpts from The Love Judge are always hilarious (especially the "Circus Lesbians" episode, which had me rolling on the floor), but the behind-the-scenes drama is pure character study, serious but never plodding. All the comedy is in the Love Judge segments, which are well integrated into the backstage drama as the writers wrestle with the relevant scripts.

The writers (played by Craig Chester, Alexis Arquette, Lucy Gutteridge and Carlton Wilborn) are presided over by the show's producer Jo (Jackie Beat, aka Kent Fuher, who also plays a polar-opposite thug in "Circus Lesbians") and her writer-wannabe assistant Leslie (Illeana Douglas), with a few peripheral characters. The whole cast is fantastic, especially Chester and Beat/Fuher - and it's the first time I've ever seen Arquette actually act (ie, play a character who isn't him, in this case a mostly straight guy), and he's not bad! The several sources of drama are all believable, and the resolution is satisfying without being in any way forced.

I really, truly love this movie! I'm astounded that it has been so badly overlooked and dissed in the 20 years since it was made. Shame on the reviewers - here and elsewhere - who have treated it with such contempt! Not only does it deserve to be considered a gay classic, but it's a much better movie than most that are. It's extremely well made, great fun to watch, very entertaining and very satisfying.

Good Grief

[ApolloBoy109 · 3/10 · 16 August 2006]

What we have here are some talented actors, a boring script and a pedestrian director. They are all trying but nothing gels in this production.

Ms. Douglas is the stand out here. You cringe when you hear some of her dialog and realize it only sounds descent because the actress is so good. Hats off to Alexis Arquette for believing in his character too. Wilborn and Hoffman also turn in fine performances, the latter being highly handsome.

The entire process reminded me of a student film or a Cuban Soap Opera. People endlessly emote, discuss and analyze without conveying the story -- without propelling it forward to its conclusion.

Pacing and narrative are lost in what amounts to stagey direction, as if a camera was propped up and the actors were let loose. If the characters were more compelling we might simply call this a character study but really nothing that's happening in their lives merits a full screen production. Lastly, casting a large man in the lead female role was distracting and all for naught.

Not a failure, not a success.

Good story – spoilt by the cast trying to out-camp each other in a `flaming' war

[bob the moo · 23 March 2002]

Behind the scenes of trashy TV show `The love judge' a team of writers , editors and producers work to churn out tasteless scripts. However there are also tensions, love triangles, unfulfilled lust and potential promotions – all in one week.

When I watched this I thought it was meant to be a comedy so I must admit that I was a little misled – no fault of the film though. When I got over this I settled back to watch a drama/comedy of sorts. The story is difficult because it just felt like an amateurish mess of camp characters who's lives seem too hysterical and OTT to care about – many of them being flaming queens. However under all this is a nice story which is best at the end.

Unfortunately this story has been buried by a director who still feels like he's trying things out – some scenes have a real student film feel to them. However what really ruined the story was the characters (and the actors). The characters are too camp – I'm not sure if American gay men are like this for real, but they all felt too flaming and took away from the emotional core of the film. Yes the campness brought some comedy in some scenes but it really killed off the drama and was only one step away from out and out stereotype.

Of the cast Kent Fuher was good as Jo (but seems too much in awe of Divine herself) and Chester was quite understated and worked well with a character who is complex at heart. However the rest – namely Arquette and Wilborn just camped it up like mad. The cast did feel at times like they were all friends in college who got together to make a student film.

Overall this has a good story at it's core. However the student film feel takes a little away and the flaming campness is not really my thing. However if you're into that scene (and not offended by the camp stereotypes) then there's much to enjoy here.