A Woman under the Influence Movie Review

Housewife Gena Rowlands is cracking up and husband Peter Falk doesn't understand why. I'm with Peter Falk on this one. I felt like a stranger who'd stumbled into a psychodramatic household for two and a half hours. At one point, when Gena Rowlands asks everyone in the house to leave so she can make love with her husband, I actually found myself blushing with acute embarrassment. Why were all those people there? Why was I there? John Cassavetes wrote roles that actors would kill to play—the lucky beneficiaries here are his wife and best friend in real life. By the time Rowlands starred in the gritty, Oscar-nominated title role of 1980's Gloria, the critical elite grumbled (unfairly) about how Cassavetes had made his films more accessible for mainstream audiences, but wait till they see how Sidney Lumet has sentimentalized it as a Sharon Stone vehicle for 1999 audiences!

1974 (R) 147m/C Gena Rowlands, Peter Falk, Matthew Cassel, Matthew Laborteaux, Christina Grisanti; D: John Cassavetes; W: John Cassavetes; C: Caleb Deschanel, Mitch Breit. Golden Globe Awards ‘75: Best Actress—Drama (Rowlands); National Board of Review Awards ‘74: Best Actress (Rowlands), National Film Registry ‘90;; Nominations: Academy Awards ‘74: Best Actress (Rowlands), Best Director (Cassavetes). VHS, Closed Caption, DVD