Elizabeth-Perkins Movie Reviews

This is an odd film. It contains some of the most funny moments a courtroom has ever seen ("a hearing to decide the admissability of the word 'ass'? I love it!") combined with one of the most distrubing psycho portrayls I've seen. John Hurt is magnificently unnerving in his acting, while Judd manages to carry some of the most memorable courtroom antics ever. And I didn't even mention the DA's dildo....

This movie is the reason I went to law school. (No kidding, and I'm sure it influenced others my age to do the same but they'd never admit it). It's idealism, glory and sarcasm...and the movie is not too bad either. John Hurt probably should have recieved an Oscar nomination. - Liam

You know, back in the day when I first loved this, I just loved it. NOW I realize that this movie was the groundbreaker for the dude who does Ally McBeal and The Practice. No wonder I like those shows too!

Judd Nelson is really excellent in this movie. Of course I love Judd in anything. But this is one of those comedies which makes you think. You start out with a lot of great laughs but then later on it really takes on the philosophy of law and the justice system. All the while, keeping you informed and entertained.

This film has murder, mayhem, truth and daring. You will really be able to sink your teeth into this one. I wore out my VHS copy of it ages ago and was thrilled to be able to replace it with DVD. Buy it and you won't be sorry!

This is an odd film. It contains some of the most funny moments a courtroom has ever seen ("a hearing to decide the admissability of the word 'ass'? I love it!") combined with one of the most distrubing psycho portrayls I've seen. John Hurt is magnificently unnerving in his acting, while Judd manages to carry some of the most memorable courtroom antics ever. And I didn't even mention the DA's dildo....

This movie is the reason I went to law school. (No kidding, and I'm sure it influenced others my age to do the same but they'd never admit it). It's idealism, glory and sarcasm...and the movie is not too bad either. John Hurt probably should have recieved an Oscar nomination. - Liam

You know, back in the day when I first loved this, I just loved it. NOW I realize that this movie was the groundbreaker for the dude who does Ally McBeal and The Practice. No wonder I like those shows too!

Judd Nelson is really excellent in this movie. Of course I love Judd in anything. But this is one of those comedies which makes you think. You start out with a lot of great laughs but then later on it really takes on the philosophy of law and the justice system. All the while, keeping you informed and entertained.

This film has murder, mayhem, truth and daring. You will really be able to sink your teeth into this one. I wore out my VHS copy of it ages ago and was thrilled to be able to replace it with DVD. Buy it and you won't be sorry!

The title of this movie is literally what it is: he said, she said. If you look closely at the credits the movie has two directors and two writers as well as two leads for a reason.

Basically the movie is two mini-films telling the same story of a couple meeting, competing, coupling, and spliting twice. The first half centering on Kevin Bacon was written and directed by men and the second half, centering on Elizabeth Perkins was written and directed by women. Not only do they use the same basic plot, but they use the same scenes, each shown not only from the POV of a different character, but a different gender.

Each mini-film alone would be a passible romantic comedy, but what makes the movie really work is the contrast. After seeing his side: what was important, what was stupid, what was good, what was bad we see hers and realize how something that is absolutely nothing to one is the most important thing in the world to the other. Most importantly the differences reflect generally common wisdom on the topic. Once has to ask if this is intentional or the natural byproduct of the differences between men and women.

Bacon is, as usual, himself (Kevin Bacon, much like John Wayne, plays himself in most movies and certainly the ones where he is at his best). However, the everyman Bacon is the perfect choice for this role. Perkins is very good as the self-assured but still vulnerable woman from the first generation of post-feminist revolution career women who has feet in both the feminist (career) and pre-feminist (marriage and family) world. She is as fully realized as her later sisters such as Ally McBeal and Bridget Jones.

Add in Sharon Stone as the tramp (and a more interesting one than Basic Instinct for my money) who realized she was in love but too late, Nathan Lane as the perfect mix of caring boss, and stir in good writing in pacing and the result is a funny and insightful romantic comedy and an above average movie.

its one of the most romantic movies i ever seen!

What I can say about this lovely movie is that it was a very original idea to show the two points of view (male and female) about the developing of their relationship. Full of tiny delicious details, both stories are perfectly credible in real life, and at the same time show moments of comic fantasy as metaphors of the way people interpret facts in real life (the narrative resource that makes the Ally McBeal's tv serie rocks!). I think the audience could identify themselves in the main characters, and that the main concept of the movie was cristal clear at the end of the movie, that, no matter the whole bunch diferences between the two stories, and between them, they loved each other. Two ways to see it, but one and only true feeling: LOVE.
AND THAT'S THE WAY I SEE IT!!

As a former Tamakwan in "The Golden Age of this Place" as Alan Arkin referred to a few too many times, I attended camp from 1972 to 1978 and so I can relate to the people and even know the characters real names and backstory.

Knowing Mike Binder from those days you can truly understand how he managed to put together a story like this and brought the past and present together so well. Also knowing Sam Raimi and some of the maintenance staff from those days it is amazing how true to life his portrayal of "STICK" really is.

I first watched it at the Fox Theatre debut party in Detroit and then later on video where I could appreciate it a little better without the big "reunion" crowd.

I was disappointed when they took it out of original release and I could not get a copy. Now that it is out on CD I have ordered my copy to keep for eternity.

I can now visualize and remember the people and my special places from the "Golden Age" as well as enjoy this heartwarming story. HOW HOW to all involved.

Hope you enjoy it as well.!

A wonderful movie with an equally wonderful cast. It truly brought back wonderful memories of summer camp in the north woods and all of the awkwardness one feels on their first time away from home. It made me want to go back and meet all the friends I made at camp again and find out what happened to them. I was lucky enough to go back to the place where my camp was last year. It was like I never left......except it was "a lot smaller!"

My husband and I have a handful of DVD's that we watch over and over - this is one of our favorites! If you ever went to camp as a kid, you'll love this movie - you'll also wish you went to THIS camp! Enjoy it over and over and over.

This film is one of the best I've ever seen in the history of movie-making. While others might scoff at the "boring reality" of it, I found Avalon insightful and involving. The movie revolves around the deterioration of the extended family and primarily the life of one man, Sam Kirkchinski, the patriarch of his family. There is everything good to say about this film: the script, the acting, the directing, the music...everything was absolutely wonderful! While watching this film you fall in love with some characters and grow to dislike others. The directing is probably the most beautiful thing about Avalon, interpreting beautifully Sam's memories of coming to the country, which grow more and more beautiful in his mind with time. The soundtrack comes in a close second, however: Randy Newman composed one of his most beautiful and most overlooked scores for this movie. Overlooked, I don't know why. This movie slipped right by many people when it came out and I hope that they are able to see it sometime. Be warned: if you see Avalon once, it won't be the last time!

This highly personal movie focuses on three generations of a family, the first generation which immigrated to America. The setting is in the 50's, and the film is pretty nostalgic. The shot of the immigrant arriving on the fourth of july is one of the most beautiful scenes ever filmed. The film does well with showing the problems of the time. From the pursuit of the american dream, to the disillusionment of a tight family unraveling. Fine perfomances by all, including Aidan Quinn, Kein Pollak and a young Elijah Wood. But the most moving of all is done by Armin Mueller-Stahl. A great film.

That's Lou Jacobi's signature line in this film, and it's quite a statement that I can use it 13 years after "Avalon's" release and still draw a knowing response. Although 'Diner' will always remain Barry's Levinson's singular masterpiece, in Avalon he digs deeper to show us the roots of his family and how it slowly spun apart.

Levinson returns to the Thanksgiving dinner scene year after year as touchstone to show how the family grows and evolves.

Moreover, Avalon is a significant statement about America in general and the basic dissolution of the three-generation 'altogether' family unit. Levinson makes the very compelling case that the culprits are the television (the mood and tone of Avalon break dramatically once television is introduced) and the suburbs, or looked at alternatively, city flight.

I love Lou Jacobi in this film. Armin Mueller-Stahl is equally as good. Also, look for an eight-year-old Elijah Wood in his first big role as Mueller-Stahl's grandson (and Aidan Quinn's son). Wood is playing Levinson's role here, so even at eight (foreshadowing of 'LOTR') he has a mighty big weight to carry.

I've had this movie (on VHS) since it was first released, and its on my Movies I Can't Stop Watching list. Tom Hanks portrays a 13 year old boy, Josh, who wakes up in the body of a 30 year old man after wishing he were bigger after not being allowed on a carnival ride and being made fun of by a taller boy. Although this theme is not unique, nobody but Tom Hanks ever gets it quite right. Hanks obviously has not forgotten what it's like to be an adolescent boy, and the results are hilarious! His reactions to adult situations (a really aweful tux at a formal party, making gagging noises and spitting out caviar, playing with all the buttons in the limousine, thinking his workmate just wants to SLEEP when she asks to stay overnight and innocently replying,"Well, ok, but I get to be on top" - meaning the top of his bunkbed) never fail to send me into fits of laughter. On the more serious side, Hanks also poignantly portrays the fear and loneliness of a young boy suddenly thrust into the hostile environment of a trashy hotel (the only place he could afford, with the help of his best friend), where sirens, gunshots, and fights are happening right outside his door. Jared Rushton is perfectly cast as his best friend, and gets a good laugh of his own when he screams his bloody head off when first approached by the adult Josh, thinking he's a pervert bent on doing him harm.

Great for anybody who remembers what it's like to be a child in a hurry to get bigger, and even for those who don't.

"Big" is a funny movie and it is Tom Hanks at his very best. Josh Baskin (David Moscow), a young boy, made a wish to be big at the carnival, and when he woke up in the morning, he found out that he was an adult (Tom Hanks, Oscar-nominated). He and his best friend, Billy (Jared Rushton), go to New York to find a machine at the carnival, to make him go back into a kid. I have this movie on video, and I strongly recommend it.

The only reason I bought this film was to finally be able to see BIG in its original widescreen version (lately, this is the only way I like to see films now, except for those old films that were not filmed in Cinemascope). Anyhow, the movie is wonderful and funny and very entertaining. I forgot how GOOD Tom Hanks is in this movie which could have very well been a bomb.
The DVD has nothing new to offer except for the original trailer and a few cast fimographies. I would have liked an audio commentary by Penny Marshall (this being, after all, the first movie directed by a woman to gross 100 million at the box office), or at least a "making of" feauturette (The internet movie database says that Marshall filmed the adult sequences with a young Josh first so that Hanks could see how a child would ineteract in his place).
Still, for the low price of this DVD, it is a bargain.

Great movie. Penny Marshall's directing is wonderful. Tom Hanks is perfect as the child/adult. He plays it with subtlety. He could have hammed it up but showed restraint, evidencing the child inside the adult without being infantile. His conflicts between his real and his apparent age were handled well. The supporting cast did a great job. David Moscow was excellent as the young Josh and could well have been a young Hanks. Mercedes Ruehl as his mother who suddenly is confronted with this adult stranger doesn't have much but does it well. Robert Loggia as the toy company boss who grows fond of the adult Josh does a great job of evidencing the little boy inside him. Elizabeth Perkins is beautiful and a great, albeit confused, love interest for the adult Josh. Jared Rushton is a perfect side-kick to the now "big" and money-earning Josh. There were some great scenes like when Josh the adult receives his first paycheck and they blow it on junk food and silly string. Later that evening when Billy leaves and Josh is left alone in a flop house amid the frightening sounds of the city, Hanks handles this perfectly. The move into the loft with all the toys was a child's dream. Then there's the tuxedo, the eating of the salad corn, his night with Susan (Elizabeth Perkins), the "Heart and Soul" duet on the giant piano with Robert Loggia. On and on the great moments. And the ending was poignant. One would have to be truly jaded to not find enjoyment in this movie. Hanks deserved all the nominations for Best Actor and should have collected on more.

This has to be one of the greatest films all of all times,EVER!!
Tom Hanks did an exellent job playing a young boy(Joshua "Josh" Baskins) trapped in a grown mans' body. A child trying to make it in a rough world, living as an adult,but only in the flesh.
The writing was excellent! The entire casts' acting was superb! Penny Marshall has directed a true gem that has been a classic for about 14 years now, and will remain a classic for decades to come.
Living in New York as I do, It was really fun to know that the area where Josh met up with the fortune teller machine was shot on location at Rye Playland about 40 minutes driving time from where I live(pretty cool, huh?)I go in that area at times just to rekindle the movie shot(I'm pathetic,right?)
One of the funniest movie scences I can remember is when his (somewhat) love interest,Susan (played beautifully by Elizabeth perkins) tries to get romantic with Josh, but all he seems to care about is jumping on the trampling and seeing who gets to sleep on the TOP bunk.(His young mind cannot comprehend what she means when she says she wants to "SLEEP" with him). Those are classic "BIG" moments, along with him playing the gaint Step-On Keyboard at FAO Schwarz Toy Store that will never leave my memory!It was very interesting seeing Tom Hanks show his boyish side; that innocent charm that very few actors could have probably pulled off so well. I also like the moral to the story as well, JUST LIKE THEY SAY: "Be careful what you wish for,'cause you may get it". Every wish comes with a price. There's no such thing as a perfect wish.
(You'll know what I mean if you haven't seen the film yet). If you haven't seen this extraordinary movie yet, then please do yourself a favor and buy it. Or at least rent it first,then I'll guarantee you will purchase this movie to share with your family and friends for years to come.
P.S. I think Tom Hanks was perfect for the part of Josh,but do you think anybody else could have done a good job as well? What about Bill Murray or Robin Williams? What do you think? Well...now that i think about it, with Tom Hanks playing the Award winning role,and seeing how well it was played, I don't think I'd have it any other way. -- PEACE.

I've had this movie (on VHS) since it was first released, and its on my Movies I Can't Stop Watching list. Tom Hanks portrays a 13 year old boy, Josh, who wakes up in the body of a 30 year old man after wishing he were bigger after not being allowed on a carnival ride and being made fun of by a taller boy. Although this theme is not unique, nobody but Tom Hanks ever gets it quite right. Hanks obviously has not forgotten what it's like to be an adolescent boy, and the results are hilarious! His reactions to adult situations (a really aweful tux at a formal party, making gagging noises and spitting out caviar, playing with all the buttons in the limousine, thinking his workmate just wants to SLEEP when she asks to stay overnight and innocently replying,"Well, ok, but I get to be on top" - meaning the top of his bunkbed) never fail to send me into fits of laughter. On the more serious side, Hanks also poignantly portrays the fear and loneliness of a young boy suddenly thrust into the hostile environment of a trashy hotel (the only place he could afford, with the help of his best friend), where sirens, gunshots, and fights are happening right outside his door. Jared Rushton is perfectly cast as his best friend, and gets a good laugh of his own when he screams his bloody head off when first approached by the adult Josh, thinking he's a pervert bent on doing him harm.

Great for anybody who remembers what it's like to be a child in a hurry to get bigger, and even for those who don't.

This is a pretty good movie, although the initial effect is disconcerting, like watching a sit-com that is painfully real and not just escapist fare. The players, Demi Moore and Rob Lowe as the lovers, and Jim Belushi and Elizabeth Perkins as their jealous friends, are very good, and Director Edward Zwick is to be complemented on getting so much out of all of them. The script, loosely based on David Mamet's play Sexual Perversions in Chicago is filled with sharp, clever and sometimes insightful lines worth quoting.

One is when Moore breaks off the relationship with her boss to be exclusively with Lowe. Taken back, he says, "But I thought we had something special." She replies, "No. It was sleazy. And now it's over."

Another is when Moore's sensitive and brutally sarcastic (and jealous) friend Perkins arrives for Thanksgiving and says to Lowe about cloddish, working-class Jim Belushi, who hasn't arrived yet, "Your vulgarian friend is downstairs denting innocent people's fenders."

After the two lovers move in together, and she has more than a drawer in his apartment and doesn't have to carry an extra pair of panties in her purse, they begin with "I love..." (awkward pause) "making love with you" (pure Mamet). But when he doesn't share his feelings with her, she says, "I don't want to be your roommate anymore. I had a roommate."

What she wants is emotional intimacy. A woman needs emotional intimacy because then she knows where she stands and she has some control. They move closer and she (caught unaware) says, "I love you." He (on the spot, camera close) replies, "I love you too." She sheds a tear, just one, as they hug, perhaps in joy, or perhaps because she doesn't know whether he really loves her or not, and it's so very, very important. The next day Belushi asks who said it first and cavalier Lowe says he did. Belushi, who boorishly fancies himself a lady's man, lectures his friend on just how very poor studly style that is.

About Last Night is really about forming and securing the bond between a man and a woman. It's trial by fire. Their emotions are on edge and their individuality is threatened. And all around them are people and circumstances, and their very own animal natures, testing and probing the strength of the bond. When it breaks the pain is enormous.

Lowe says: "I didn't fool around. Not once!" Moore rejoins: "Give the boy a medal. I didn't realize it was such a sacrifice."

Then comes her awkward and sad double date with the nerdy card trick artist with the British accent. Perkins says, "Couldn't you just listen to him all night?" and we're thinking, "NOT EVEN for one minute."

Meanwhile we have Lowe's casual pickups. Meaningless sex, and then not even that. But when he saves his friend's cafe, he grows up.

Belushi and Perkins are wonderful as "opposites attract." They fight the magnetism to the very end-speaking of which, the best part of the movie is the ending. It is perfect.

It should be noted that the movie is larger than Mamet's one-act play and covers ground not even considered in the play. The play was an insightful but somewhat crude comedy about sex. The movie is a popular drama about relationships.

If there is any movie that realisticly portrays relationships, it is this one, Rob Lowe & Demi Moore are very believable as lovers who decide to live together in the hopes that they will live a long & happy life, but the perils of living together are explored very deeply here, as with any couple there are problems, past relationships,disapproving friends,adjusting to each other's habits, it is all here & anyone who has lived with anyone will see the realism of this film, if you have not ever lived with your boyfriend or girlfriend this film will seem off balance, this is the perfect film for anyone who might be thinking of moving in with their lover or anyone who has second thoughts, highly recommended!!

'About Last Night..' is by far one of the best movies I have ever seen. It has a bit of an eighties touch and a little TOO much nudity but, other than that this movie is awesome. Rob Lowe looks sexy and acts his best, and Demi Moore is just beautiful in this movie.
It takes place in Chicago and two singles Debbie and Danny, have a one night stand. They move in together and try to make a sexual relationship into a romantic one, will it work out? HMM.. I highly reccomend this movie, especially if you are a Rob Lowe fan(you see a lot of his @ss).

A mild-mannered, intelligent young black woman (Marianne Jean-Baptiste) tracks down her birth mother, Cynthia Purley (Brenda Blethyn), who just happens to be white. That's only the central plot thread in Mike Leigh's very poignant, very funny, very smart family drama, which received well-deserved Oscar nominations for best picture, best director, best actress, best supporting actress, and best original screenplay. A keenly observed piece set in middle-class and upper middle-class England, "Secrets & Lies" offers such an abundance of riches it's hard to know where to begin.

The plot is fairly simple, though the emotions beneath it aren't. Cynthia is initially afraid to meet the child she gave up years ago, but eventually opens up and discovers that her long-lost daughter, Hortense, is not only a sweet and refined young lady, but the possible source of the love and affection she wants so badly. She receives none of that sort of attention from her other daughter, Roxanne, a bitter, sharp-tongued council worker who, like her secret half-sister, was conceived out of wedlock. Adding to the tension is Cynthia's relationship with her brother, Maurice, and his socially ambitious wife, Monica. The latter is pained by her inability to have a child, and particularly despises Cynthia, who is able to bear children but, in Monica's mind, unable to provide them with the family environment and opportunities that she can. All of these threads converge at an afternoon birthday party, during which all the pent-up secrets and lies explode like a sequence of fireworks. Emotions are laid bare, the past is revealed, and finally, the film hints, the healing process can begin.

A synopsis really doesn't do full justice to the sheer impact of this film. In fact, it's almost insulting--and irrelevant--to discuss plot at all. "Secrets & Lies" isn't about plot in the conventional sense; it's about people. Each character is a complex, fully realized human being, brought to life by superior acting. Brenda Blethyn in particular does a spectacular job, and her Cynthia emerges as one of the most hilarious, endearing, and noble human portraits I've ever seen captured on film. Marianne Jean-Baptiste has a less showy role, but she occupies it with equally genuine warmth and humility. The other performances are consistently excellent, with Timothy Spall (Maurice) and Phyllis Long (Monica), who play tortured but thoroughly sympathetic characters, among the standouts.

The actors are complimented by Leigh's superb direction. Each shot has clearly been carefully thought-out, but the camera is so unobtrusive, so casually observing, that it lends "Secrets & Lies" an almost documentary-like feel. And yet, Leigh's compassion for all his characters leaks through every frame. One of the best scenes in the film takes place in a teashop, with Cynthia and Hortense sharing a first meeting that moves from initial awkwardness to humor and hilarity, to intense sadness and finally to catharsis and relief. The scene is an unbroken, unedited single shot lasting for nearly eight minutes, and Blethyn and Jean-Baptiste sustain the dramatic tension for that long without missing a beat. It is a seamless culmination of acting, writing, and cinematography, and represents (I think) one of the most remarkable and honest shots ever committed to celluloid.

Therein lies the secret to the success of "Secrets & Lies"--every moment in the film feels real. That quality is aided by the fact that, as is the case in all of Leigh's other films, the screenplay is a collaboration between both writer/director and actors. The dialogue never sounds scripted or contrived because most of it has been improvised by the actors themselves; thus, it's no wonder that the characters all but leap off the screen, and that spending time with them is such an engaging and rewarding experience.

Some have criticized the film's overly "happy" ending, claiming that it feels a bit too pat to be real. I disagree. The conclusion, though admittedly more optimistic a resolution than most conflicted families can expect, remains utterly true to the characters' personalities and backgrounds. Actually, Leigh trumps the notion that all films attempting to illuminate the human condition must be overly bleak and pessimistic.

"Secrets & Lies" is not a fast-paced film, and at 152 minutes, it's quite long. It could have gone on for hours and hours as far as I was concerned. Mike Leigh has confirmed my long-held notion that American cinema could definitely learn a thing or two from the sure-and-steady British. Without a doubt, one of the best films, if not the best, of 1996.

I would call this Mike Leigh's masterpiece, only I've seen many films by this brilliant director since screening this unfairly overlooked gem, and I feel ANY of his movies could be categorized as a "masterpiece".

The movie centers on a black woman named Hortense (the multi-talented Marianne Jean-Baptiste) who, knowing she is adopted, is in the process of trying to discover the identity of her birth mother. She finds her real mother, a lower-class white woman named Cynthia Purley (Brenda Blethyn). Cynthia, unaware that Hortense is trying to look her up, has a more immediate problem - a rebellious daughter, Roxanne (the unfairly ignored Claire Rushbrook), who has no respect for her because of Cynthia's many affairs. Cynthia is also trying to reach out to her successful photographer-brother, Morris (perennial Leigh favorite Timothy Spall), but she can't quite get close to him because of the influence of Morris's seemingly cold wife, Monica (Phyllis Logan).

If anyone knows anything of Mike Leigh's style of direction, you'll know why this film is so amazing . . Leigh doesn't simply write a screenplay and tell the actors what to do, he allows them to improvise and develop the characters themselves; the result is that these characters are more than just one-dimensional cardboard cutouts. ALL of these characters are unable to be categorized; they have characteristics that are UNIQUE and that make us care about them. Their complexity is illustrated not only in their actions and by what they say, but by what is NOT done or said in specific instances. ACTIONS of the characters are important (notice, for example, Hortense's inability to react emotionally, even in the family setting, or her reluctance to touch anyone). Another interesting feature is the way Leigh juxtaposes scenes of Morris taking pictures in his photography shop with the events of the story; we even become enamored by the characters that are seen only briefly, for a second, behind Morris's lens, posing for photographs. The cinematography also helps to add to the film's realism; it has a camcorder effect, without being at all shaky or deficient in sound quality.

Finally, the ending: Some may find the ending overly sentimental; I found it remarkably real (and nowhere NEAR as sugary sweet as those found in Hollywood films). Let me only say that it succeeds in that the viewer isn't given total resolution, yet he is given HOPE; these characters CAN work out their problems with each other, and it raises a question that I (as one who is no stranger to family feuding), find very convicting: why, in family situations, do people so often choose to alienate themselves and suffer alone (often even punishing their loved ones, as illustrated by Roxanne and Monica), instead of SHARING their pain and helping one another?

A great film . .worthy of much praise and able to withstand repeated viewings because of the depth of the story and the people involved. Here's hoping Mike Leigh will retain his style of filmmaking for years to come.

This film is possibly the most emotionally powerful film I have ever seen. I have never cared more for a group of characters as I did for those in "Secrets and Lies." Director/writer Mike Leigh is famous for giving his actors the outlines of their characters and having them improvise most of their lines. This technique succeeds brilliantly here - you feel as if you're a part of these people's lives. All the actors turn in wonderful performances - Brenda Blethyn as the long-suffering poor single English mother, Marianne Jean Baptiste as a young black girl in search of her natural parents, Claire Rushbrook as Blethyn's rebellious daughter, and Phyllis Logan as Blethyn's well-to-do yet frustrated sister in law. At the center of it all is a monumentally understated performance by Timothy Spall, who as Blethyn's brother attempts to hold everyone's lives together as they face the pain of their ordinary existence. A truly moving film that is one of the best ever.

"Tall Story" is noteworthy because it was Jane Fonda's first film, although contemporary audiences might be reminded somewhat of the plot of "Legally Blonde." After all, Fonda plays June Ryder, a brainey coed who goes to a particular college only because she is pursuing a star basketball player, Ray Blent (Anthony Perkins, who had just finished making "Psycho"). Of course, in retrospect we find it significant than in her first movie role Jane Fonda was the pursuer rather than the pursued. In her film debut she manages to be sex and innocent at the same time ("Beget," she coos at one point, "Isn't that a sweet word for it?"). But despite her game efforts and the chemistry between Fonda and Perkins, this is a badly dated film when you compare it to other youthful love stories like "A Summer Place." The film also offers Ray Walston as a prickly college professor, but this is still not enough to redeem it overall. This 1960 film was produced and directed by Joshua Logan, who was Fonda's "unofficial godfather." The screenplay by J. J. Epstein is based on the play by Howard Lindsay and Russel Crouse and the novel "The Homecoming Game" by Howard Nemerov. With that complicated pedigree it is not surprising that the constant barrage of jazzy wisecracks fall flat. Still, you cannot help but feel that Fonda has some potential as a movie actress.

I think it was a great movie. It had me laughing and waiting on the edge of my seat waiting to see what would happen next.
It's about a girl named June Ryder,(Jane Fonda) who goes to the same college to capture the heart of a all-american basketball player Ray Blent (Anthony Perkins) and marry him. And she ends up in all of his classes. This movie includes Ray Walston, as the professor. This was a great movie which I think Anthony Perkins & Jane Fonda had chemistry. And the romance in it was wonderful. It has parts you have to rewind 2-3 times, (in my opinion anyway) Since I'm a big fan,and admire Anthony Perkins it was a enjoyable movie.

This film is not like too many I've seen. It has a very odd comic tone(I've only felt this kind of odd sexual energy when watching something like Pretty Maids All In A Row). Jane Fonda plays a young girl who's come to college to get married-that's all. She is a huge basketball fan-especially of the team's star player played by Anthony Perkins. On top of two very funny performances by those tow-you've also got Ray Walston. Ray is in rare form here and seems to show the beginnings of a Mr. Hand-type teacher. Very entertaining and very funny-but funny in an almost campy- clever 50s sitcom kind of way. Very Good!!