At times, you forget that you are watching a movie and not the lives of two average (but unique) people and the incomplete lives that they live. Searching for love, if not just acceptance, both live in a world where relationships are as confusing as the people in the relationship. By the end of the movie you can't help but smile at the images Cassavetes captures in the last 30 seconds. Without any narrative, Cassavetes gives the conclusion to the two character's lives together. True happiness...
39 Reviews
The Most Pathetic Love Story I've Ever Seen
jzappa26 March 2008
Minnie and Moskowitz is the most pathetic and ungraceful love story I've ever seen. Between Minnie, a disillusioned museum curator whose abusive married boyfriend dumps her and leaves her even more uptight and confused than she already was, and Seymour Moskowitz, a parking attendant so desperate for attention that he spends his nights going to bars and restaurants aggravating people, there is a chaotic and disenchanted match from the start. Just like so many pairings that we see every day.
In nearly every love story, there is a man and a woman, the man being confident, funny, either classically hot or attractive in his own way, whose shortcomings are charming, and the woman a wounded soul who could have any man she wants who chooses this guy because there's just something about him. These movies make everyone feel so good because the characters embody what every man and woman wants to be, not what they are. Minnie and Moskowitz, instead of indulging in any hint of fantasy in the realm of romance, depicts people who may just be more common than the attractive, confident people with so much experience playing the field. What's the story behind the love affairs of the ugly, alarmingly awkward man with no life and no job that we all run into, or the woman so crippled by insecurity that it's difficult to talk to her?
This film is not as fascinating as Cassavetes's Faces or Opening Night, but it has that riveting quality that Cassavetes always fought so hard to render, which is an unbridled depiction of people underneath the ego that hides behind itself in nearly all other films. Gena Rowlands and Seymour Cassel, delivering startlingly pitiable people, are hardly likable. Moskowitz nearly drives us mad, let alone Minnie. He imposes himself so forcefully in her life, the dates are an explosion of the inner voices of ours that respond to the screamingly inept uneasiness on dates we've all been on, rejections we've all swallowed, and arguments we've all had that we know were our own faults. I admire a film like Minnie and Moskowitz because, as the trademark is with the films Cassavetes helmed himself, it identifies with us in 100% honesty. Our egos play no part in company with his characters, thus a tremendous achievement per performance by actor.
In nearly every love story, there is a man and a woman, the man being confident, funny, either classically hot or attractive in his own way, whose shortcomings are charming, and the woman a wounded soul who could have any man she wants who chooses this guy because there's just something about him. These movies make everyone feel so good because the characters embody what every man and woman wants to be, not what they are. Minnie and Moskowitz, instead of indulging in any hint of fantasy in the realm of romance, depicts people who may just be more common than the attractive, confident people with so much experience playing the field. What's the story behind the love affairs of the ugly, alarmingly awkward man with no life and no job that we all run into, or the woman so crippled by insecurity that it's difficult to talk to her?
This film is not as fascinating as Cassavetes's Faces or Opening Night, but it has that riveting quality that Cassavetes always fought so hard to render, which is an unbridled depiction of people underneath the ego that hides behind itself in nearly all other films. Gena Rowlands and Seymour Cassel, delivering startlingly pitiable people, are hardly likable. Moskowitz nearly drives us mad, let alone Minnie. He imposes himself so forcefully in her life, the dates are an explosion of the inner voices of ours that respond to the screamingly inept uneasiness on dates we've all been on, rejections we've all swallowed, and arguments we've all had that we know were our own faults. I admire a film like Minnie and Moskowitz because, as the trademark is with the films Cassavetes helmed himself, it identifies with us in 100% honesty. Our egos play no part in company with his characters, thus a tremendous achievement per performance by actor.
A Subversive Romantic Comedy
blakiepeterson29 July 2015
Minnie Moore (Gena Rowlands) doesn't believe in the movies. As a girl, she fantasized about finding a Prince Charming in the shape of Humphrey Bogart or Clark Gable, living in a fancy house, and having kids the neighborhood could wince in jealousy over. But now Minnie's in her late 30s, fully aware that the man of her dreams probably doesn't exist. She swears that she's gotten used to the fact that reality isn't so rose-colored and things can't always turn out the way you want them to; but once you're a romantic you're always a romantic, and deep down, Minnie still finds herself hopeful that someday her Bogie will arrive on her doorstep.
Seymour Moskowitz (Seymour Cassel) is a free-spirited valet with no great ambitions in life, contented drifting from town to town, from bar to bar, causing ruckuses and speaking his mind. Ponytailed and handlebar-mustached, he has no problem with the judgmental world or his rotten temper, which seems to escalate from zero to sixty through the slightest provocation: bar fights are a norm in his life. But despite the ever mounting flaws that seem to continuously tarnish his character, he's a good man, just a lost one.
By chance, these two misfits meet after Minnie endures a particularly awful date; the man who took her out, a demented widower, nearly assaults her in a parking lot after she flatly rejects him. As if he's magnet for action-packed situations, Seymour flies to the rescue, knocking the date out and speeding away with Minnie in his beat-up pick-up truck. For Seymour, it's love at first sight; but for Minnie, this long-haired, hairy-lipped time-bomb is a red flag, not a Gable. Seymour, however, isn't the kind of guy that gives up a good woman when he sees one. So he spends the rest of "Minnie and Moskowitz" trying to win her over — and with their identical lonely hearts, it might not be so difficult after all.
"Minnie and Moskowitz" is John Cassavetes' warmest film, a quirky romantic comedy frequently raucous (Seymour has a quite a mouth) but also endearing, hopeful, lovable. The characters finding love aren't of Doris Day/Rock Hudson perfection but of damaged confidence, both completely lost in this game called life. It's a rom-com so real it's hard to even call it a rom-com, with the story unforced, the eventual marriage hasty enough to make even us have inhibitions. Minnie and Seymour are not conventionally likable (she's untrustworthy to the irritating max, he's so hot-tempered it's a wonder anyone talks to him), but because they're so much better together, their union is one of rare affection that suggests they really do love each other, though not in the way Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard taught us. Cassavetes dedicated "Minnie and Moskowitz" to the people who married for love, not comfort, and it's a worthy sanctification.
His other films are extraordinarily realistic, mostly telling stories of middle-aged people facing a cruel case of mid-life crisis blues. Here, it's the opposite: the middle-aged people face a cruel case of mid-life crisis blues before they find romance; and after they find their special someone, they are renewed. They become whole again after years of trying to find themselves. With its mostly improvised dialogue and no-holds-barred performances, "Minnie and Moskowitz" should be uncomfortable. But being the voyeur to a trial of love is an easy job, and Cassavetes lets his optimism shine through. Rowlands and Cassel are terrific.
Seymour Moskowitz (Seymour Cassel) is a free-spirited valet with no great ambitions in life, contented drifting from town to town, from bar to bar, causing ruckuses and speaking his mind. Ponytailed and handlebar-mustached, he has no problem with the judgmental world or his rotten temper, which seems to escalate from zero to sixty through the slightest provocation: bar fights are a norm in his life. But despite the ever mounting flaws that seem to continuously tarnish his character, he's a good man, just a lost one.
By chance, these two misfits meet after Minnie endures a particularly awful date; the man who took her out, a demented widower, nearly assaults her in a parking lot after she flatly rejects him. As if he's magnet for action-packed situations, Seymour flies to the rescue, knocking the date out and speeding away with Minnie in his beat-up pick-up truck. For Seymour, it's love at first sight; but for Minnie, this long-haired, hairy-lipped time-bomb is a red flag, not a Gable. Seymour, however, isn't the kind of guy that gives up a good woman when he sees one. So he spends the rest of "Minnie and Moskowitz" trying to win her over — and with their identical lonely hearts, it might not be so difficult after all.
"Minnie and Moskowitz" is John Cassavetes' warmest film, a quirky romantic comedy frequently raucous (Seymour has a quite a mouth) but also endearing, hopeful, lovable. The characters finding love aren't of Doris Day/Rock Hudson perfection but of damaged confidence, both completely lost in this game called life. It's a rom-com so real it's hard to even call it a rom-com, with the story unforced, the eventual marriage hasty enough to make even us have inhibitions. Minnie and Seymour are not conventionally likable (she's untrustworthy to the irritating max, he's so hot-tempered it's a wonder anyone talks to him), but because they're so much better together, their union is one of rare affection that suggests they really do love each other, though not in the way Audrey Hepburn and George Peppard taught us. Cassavetes dedicated "Minnie and Moskowitz" to the people who married for love, not comfort, and it's a worthy sanctification.
His other films are extraordinarily realistic, mostly telling stories of middle-aged people facing a cruel case of mid-life crisis blues. Here, it's the opposite: the middle-aged people face a cruel case of mid-life crisis blues before they find romance; and after they find their special someone, they are renewed. They become whole again after years of trying to find themselves. With its mostly improvised dialogue and no-holds-barred performances, "Minnie and Moskowitz" should be uncomfortable. But being the voyeur to a trial of love is an easy job, and Cassavetes lets his optimism shine through. Rowlands and Cassel are terrific.
An attack from within.
Aidil12 May 2000
This is an incredible achievement for John Cassavetes. Not only has he made an outstanding screwball/romantic comedy, but he has also made a deep and biting attack on the way we let the movies(and also our culture) shape the way we see the world. For those of you who are seeking a love story, Cassavetes provides an extremely lovely one. The rules of the screwball genre are strictly followed. A man meets a woman, they are an impossible match in terms of personality, they try to fall in love, then comes the inevitable 'hiccups' in their relationship, and last but not least, the happy ending. But, as has always been the case with Cassavetes, that is only a very small fraction of what you'll get. He obviously has got a lot more to say. The 'surface' story is not the only story here. Beneath it lies another 'story'. And I don't think the other story will ever get past you unnoticed. The real story here is a 'cultural' one. It is a biting attack on the way we let movies and our culture influence our way of seeing the world. How does he present this attack? Well let me give you an example. The other day I watched this film with a friend. He made quite a few comments but the most striking one was when he complained about how is it that someone as unattractive as Seymour Moskowitz could get a woman as pretty as Minnie to like him(when you see the film you'll see). Now that is exactly the kind of attitude that Cassavetes is attacking. Why must everyone be 'handsome' or 'good looking' to be able to get a girl to like him? Minnie will constantly say to Seymour in the film that, "That's not the right face. You're not the man I'm in love with." It's a subtle attack but no less powerful. There's even one instance where Minnie, while in conversation with her friend, talks about movies as being a conspiracy because "They set you up. And no matter how bright you are you still believe it." This is a shining example of the fact that it is not enough to just recognise the problem, because it doesn't mean anything until you do something about it. There's a lot more, but I don't think it will be fun if I talked about everything. Part of the thrill of watching a movie like this is figuring it out. So I'll just talk about the 'surface' story a little bit more. A lot of people has called this movie 'earnestly real'. But don't be put off by that because like this world we live in, it's not all grim and grin. This isn't a Ken Loach film. While Cassavetes definitely does show us how ugly the world really is and can be, he has got enough insight to also show us that life can also be wonderful. I can give you a lot more examples, but I think it's best if you discover them for yourself. My comment here does not do justice to the movie. There's too much for me to say. And I don't think the space here allows it. So just go and see the movie. It'll be worth every minute.
When Minnie Met Seymour....
JLRMovieReviews2 March 2010
Warning: Spoilers
Gena Rowlands and Seymour Cassel star in this tale of love found among imperfect people. Gena tells a girlfriend of hers that all these old movies they see set the bar up too high for today's (the 1970s) generation. There are no heroes, no gentlemen on a white steed, no Bogies. Then, she chances to meet Seymour Cassel, who just moved to California. He is a parking-lot attendant and intercedes for her to get rid of an eccentric date and gets into a fight. Thus, their friendship and interest in each other begins.
I must admit this was rather funny in an unusual way, with the viewer laughing almost nonstop at Seymour's unashamed passion for Gena, with such outrageous statements, like "I can't think straight when I'm around you. I can't even remember to go the bathroom, when I'm around you." And, they seem to be constantly either yelling at each other or eating or asking each other, are you hungry. It's kind of haphazard in its pace. But at least it keeps you guessing and keeps the viewer interested. But the constant zigzag-ness of it makes me feel as if the script was thrown together.
It's not inherently bad, but with so much of everything thrown in, it doesn't feel especially balanced. (And, Gena Rowlands is always good, and Seymour is memorable in probably his most energetic role of the 1970s.) But I do see what Cassavetes was saying, with its frantic approach to life: that we are all imperfect and we have to love and accept each other with all of our eccentric flaws. Having said that, I don't know that I needed to see this movie to realize that, and I don't know that I would see this again just to see Gena.
That was Gena's mother as her mother at the end, by the way. And, to top it all off, Seymour's mother really put him down in the last few minutes of the movie, which makes the viewer appreciate even more Gena's ultimate acceptance of his proposal, and how did writer/director Cassavetes come up with names like Moskowitz and Minnie Moore? I guess by the end of the movie Gena is now Minnie Moore Moskowitz. On that note....
I must admit this was rather funny in an unusual way, with the viewer laughing almost nonstop at Seymour's unashamed passion for Gena, with such outrageous statements, like "I can't think straight when I'm around you. I can't even remember to go the bathroom, when I'm around you." And, they seem to be constantly either yelling at each other or eating or asking each other, are you hungry. It's kind of haphazard in its pace. But at least it keeps you guessing and keeps the viewer interested. But the constant zigzag-ness of it makes me feel as if the script was thrown together.
It's not inherently bad, but with so much of everything thrown in, it doesn't feel especially balanced. (And, Gena Rowlands is always good, and Seymour is memorable in probably his most energetic role of the 1970s.) But I do see what Cassavetes was saying, with its frantic approach to life: that we are all imperfect and we have to love and accept each other with all of our eccentric flaws. Having said that, I don't know that I needed to see this movie to realize that, and I don't know that I would see this again just to see Gena.
That was Gena's mother as her mother at the end, by the way. And, to top it all off, Seymour's mother really put him down in the last few minutes of the movie, which makes the viewer appreciate even more Gena's ultimate acceptance of his proposal, and how did writer/director Cassavetes come up with names like Moskowitz and Minnie Moore? I guess by the end of the movie Gena is now Minnie Moore Moskowitz. On that note....
Enchanting mismatch by Cass!
shepardjessica10 July 2004
This light-heated (for Cassavetes)love story is pleasantly conveyed by two wonderful performances by Gena Rowlands and Seymour Cassell. Rowlands was never more beautiful as a repressed, damaged mid-30's woman who meets her match in Seymour. Cassell is a powderkeg of energy and romantic notions (on his terms).
There is a great supporting performance by Val Avery as Zelmo Swift and an unusual (as always) Timothy Carey that's worth the price of admission. Made between Husbands and A Woman Under the Influence this is Cass' most accessible film that should touch the heart of anyone (especially the Cassavetes haters) who claim his films are too long and ponderously heavy at times. Made my Top Ten that year and not seen by enough people. An 8 out of 10.
There is a great supporting performance by Val Avery as Zelmo Swift and an unusual (as always) Timothy Carey that's worth the price of admission. Made between Husbands and A Woman Under the Influence this is Cass' most accessible film that should touch the heart of anyone (especially the Cassavetes haters) who claim his films are too long and ponderously heavy at times. Made my Top Ten that year and not seen by enough people. An 8 out of 10.
An Unlikely Romance
gavin69425 September 2014
A museum curator (Gena Rowlands) falls in love with a crazy parking attendant (Seymour Cassel).
Although not one of the title characters, the most memorable actor in this film is Val Avery. He gives an incredible monologue where he goes from sad sack to abusive and everywhere in between. We never like him, but we might feel sorry for him one minute and despise him the next. Quite the performance.
Roger Ebert gave the film four stars and singled out Seymour's "magnificent mustache" for appreciation. Indeed, that mustache is pretty amazing and one hopes it was not just the makeup department that provided that impressive tuft.
Although not one of the title characters, the most memorable actor in this film is Val Avery. He gives an incredible monologue where he goes from sad sack to abusive and everywhere in between. We never like him, but we might feel sorry for him one minute and despise him the next. Quite the performance.
Roger Ebert gave the film four stars and singled out Seymour's "magnificent mustache" for appreciation. Indeed, that mustache is pretty amazing and one hopes it was not just the makeup department that provided that impressive tuft.
I loved it 30 years ago and I still love it today!
darleneshadow10 August 2001
I feel as though I know these people and have known people similar to them. These days, though, people are discouraged from showing such passion about anything especially love and loneliness. It has a slow beginning, but then look out! If you love romantic comedies, but would like to see one that had some basis in reality for a change {or at least did have back in the 70's}, then you should see this movie!
so many crazy guys
SnoopyStyle31 December 2023
Seymour Moskowitz (Seymour Cassel) is an unstable parking attendant in New York City. He moves out to L. A. to live beside the freeway. Minnie Moore (Gena Rowlands) suffers from an abusive relationship with married Jim (John Cassavetes). She has a bad blind date with a crazy loudmouth and Seymour comes to her defense.
This is a John Cassavetes film and every guy is a crazy jerk. This is listed as a comedy and I did not laugh once. They say that ladies like the bad boys. That would be a step up from Minnie. She just likes them crazy and abusive. I would enjoy this more if she can give it as much as she has to take it. This is an interesting one.
This is a John Cassavetes film and every guy is a crazy jerk. This is listed as a comedy and I did not laugh once. They say that ladies like the bad boys. That would be a step up from Minnie. She just likes them crazy and abusive. I would enjoy this more if she can give it as much as she has to take it. This is an interesting one.
Whatever else this is, it's not a comedy.
MOscarbradley16 August 2018
One of John Cassavetes' greatest films is also one of his least known. He made it in 1971 and over the years it has been largely forgotten. I've seen it described as a romantic comedy and even as a screwball comedy but I found it very disturbing. It's not a comedy and I'm not even sure it's a love story. It's characters are all dysfunctional, unhappy people and Minnie and Moskowitz are the most dysfunctional of all.
She works in a museum and he works as a car-parking attendant and the film charts their hit and miss relationships, with each other and with other people. It is also largely improvised which gives it the feeling of life being lived in front of our eyes rather than simply being played out but these are people you definitely wouldn't want to know or maybe they aren't people at all but just extentions of Cassavetes' off-the-wall imagination.
It is magnificently acted by Cassavetes' repertory company of friends and family though at times it feels more like a series of classes at the Actor's Studio. Gena Rowlands is Minnie and Seymour Cassell is Moskowitz and they are superb as you would expect as indeed are everyone else, particularly Val Avery and Timothy Carey as men having meltdowns in restaurants and an uncredited Cassavetes as an unfaithful husband, while the cinematography of the three credited cinematographers, (Alric Edens, Michael Margulies and Arthur J. Ornitz), gives the film the documentary-like look the director obviously intended. This is independent cinema at its purest and most unrefined; scary, moving, rarely romantic. Just don't call it a comedy.
She works in a museum and he works as a car-parking attendant and the film charts their hit and miss relationships, with each other and with other people. It is also largely improvised which gives it the feeling of life being lived in front of our eyes rather than simply being played out but these are people you definitely wouldn't want to know or maybe they aren't people at all but just extentions of Cassavetes' off-the-wall imagination.
It is magnificently acted by Cassavetes' repertory company of friends and family though at times it feels more like a series of classes at the Actor's Studio. Gena Rowlands is Minnie and Seymour Cassell is Moskowitz and they are superb as you would expect as indeed are everyone else, particularly Val Avery and Timothy Carey as men having meltdowns in restaurants and an uncredited Cassavetes as an unfaithful husband, while the cinematography of the three credited cinematographers, (Alric Edens, Michael Margulies and Arthur J. Ornitz), gives the film the documentary-like look the director obviously intended. This is independent cinema at its purest and most unrefined; scary, moving, rarely romantic. Just don't call it a comedy.
A strange and interesting look at love through the eyes of two compelling characters
tomgillespie200220 April 2012
Not known for his ability for comedy, pioneer of American Independent Cinema, John Cassavetes, is on romantic comedy grounds here, taking the traditional movie love-story and turning it very much on its head. Eccentric parking-lot attendant Seymour Moskowitz (Seymour Cassel) re- locates to California, working the same job and living in a small rented room. Museum curator Minnie Moore (Gena Rowlands) is an emotionally damaged yet extremely attractive 40-something woman who is in an abusive relationship with her secretive partner Jim (Cassavetes himself). A chance encounter puts Minnie and Moskowitz together, and two fume at each other for the duration. Only Seymour falls in love with Minnie, who he feels looks down on people, and Minnie becomes reluctantly curious about this strange man.
While following the long tradition of the romantic comedy, anyone expecting a squeaky-clean Rock Hudson/Doris Day Technicolor screwball comedy will be sorely disappointed. Cassavetes sticks to his game using extreme close-ups, a hand-held camera, and semi-improvised performances to tell a story that feels real, but maintains the warmness and the satisfaction that the best of the genre have provided in the past. The film is very much about how movies mid-lead you, and as Minnie states 'they set you up for disappointment'. Minnie and her friend watch Casablanca (1942), and discuss how there are no Humphrey Bogart's or Clark Cable's out there, because they don't exist. Who does exist, however, is Seymour Moskowitz.
Cassel is absolutely exceptional in the role, playing his long- moustached, pony-tailed character as quirky and warm, as well as aggressive and often plain insane. He seems to win Minnie over by yelling at her, explaining how it isn't fair how a less-attractive and relatively poor man can't be with Minnie simply because she's richer and physically desirable, but Minnie finds his frankness fresh. With show- stealing cameos by Val Avery and Timothy Carey, as two strange men who the two leads meet over the course of the film, Minnie and Moskowitz is a strange and interesting look at love through the eyes of two sometimes unlikeable, yet utterly compelling people.
www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com
While following the long tradition of the romantic comedy, anyone expecting a squeaky-clean Rock Hudson/Doris Day Technicolor screwball comedy will be sorely disappointed. Cassavetes sticks to his game using extreme close-ups, a hand-held camera, and semi-improvised performances to tell a story that feels real, but maintains the warmness and the satisfaction that the best of the genre have provided in the past. The film is very much about how movies mid-lead you, and as Minnie states 'they set you up for disappointment'. Minnie and her friend watch Casablanca (1942), and discuss how there are no Humphrey Bogart's or Clark Cable's out there, because they don't exist. Who does exist, however, is Seymour Moskowitz.
Cassel is absolutely exceptional in the role, playing his long- moustached, pony-tailed character as quirky and warm, as well as aggressive and often plain insane. He seems to win Minnie over by yelling at her, explaining how it isn't fair how a less-attractive and relatively poor man can't be with Minnie simply because she's richer and physically desirable, but Minnie finds his frankness fresh. With show- stealing cameos by Val Avery and Timothy Carey, as two strange men who the two leads meet over the course of the film, Minnie and Moskowitz is a strange and interesting look at love through the eyes of two sometimes unlikeable, yet utterly compelling people.
www.the-wrath-of-blog.blogspot.com
all they need is love
Erre29 March 2002
real love. true love. mad love. beautiful love. ugly love. dirty love. sad love. happy love. silly love. smart love. gorgeous love. dumb love. love love love. minnie moore understands that what she really needs is a man who trust her, trust her and love her madly. of course when this man comes along... she tries to run away but seymour, wonderful seymour, he trusts her, he believes in her so he is going to fight for her against her. i want to be like seymour moskowitz. i want to be that kind of man. a man willing to love without been afraid to fail but willing to fail. that's a kind of hero. that's my kind of hero... and minnie moore is my kind of woman. long live cassavetes and all his lovely bunch!
Gena Rowlands can do no wrong in my book, but I wish her character had better taste in men.
mark.waltz21 April 2022
Warning: Spoilers
What seemingly starts as a quirky slice-of-life comedy with oddball characters ends up being a ridiculous art-house film that I hated almost as much as John Cassavetes' previous film "Husbands". The film starts with a long conversation between Seymour Cassel and someone he happens to sit with in a restaurant that talks about the different issues of what's going on in their life, and while it was amusing, but by the time Cassell and Gena Rowlands met up, I was truly aggravated. Certainly she is out on the most hideous blind date ever with a total sociopath who turns into a psychopath, and after he rescues her, she leaves after he begins to become rather bizarre as well. He stalks her, forces her into his truck, and after dropping her off at her job, continues to stalk her again. And this is supposed to be romance.
Based on the beginning, I thought I was going to enjoy this movie if not love it, but going from one hideous encounter to another and the rescuer turns out to be just aa bad, I was just aghast by how unrealistic it was and sadly how idiotic Rowland's character became in allowing these men to spend more than just a few fleeting minutes with her. She's already been struck by supposed boyfriend John Cassavetes (who directed this and made an unbilled cameo appearance), then him to spend the night, then allowed him to dump her afterwards. Halfway through the film, I had to reach for something stronger than just a regular aspirin because the screaming of all the characters with the exception of Rowland, really began to make me feel ill.
It's obvious to me that John Cassavettes films are going to be a mixed bag not for everybody, and had this been about her situation dealing with unpleasant people oh, I would have accepted that. What I did not accept was the fact that the situation becomes entirely absurd and unrealistic and the writing is truly off the wall to the point where I couldn't put up with it anymore. This only gets three stars from me because of Rowlands who can uplift any film. Cassel, who got an Oscar nomination for "Faces", is absolutely hideous and unlikable. I can only describe this with an analogy to the Los Angeles hot dog restaurant Pinks where a key scene takes place. Like Cassettes early films, completely overrated.
Based on the beginning, I thought I was going to enjoy this movie if not love it, but going from one hideous encounter to another and the rescuer turns out to be just aa bad, I was just aghast by how unrealistic it was and sadly how idiotic Rowland's character became in allowing these men to spend more than just a few fleeting minutes with her. She's already been struck by supposed boyfriend John Cassavetes (who directed this and made an unbilled cameo appearance), then him to spend the night, then allowed him to dump her afterwards. Halfway through the film, I had to reach for something stronger than just a regular aspirin because the screaming of all the characters with the exception of Rowland, really began to make me feel ill.
It's obvious to me that John Cassavettes films are going to be a mixed bag not for everybody, and had this been about her situation dealing with unpleasant people oh, I would have accepted that. What I did not accept was the fact that the situation becomes entirely absurd and unrealistic and the writing is truly off the wall to the point where I couldn't put up with it anymore. This only gets three stars from me because of Rowlands who can uplift any film. Cassel, who got an Oscar nomination for "Faces", is absolutely hideous and unlikable. I can only describe this with an analogy to the Los Angeles hot dog restaurant Pinks where a key scene takes place. Like Cassettes early films, completely overrated.
Transcendental jazz against the void II
chaos-rampant15 July 2013
Step the third in my journey through Cassavetes..
Here, he takes one of the most popular movie formats, the romance. Boy- meets-girl in LA, under the lights. But she is no cool femme fatale, she is fragile, unsure of herself. He is no Bogie himself; as the film starts he is watching The Maltese Falcon in a theater, a scene where Mary Astor throws herself crying on Bogie's feet. Trying to pick up women afterwards, he's chased out of bars, looked at as a weirdo and beaten up in an alley.
The idea is that we are not going to see movie people, but real people on the street. That was the ambition anyway, a situation aggravated by Cassavetes' actorly Studio background—as in Husbands, we have constant shouting matches, awkward intrusions, obnoxious pulling and nervousness. He seems to think the room inhabited by these characters won't feel real and lived, unless we have damage on the walls, a Greek sensibility, after all the main story recasts Zorba.
So unlike a Bogart film, the actors here don't coolly glide off each other, they cut themselves on each other's edges.
The same situation develops here as I described in my comment on Husbands. The edges, the damage are unusually pronounced, by this I mean a situation like when Moskowitz almost runs her over with his truck to get her to go with him takes me out of it. A softer next moment will pull me in again, until the next hysteric one and so on.
Which brings me to my main discussion about presence.
Moskowitz is the kind of character who can be likable once you get to know him, the sort of bond you form with coworkers that greatly depends on shared time. Minnie is warm when we first see her, but there's a haughty, nervous ghost in her. It is, let's say, a truer to life perception than the immediately charming Bogarts and Stanwycks of old. It requires work to take them in, giving space.
That narrative room, that space where characters wreck themselves and things works the same way once you excise the shouty moments, simply wonderful. None of the individual visual moments are cool or typically beautiful. The locales are drab and mundane. The light and textures all natural, the whole is imperfect but breathes. In this, he equals Pasolini, another master of the living eye.
So on a moment-by- moment basis, the space is like the characters, intensely present flow to undefined horizon. In a movie like the Maltese Falcon, the narrative horizon is immediately defined (get the bird), and again defined in every scene (get out of there, rough someone up, etc.) so we are at all times comfortably tethered, enjoying the play. What Cassavetes does matters in the long run in the sculpting of the overall effect, it doesn't leap to attention.
Like Husbands, this slowly starts to work for me once I have a narrative shift that faintly, very faintly defines a certain horizon in the story—here marriage. Cassavetes is work, because this happens so late in the movie, the bulk of it is like staring at a blank page waiting for inspiration, or waiting for musicians to tune their instruments. Here, that shift happens about 9/10ths in the film, and then we're through that and a new horizon opens, the closing shots of family life and then it's over.
So it starts to work late but extends for me to long after it's over, it's one of the most haunting effects I know, transcendentally marvelous; more on that in the next comment on Woman.
Here, he takes one of the most popular movie formats, the romance. Boy- meets-girl in LA, under the lights. But she is no cool femme fatale, she is fragile, unsure of herself. He is no Bogie himself; as the film starts he is watching The Maltese Falcon in a theater, a scene where Mary Astor throws herself crying on Bogie's feet. Trying to pick up women afterwards, he's chased out of bars, looked at as a weirdo and beaten up in an alley.
The idea is that we are not going to see movie people, but real people on the street. That was the ambition anyway, a situation aggravated by Cassavetes' actorly Studio background—as in Husbands, we have constant shouting matches, awkward intrusions, obnoxious pulling and nervousness. He seems to think the room inhabited by these characters won't feel real and lived, unless we have damage on the walls, a Greek sensibility, after all the main story recasts Zorba.
So unlike a Bogart film, the actors here don't coolly glide off each other, they cut themselves on each other's edges.
The same situation develops here as I described in my comment on Husbands. The edges, the damage are unusually pronounced, by this I mean a situation like when Moskowitz almost runs her over with his truck to get her to go with him takes me out of it. A softer next moment will pull me in again, until the next hysteric one and so on.
Which brings me to my main discussion about presence.
Moskowitz is the kind of character who can be likable once you get to know him, the sort of bond you form with coworkers that greatly depends on shared time. Minnie is warm when we first see her, but there's a haughty, nervous ghost in her. It is, let's say, a truer to life perception than the immediately charming Bogarts and Stanwycks of old. It requires work to take them in, giving space.
That narrative room, that space where characters wreck themselves and things works the same way once you excise the shouty moments, simply wonderful. None of the individual visual moments are cool or typically beautiful. The locales are drab and mundane. The light and textures all natural, the whole is imperfect but breathes. In this, he equals Pasolini, another master of the living eye.
So on a moment-by- moment basis, the space is like the characters, intensely present flow to undefined horizon. In a movie like the Maltese Falcon, the narrative horizon is immediately defined (get the bird), and again defined in every scene (get out of there, rough someone up, etc.) so we are at all times comfortably tethered, enjoying the play. What Cassavetes does matters in the long run in the sculpting of the overall effect, it doesn't leap to attention.
Like Husbands, this slowly starts to work for me once I have a narrative shift that faintly, very faintly defines a certain horizon in the story—here marriage. Cassavetes is work, because this happens so late in the movie, the bulk of it is like staring at a blank page waiting for inspiration, or waiting for musicians to tune their instruments. Here, that shift happens about 9/10ths in the film, and then we're through that and a new horizon opens, the closing shots of family life and then it's over.
So it starts to work late but extends for me to long after it's over, it's one of the most haunting effects I know, transcendentally marvelous; more on that in the next comment on Woman.
A heart is a car to park in one's garage, with never giving back the keys ...
ElMaruecan823 May 2011
Warning: Spoilers
These incredible mustache and never-ending blonde hair really take us by surprise, how are we supposed to react with such a character? And it would be nothing if it was just for the physical appearance
His name is Seymour Moskowitz, as the namesake Cassel, a beatnik, whose car-parking job keeps him in constant movement. In fact, his whole life is made of movements, so abrupt and brutal; we never have time to see him moving. Seymour drives, comes, enters, gets in, gets out, and we're like stuck with the camera, unable to follow his track. Cassavetes direction of Seymour's character totally conveys the image of a man in advance, with a kind of irreverent and hasty attitude. Even the opening credits came back ten minutes after the film started
as if Seymour didn't let us time to get used to the film. He's the iconoclast, the rebellious one, the man we find in a place right after losing him in another. No time for transitions.
And there is Minnie Moore, another character, another attitude, another direction. Minnie takes the cab, walks on the street or down the stairs, we have time to follow her, to listen to her, to her melancholic rant against the way cinema manipulates people with unrealistic romances. We have time to see her smiling, yawning, winking. The beautiful Gena Rowlands is guided by a more conventional timing, almost too slow sometimes. But this slowness is Cassavetes' depiction of Minnie, a lonely character, whose life is so empty and boring, the simplest steps are stretched and painful. She's the opposite of Seymour, he's active, and she's passive. Almost tired of her loneliness, she lost the strength to wait for the big love, though she keeps hoping to find one. She's romantic because she has an ideal but seems to drown herself in a lake of pessimism. No stability.
Everything oppose the two Ms. And the talent of both Cassel and Gena, combined with Cassavetes' direction, highlights these differences. Even in little details: Seymour sees a passionate Bogie from "The Maltese Falcon" while Minnie contemplates the last scene of "Casablanca". Their opposition is the spice that gave the film its flavor. This is not an attempt to label this film, but it does feature the basic elements of a screwball comedy, that created such masterpieces as "It Happened One night", but here, the comedy is authentic without being unintentional, I mean laughs are not a priority but a natural way to underline the peculiarity of this couple. Cassavetes delivers the message that comedy only works when it trusts enough our intelligence not to deliver cheap laughs, as Seymour says in one of my all-time favorite quotes: "When you think of yourself of funny, you become tragic". True words of wisdom.
Seymour hates the idea of taking stuff too seriously, he's indeed spontaneous, speaks loudly, and asks for respect. He speaks about practical stuff like car, money, life, and his approach to love is also practical, which makes it even more sincere. Minnie is more melancholic, she wants to be loved with normality, whenever she's with a man who acts like a maniac, and she's obviously embarrassed and masks herself with huge and black sunglasses. The disastrous date with Zelmo Swift, with an extraordinary comical performance by Val Avery, is ironic because she's helped by Seymour who reveals himself as en even weirder character. But with something new: a clear idea of what he loves, and one thing for sure he loved Minnie at first sight, and understood, despite her normality, that she was a misfit, just like him. This is the key element of the romance's sincerity and what makes it so unique, so poignant. The music of the "I love you truly" song is one of my favorite love themes, representative of my personal idea of romance ...
And what will naturally happen is a fantastic adventure where we'll be driven by two opposite rhythms and an unconscious refusal to respect the conventions. They can't have a normal rendezvous and are fatally forced to dine in a sandwich shop turning their backs to the road, to conventionality. They're always in the border of a road, their love, their complicity, through a beautiful dance scene, is expressed in a parking area, as a symbol for the transition that needed Seymour's life, and the stability for Minnie. Minnie's destiny was like a car not meant for Seymour, but he managed to park in his heart. And to conclude, even the expected declaration of love was original: not at night, not during a beautiful sunset, but at the morning, after Seymour just finished with a hooker.
Again, Cassavetes' directing is a tribute to life's extraordinary unpredictability. This unpredictability governs the film from beginning to end, the two characters are so different we can never know what's going to happen, every silence can lead either to a kiss or a burst of anger, no smile is to be taken for granted and we have to wait until the very end, until the marriage proposal to expect a happy ending. And then again, when they meet the two mothers, it's surprisingly Seymour's mother who almost ruins everything, an unforgettable Katherine Cassavete's presents her son, as a bum. "Einstein, he's not", "Not a pretty face" reminding of Minnie's cruel "This is not the face I dreamed of". Indeed, this is not your typical romance, Cassavetes wants to get detached from conventions and make romance governed by the rules of life. His film illustrates Minnie's point about manipulative romances.
But as independent as he is, this is still a light-hearted comedy with two likable characters who deserved a break, and after Cassavetes made his point, we needed a break from this exhausting experience, and to end the film with the happy ending, letting us assume that Minnie and Moskowitz, one of the most endearing cinematic couples will live happily after and have many children
And there is Minnie Moore, another character, another attitude, another direction. Minnie takes the cab, walks on the street or down the stairs, we have time to follow her, to listen to her, to her melancholic rant against the way cinema manipulates people with unrealistic romances. We have time to see her smiling, yawning, winking. The beautiful Gena Rowlands is guided by a more conventional timing, almost too slow sometimes. But this slowness is Cassavetes' depiction of Minnie, a lonely character, whose life is so empty and boring, the simplest steps are stretched and painful. She's the opposite of Seymour, he's active, and she's passive. Almost tired of her loneliness, she lost the strength to wait for the big love, though she keeps hoping to find one. She's romantic because she has an ideal but seems to drown herself in a lake of pessimism. No stability.
Everything oppose the two Ms. And the talent of both Cassel and Gena, combined with Cassavetes' direction, highlights these differences. Even in little details: Seymour sees a passionate Bogie from "The Maltese Falcon" while Minnie contemplates the last scene of "Casablanca". Their opposition is the spice that gave the film its flavor. This is not an attempt to label this film, but it does feature the basic elements of a screwball comedy, that created such masterpieces as "It Happened One night", but here, the comedy is authentic without being unintentional, I mean laughs are not a priority but a natural way to underline the peculiarity of this couple. Cassavetes delivers the message that comedy only works when it trusts enough our intelligence not to deliver cheap laughs, as Seymour says in one of my all-time favorite quotes: "When you think of yourself of funny, you become tragic". True words of wisdom.
Seymour hates the idea of taking stuff too seriously, he's indeed spontaneous, speaks loudly, and asks for respect. He speaks about practical stuff like car, money, life, and his approach to love is also practical, which makes it even more sincere. Minnie is more melancholic, she wants to be loved with normality, whenever she's with a man who acts like a maniac, and she's obviously embarrassed and masks herself with huge and black sunglasses. The disastrous date with Zelmo Swift, with an extraordinary comical performance by Val Avery, is ironic because she's helped by Seymour who reveals himself as en even weirder character. But with something new: a clear idea of what he loves, and one thing for sure he loved Minnie at first sight, and understood, despite her normality, that she was a misfit, just like him. This is the key element of the romance's sincerity and what makes it so unique, so poignant. The music of the "I love you truly" song is one of my favorite love themes, representative of my personal idea of romance ...
And what will naturally happen is a fantastic adventure where we'll be driven by two opposite rhythms and an unconscious refusal to respect the conventions. They can't have a normal rendezvous and are fatally forced to dine in a sandwich shop turning their backs to the road, to conventionality. They're always in the border of a road, their love, their complicity, through a beautiful dance scene, is expressed in a parking area, as a symbol for the transition that needed Seymour's life, and the stability for Minnie. Minnie's destiny was like a car not meant for Seymour, but he managed to park in his heart. And to conclude, even the expected declaration of love was original: not at night, not during a beautiful sunset, but at the morning, after Seymour just finished with a hooker.
Again, Cassavetes' directing is a tribute to life's extraordinary unpredictability. This unpredictability governs the film from beginning to end, the two characters are so different we can never know what's going to happen, every silence can lead either to a kiss or a burst of anger, no smile is to be taken for granted and we have to wait until the very end, until the marriage proposal to expect a happy ending. And then again, when they meet the two mothers, it's surprisingly Seymour's mother who almost ruins everything, an unforgettable Katherine Cassavete's presents her son, as a bum. "Einstein, he's not", "Not a pretty face" reminding of Minnie's cruel "This is not the face I dreamed of". Indeed, this is not your typical romance, Cassavetes wants to get detached from conventions and make romance governed by the rules of life. His film illustrates Minnie's point about manipulative romances.
But as independent as he is, this is still a light-hearted comedy with two likable characters who deserved a break, and after Cassavetes made his point, we needed a break from this exhausting experience, and to end the film with the happy ending, letting us assume that Minnie and Moskowitz, one of the most endearing cinematic couples will live happily after and have many children
It's okay to be crazy.
madmaxmedia4 May 2008
Life is crazy. You're crazy, I'm crazy, we're all crazy. We're all a little bit Minnie, and a little bit Moskowitz. Sometimes it does seem best to be sensible...but then what might you be missing out on?
You gotta be you. You don't have to park cars and semi-randomly yell at people, but you can't hide yourself behind a veil (or dark sunglasses) and pretend and act like everything is okay. And sometimes, you really do have to throw caution to the wind, because why else are you alive?
I'm not going to 'rate' this love compared to Cassavetes' other movies, because they are all absolutely 100% unique works and each their own individual act of expression and exploration of our lives. In that sense they are all great, and comparisons are odious. For sure, this movie has that one crazy, sometimes maddening, but ultimately wonderful and freeing quality that all his movies have- you never know what's going to happen next, and you never know what the characters are going to think, do, or feel next. Neither do the characters themselves- and do we really want to live our lives any other way? Unlike Moskowitz, you can have a great job and judiciously sock away money into your IRA, but still live the life of an adventurer inside- in your feelings, your spirit, and your very experience of life. Yeah, we can have it both ways, that's what Cassavetes shows us. Thank God somebody did.
You gotta be you. You don't have to park cars and semi-randomly yell at people, but you can't hide yourself behind a veil (or dark sunglasses) and pretend and act like everything is okay. And sometimes, you really do have to throw caution to the wind, because why else are you alive?
I'm not going to 'rate' this love compared to Cassavetes' other movies, because they are all absolutely 100% unique works and each their own individual act of expression and exploration of our lives. In that sense they are all great, and comparisons are odious. For sure, this movie has that one crazy, sometimes maddening, but ultimately wonderful and freeing quality that all his movies have- you never know what's going to happen next, and you never know what the characters are going to think, do, or feel next. Neither do the characters themselves- and do we really want to live our lives any other way? Unlike Moskowitz, you can have a great job and judiciously sock away money into your IRA, but still live the life of an adventurer inside- in your feelings, your spirit, and your very experience of life. Yeah, we can have it both ways, that's what Cassavetes shows us. Thank God somebody did.
Human, funny and earnestly real
ebh13 November 1998
Possibly John Cassavetes best film to date, and definitely his funniest. Seymour Cassel plays the young Moskowitz smitten with real-life wife of Cassavetes, Gena Rowlands, excellent as usual. A must see gem of a film, if you can locate it.
Interesting, frenzied, excellent film
cassavet23 January 1999
I would recommend this for anyone who is an admirer of the late John Cassavetes. And for those who have never known of Cassavetes. It is an excellent film. I really don't have the time to go into the details of why this is my opinion, but if you're looking for something gutsy, with lots of scenes to mull over, then this one is for you. The cinematography is perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the film, as well as the story itself. This "review" does not do the film justice. It is an experience one must view for themselves. LOTS OF CHARACTER. VERY GENUINE.
Before the heat comes in
Polaris_DiB15 July 2010
Warning: Spoilers
This movie shares a lot with Heat, Paul Morrissey's third Warhol-produced film that came out a year after Minnie and Moscowitz. Both movies present, in fragmented editing with almost purposeful sound clipping and jump cuts, satires on Hollywood dream land as Morrissey goes all Sunset Boulevard on the dope show's act and Cassavetes gladly irritates spectators with the exagerration of boy-meets-girl melodrama. However, Cassavetes' work typically involves a little bit more care towards revealing more than just darker sides and relationships, but real moralistic questioning into the needs that support the relationship; here, that questioning is empty of significance as he pretty much just throws Rowlands and Cassel together and it's off on the wild romp of endless yelling from there.
Cassavetes is no fool and this movie isn't mistaken misfire. He eagerly presents little if any real difference between one sad, lonely, messed up man and the man who saves her from him; he makes the classist, racist, and bigot views of many of his characters quite open; he throws jibes at Hollywood romance and twists their clichés--he knows what he's doing. A yarn about Cassavetes states that he would listen to peoples' comments about his movies and if they approved of any part of it, he'd cut that part out. Well in this case I approved with the cutting off of a few scenes mid-dialog, because it saved me the effort of sitting through it. However, I recognize that in one way, it could be said that Cassavetes is purposefully trying to bring discomfort. Ergo, success.
However, in that same mode, he has simply done better and more engaging characters. In Woman under the Influence, the same continual stress of overtly dysfunctional and damaging relationships, and the ineffable way in which the characters still stay together, is still supported by a careful building of that relationship that gives true hints and bases for the motivations and processes that pull these nearly insane people together. Here, it feels much more non-sequitor.
That's not to say these characters aren't realistic. I used to work at a video store where a regular customer entered who was quite a lot like Moscowitz and the man he saves Minnie from, as well as the man that Moscowitz meets in the diner at the beginning of the movie. He would as much as yell every thought that came to his brain and if he perceived anyone was put off by him (which inevitably everyone was), he would get angry and upset and lash out. However, he was an exception, even amongst all of the possible annoying and maddening customers in that job, I have not met anyone else like him and it's significant to me that so many of those characters populate and actually meet in this movie. I have the same basic problem with CSI, that it's not necessarily so wrong that individual characters are in real need of help and have emotional and mental problems, it's that the entire plot is driven entirely by them.
Back to Morrissey's Heat, then... these messed up characters meet each other because they are in the same trashy, fleshy subculture of drug-addled existence, and the broken editing style matches their carelessness and complete lack of self-awareness. In Cassavetes', there's no real infrastructure to support all of these people running into each other but his own hand in leading the characters along. And Heat is, in its annoying and obnoxious character-laden way, still representative of a group of people who actually act out like that, whereas Cassavetes seems to purposefully remove the filter just to clash with taste.
--PolarisDiB
Cassavetes is no fool and this movie isn't mistaken misfire. He eagerly presents little if any real difference between one sad, lonely, messed up man and the man who saves her from him; he makes the classist, racist, and bigot views of many of his characters quite open; he throws jibes at Hollywood romance and twists their clichés--he knows what he's doing. A yarn about Cassavetes states that he would listen to peoples' comments about his movies and if they approved of any part of it, he'd cut that part out. Well in this case I approved with the cutting off of a few scenes mid-dialog, because it saved me the effort of sitting through it. However, I recognize that in one way, it could be said that Cassavetes is purposefully trying to bring discomfort. Ergo, success.
However, in that same mode, he has simply done better and more engaging characters. In Woman under the Influence, the same continual stress of overtly dysfunctional and damaging relationships, and the ineffable way in which the characters still stay together, is still supported by a careful building of that relationship that gives true hints and bases for the motivations and processes that pull these nearly insane people together. Here, it feels much more non-sequitor.
That's not to say these characters aren't realistic. I used to work at a video store where a regular customer entered who was quite a lot like Moscowitz and the man he saves Minnie from, as well as the man that Moscowitz meets in the diner at the beginning of the movie. He would as much as yell every thought that came to his brain and if he perceived anyone was put off by him (which inevitably everyone was), he would get angry and upset and lash out. However, he was an exception, even amongst all of the possible annoying and maddening customers in that job, I have not met anyone else like him and it's significant to me that so many of those characters populate and actually meet in this movie. I have the same basic problem with CSI, that it's not necessarily so wrong that individual characters are in real need of help and have emotional and mental problems, it's that the entire plot is driven entirely by them.
Back to Morrissey's Heat, then... these messed up characters meet each other because they are in the same trashy, fleshy subculture of drug-addled existence, and the broken editing style matches their carelessness and complete lack of self-awareness. In Cassavetes', there's no real infrastructure to support all of these people running into each other but his own hand in leading the characters along. And Heat is, in its annoying and obnoxious character-laden way, still representative of a group of people who actually act out like that, whereas Cassavetes seems to purposefully remove the filter just to clash with taste.
--PolarisDiB
brilliant enough to inspire dark scribblings
oliverio-p29 July 2001
Zelmo says "people that listen continuously are much more interesting than people that talk continuously" He doesn't get the girl. Seymour says "I think about you so much I forget to go to the bathroom." He gets the girl. "When I'm with someone I want to get away." This is the girl speaking. Her name is Minnie . She also says "I don't like men. They smile too much. You see a lot of teeth." This is no ordinary love story. Correction this is an extraordinary love story where Minnie ultimately becomes a Moskowitz which is difficult to say with a straight face. But the ultimate romance is between John Cassavetes and the English language. Forget the popcorn, to eternally enjoy Minnie &Moskowitz, have a notepad and some shorthand and "if you have bread, we can make toast."
I was so happy at the end.
pmtelefon24 March 2019
I was smiling during the last few minutes of "Minnie and Moskowitz". I was so happy for the both of them. The films of John Cassavetes are in a class by themselves. Even after many viewings I still don't know what I'm getting myself into. I can never remember where they end up. This may be the angriest love story story ever made. There's a whole bunch of yelling and fighting before we get to the love. When we finally do get there, it's very satisfying. I would love to know how "Minnie and Moskowitz" are doing now. I'm sure they did great...and drove their neighbors crazy.
Where's the internet when you need one?
Progger195328 December 2021
Warning: Spoilers
I'm was in love with her because she looks so great in a lot of her movies. But watching her wit
on these different dates made me cringe a couple times. But the Val Avery segment was so real in my eyes. I'm known not so pretty men not getting a chance and it was obvious she didn't like his looks. Then he went bizarro on her. But that was so real.
Too bad they didn't have the internet back then it would have saved a lot of time if she just saw what they looked like on a computer.
Too bad they didn't have the internet back then it would have saved a lot of time if she just saw what they looked like on a computer.
Emotional and provocative
mrncat26 November 2010
When I first saw this movie in the late 1970s I was bowled over by how emotionally raw and vulnerable the characters of Minnie Moore & Seymour Moskowitz were. Actress Gina Rowlands was very believable in her characterization and some of the dialogue in this I thought was quite memorable.
Now upon seeing it again some 30 years later (& being older myself), I see again Minnie's raw emotions and understand that she WANTS to feel (at one point she says she admires people who can really feel or something to that effect). Seymour is actually much more emotionally volatile than what I remember.
This film is a character study is what I guess it is referred to. I saw it initially as a love story and believe it still is. It has much of the look and style and attitude of the time it was made (1971), and Seymour's long hair and somewhat "hippie" look would've made him possibly suspect in the eyes of middle America at that time. While Seymour's volatility exhibits his own emotional rawness, he has something of a heart of gold and he is who he is. I think this movie still holds up and it has a level of emotional excitement that makes it appealing.
Now upon seeing it again some 30 years later (& being older myself), I see again Minnie's raw emotions and understand that she WANTS to feel (at one point she says she admires people who can really feel or something to that effect). Seymour is actually much more emotionally volatile than what I remember.
This film is a character study is what I guess it is referred to. I saw it initially as a love story and believe it still is. It has much of the look and style and attitude of the time it was made (1971), and Seymour's long hair and somewhat "hippie" look would've made him possibly suspect in the eyes of middle America at that time. While Seymour's volatility exhibits his own emotional rawness, he has something of a heart of gold and he is who he is. I think this movie still holds up and it has a level of emotional excitement that makes it appealing.
Cassavetes's complexities
redcrossaint24 July 2022
"Minnie and Moskowitz" was released in 1971, and is one of director John Cassavetes's more forgotten works. I don't know why. This is a film that is worth as much as his "Faces" or "Love Streams" because of its humane qualities. It is often funny, and often very insightful. It's also an excellent film - it's a tribute to Cassavetes's greatest talents that movies like this work, because they have to be so particular with how they conduct themselves. Cassavetes, as usual, assembles great dialogue and great actors, with some moderated and often useful direction.
The simple but effective plot of "Minnie and Moskowitz" follows a museum curator, Minnie Moore (Gena Rowlands) and a crazed parking attendant, Seymour Moskowitz (Seymour Cassel) who reluctantly fall in love.
This is a great movie because of its emotion and its intelligence. Like many of Cassavetes's movies, we follow these complicated characters through these emotional changes and watch them as they both grow, and sometimes die. It may sound depressing, but trust me - it's very funny, too, thanks to wit and substance. This is easily one of the best movies by Cassavetes.
Minnie and Moskowitz (1971)
4 STARS (OUT OF 4)
Written and directed by John Cassavetes
Starring Gena Rowlands, Seymour Cassel, Val Avery and Timothy Carey
Rated GP
114 minutes.
The simple but effective plot of "Minnie and Moskowitz" follows a museum curator, Minnie Moore (Gena Rowlands) and a crazed parking attendant, Seymour Moskowitz (Seymour Cassel) who reluctantly fall in love.
This is a great movie because of its emotion and its intelligence. Like many of Cassavetes's movies, we follow these complicated characters through these emotional changes and watch them as they both grow, and sometimes die. It may sound depressing, but trust me - it's very funny, too, thanks to wit and substance. This is easily one of the best movies by Cassavetes.
Minnie and Moskowitz (1971)
4 STARS (OUT OF 4)
Written and directed by John Cassavetes
Starring Gena Rowlands, Seymour Cassel, Val Avery and Timothy Carey
Rated GP
114 minutes.
A over-long, poorly told story about boring people
paulromney0330 September 2007
I'm not a huge fan of slick Hollywood phoniness, but this film made me long for "Hollywood values". At least the boys and girls of Tinseltown know how to tell a story. If you are going to tell a story about a cultured, upper-middle-class woman falling for a not-too-bright, ill-mannered jerk of at best average appearance, you need to develop the characters, their motives, and the dynamics of their inherently implausible relationship convincingly. What this film needs is a lot more preliminary development of Minnie's character and a good deal less of the repetitious, one-note, top-of-the-lungs interaction between her and Moskowitz. It needs, in short, a better script and better direction. Cassavetes may have been a luminary of US independent cinema, but on this evidence at least his importance is strictly historical.
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