Amazon.com: John Heard plays Charles, a sardonic civil servant who can't seem to get over his breakup with Laura (Mary Beth Hurt). While listening to his mother describe how she's thinking of killing herself, Charles begins to reflect on how the relationship started. From there, the movie flashes back and forth between his present obsessiveness and the ups and downs of his two months with Laura. The rambling but entertaining progress of Chilly Scenes of Winter is sprinkled with sharp, satirical portraits of the other people in Charles's life, including his mother (the great B-movie actress, Gloria Grahame), who wallows in her offhand madness, and his roommate, Sam (Peter Riegert), an unemployed womanizer. But the movie's greatest strength is its warts-and-all portrait of Charles himself. He's funny, but his humor often slides into hostility; he's affectionate, but his attentions sometimes turn neurotic and possessive. The movie doesn't condemn him, but it doesn't let him off the hook, either, and Heard's performance manages to be both charming and dismaying. The result is a gentle, sometimes painful, but always honest comedy about the messy details of relationships that has developed a passionate cult following. Chilly Scenes of Winter is based on the novel of the same name by Anne Beattie, who has a cameo as a waitress. --Bret Fetzer
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - Beg for a DVD release!
Maybe it's just my age (baby boomer), but this edgy romantic comedy from 1979 has such wit and charm, it has always had a very special place in my heart. John Heard plays a somewhat lost, slightly wounded romantic, and Mary Beth Hurt is the perfect companion he meets while she's separated from the husband she never should have married. They are brought to life from Ann Beattie's novel with such commitment, it's a joy. The secondary characters, every single one, are all such a treat as well. The late Ken McMillan and Gloria Grahame, Peter Riegert when he was just starting out, they're all wonderful. ... Read More
Rating: - A nostalgic view of love in the 1970s
If you see this film today under its original title, "Chilly Scenes of Winter", you will probably be most struck by watching two part players from "The Sopranos" -- John Heard and Peter Reigert -- in their youth with long hair. Both play middle aged patsies in the HBO crime series. The other thing that will strike most viewers is that the heroine's husband once played "the maestro" on "Seinfeld".
What I think you will not understand is how realistic this film is about love in the 1970s, when love meant lack of commitment and possibly trying it out with several people at a time. In this regard ... Read More
Rating: - Loved The Original Ending
This is one of my favorite films of all time. The original ending is the only way for the film to end. There are those of us out there who really do believe in fate and happily ever after. I am one of them. If you ever get the chance to see the original, see it! Head Over Heels is what it was called when I saw it on HBO nearly 25 years ago (not the Chilly Scenes of Winter, how did that title come about?), anyway, is a very emotional and intellectual film. A+A+A+A+ Long live the romantics in the world. Will SOMEONE release this film in it's original version!
Rating: - AN OVERLOOKED CONTEMPORARY CLASSIC
This is one of the best films few people have heard of! I don't know about some people, but I LIKED the new ending of the re-edited version. I mean, happy endings are nice and all that, but sometimes things just don't wrap up neatly and I thought this ending really fit the film as a whole. Although I would be interested in seeing Silver's original cut. You know, MGM could prepare a special DVD containing Ms. Silver's original cut on Side 1 and the re-edit on Side 2. But it will never happen. And it's a shame. It would be the perfect candidate for MGM's "Contemporary Classics" series.
Rating: - I liked Head Over Heels ending better!
I first saw the original(Head Over Heels) on cable in 1981. I loved the original ending when Charles returns from the park and finds Laura in the kitchen making the famous dessert. He was amazed that she kept the house key. "You kept the key", he repeated while she tried to excuse herself for being there. He wanted so much for her to want him while he nearly went insane waiting for her to come back to him. Yeah, I can sympathize with Charles; been there done that. But the original ending gave us romantics some hope. When my "Laura" closed the door, I never looked back and I never saw her again [that was 19 ... Read More
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