A Modern Affair (1995)

User Rating:

5.9/10   

Director:

Vern Oakley

Writers:

Vern Oakley (story)
Paul Zimmerman (screenplay)

Release Date:

6 September 1996 (USA)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama | Romance

Tagline:

They met, fell in love, and had a baby. (Not necessarily in that order.)

Plot:

"A Modern Affair" is a romantic comedy about the strain of contemporary relationships, one woman's urgent desire for parenthood...

Plot Keywords:

Independent Film

Cast

Lisa Eichhorn	...	Grace Rhodes
Stanley Tucci	...	Peter Kessler
Caroline Aaron	...	Elaine
Mary Jo Salerno	...	Lindsey
Robert Joy	...	Ernest Pohlsab
Wesley Addy	...	Ed Rhodes
Robert LuPone	...	Ben
Cynthia Martells	...	Ellen
J. Smith-Cameron	...	Diane
Vincent Young	...	Tony
Tammy Grimes	...	Dr. Gresham
Len Stanger	...	Older Executive
Jon Huberth	...	Suit #1
Jim Lavin	...	Suit #2
Claywood Sempliner	...	Suit #3

Also Known As:

Mr. #247

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Certification:

Iceland:L | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Bellvale, New York, USA

Company:

Nick of Time Productions Inc.

Soundtrack:

Walls Can Tumble

A Sucker for Lisa Eichhorn, so...

This is a very strange and dark movie. Solely on the basis of Lisa Eichhorn's presence in it, I saw it (alone) in a New York theater the evening I read the newspaper review. In this sole N.Y. theater for its performance, on the night it opened, only one other person was in the theater at the 7:30 showing.

I have loved Lisa Eichhorn since I first saw her in Yanks. If she's in a play, I attend the play. If she's in a TV program, I watch the TV program. I've never been like this about another actor or actress. She has qualities that are apparently unappreciated because she has not become a big star.

Perhaps her most evident characteristic is a look of extraordinary intelligence and sensitivity. Although some other actresses share this (e.g., Mary Beth Hurt, Blair Brown, Lee Remick, Amy Irving, Meryl Streep), Eichhorn also has an other- worldly sort of presence. She is never really there - there are depths of feeling and perception and memory into which some random comment has thrust her. She is the most fascinating actress I've ever seen.

Although meant to be a sort of comedy, the movie is in fact quite sad and dark. Fortunately, Miss Eichhorn is wonderful at "sad and dark"! There is a short but very moving scene with Wesley Addy (playing her quite old father) in which his life-long contempt for his daughter's competence is made clear without too much being said.

The loneliness of a woman in a large city at the end of the century is what the movie is really about - and it makes one shiver. The niche of former times, places is gone - the preserving of jams and the quilting bee are gone, the organizing committee and the planned demonstrations are not for most, the spouse and hearth do not exist. What is left is an ageing woman, conscientious and longing for connection. It is Lisa Eichhorn's movie and she can be admired. (Although Mr. Tucci is fine, I think the character overreacts to the central turnign point in the movie and thus becamse unlikeable).

On a rainy day or evening, when your husband calls to say he'll be late, but your sister is visiting and the baby quietly sleeps, see this movie, and you'll be moved.