You Were My Eyes When I Couldn't See... (Up Close & Personal (DVD))

Member Name: MattRoberts

Product:	Up Close & Personal (DVD)
Date:	08/08/03 (1149 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good Plot , Good acting

Disadvantages: You'll cry at the end!

Along with The Way We Were (also starring Robert Redford) and Casablanca, Up Close & Personal is one of those romantic films that show you that love is still really possible in this day and age…

The two main stars show us how talented they are in this film from the early nineties. Set over a space of time, of about 10 years, in the world of television, the main characters’ relationship seems to develop slowly but surely.

There are really only two actors who are associated with the film. The two of them are the only people in the film, and surprisingly enough that really works well.


**Cast and Other Info**

Robert Redford – Warren Justice

Michelle Pfeiffer – Tally Atwater

Director – Avnet Kerner

Certificate – PG

Year filmed - 1996

**The Plot**

Sally Atwater is desperate to be a reporter on television. She’d do anything just become well know and good at her job. She’ll do anything. And she doesn’t mind starting at the bottom; and that’s exactly what she does…

When she’s offered to be like a secretary for Warren Justice, the head of Channel 9 news, she jumps at the chance to move from her home to town to Florida where she knows nothing and no-one.

When she arrives, she’s stays at her desk job for over a year. She listens in on the news to see how all the reports report, how all the newsreaders read. She’s desperate to get a job, and she asks her boss, for a promotion.

She asks him if she can become the new weathergirl. He says no, but she begs him until he says yes, and she gets ready for her first time on set and her first time on television.

When the newsreader is introducing Sally, there’s a misprint on the autocue and the newsreader by mistake, calls Sally, Tally. And there we have it, a new star of the television is born – Tally Atwate
r.

Tally’s stint as weathergirl doesn’t go too well, but Warren hires her as a reporter. After spending more and more time together, Warren and Tally fall in love, and not only does she have her career, but she has love.

But, with her career rising by the second, and her getting known by everyone, Warren’s career is going down the pan…




**Performances**


As there are only two main characters in the film, Pfeiffer and Redford had to have a spark on-screen. And a spark they certainly had! They had that sense, that when you were watching them, they were imagining ripping each other’s clothes off they were so in love!

What some scriptwriters don’t understand, and that’s why they don’t succeed in writing a good romantic film, is that sometimes a look can do it. No words are needed; just a look of love, and their love is confirmed.

The spark between the two characters is highly visible from the start of the film. The slight flirting and flutter of eyelashes tells us love will occur.

I don’t think that the director set out for Up Close & Personal to be like Casablanca and The Way We Were. I think she set out for Tally and Warren to have trouble-free relationships.

But, in the Way We Were and Casablanca, love isn’t so easy. Nor is it in Up Close & Personal, but it’s more. It’s more than the other tow’s relationship, and thankfully it hasn’t got the same sort of ending.

The tow actors certainly played their parts well in this film. It deserved higher recognition as well, because they carried the weight of the whole film on their shoulders.



**My Opinion**

Up Close & Personal soundtrack is one most people will know. In case you didn’t know, it’s “because you loved me” by Celine Dion. The words in the song capture the film beautifully, and it can
’t probably be appreciated until you watch the whole film, and the song is on in the credits.

The ending was one I wasn’t expecting. Saying that, I thought it was a brilliant ending, and much better than they “they lived happily ever after” cliché. The ending, in my opinion was the best part of the film.

Romantic films are rarely around anymore, and if they are they’re either Romcom’s or they just don’t work at all. But, once in a while, there’s that romantic film that’s so good and so memorable, the characters in it are used as examples.

Up Close & Personal is a film I really enjoyed. Not only enjoyed but really understood. And by understood, I mean I knew what the director was trying to tell me. I knew what them message in the film was…


**Final Thoughts**

It’s probable that you will cry a few times in the film. It’s sad, it’s funny, it’s interesting, and it’s a must-see if you haven’t already. And if you have, watch it again!


**Up Close and Personal on VHS and DVD**


From Amazon, you can buy both the DVD and VHS of Up Close and Personal. The DVD is an expensive £15,19, and the VHS is also rather expensive at £13,49. I’m sure they can be found cheaper, or if you buy them second-hand.


Written By: Matt Roberts.

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