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At its core, love should be a simple thing. You either love or don't love someone; and if you love someone, you do your best to spend as most time as you can with that person. It is when we let external variables exert influence that things get complicated. How will this interfere with my career? What will people think? What about my children? Those are some of the questions that float above the main characters in this interesting romantic drama.
All That Heaven Allows follows Cary (Jane Wyman), a mature widow with two adult children, that ends up falling in love with Ron (Rock Hudson), a young gardener that works at her home. To complicate things, Cary is affluent which prompts gossip around the neighborhood about Ron's reasons to fall in love with her. Although obviously smitten by Ron, Cary seems to be too worried about what will people in town think about her relationship, and if her children will approve of her relationship.
This film was recommended by a good Internet friend and it was so much better than I was expecting. For the first half, the film is carried by some solid performances from Wyman and Hudson, and good chemistry between them. The relationship feels real and not like others 50's more cliché romantic dramas. However, towards the middle of the film, there is a shift to more serious territory as the burden of gossip and those "external variables" start to take a toll on Cary and Ron's relationship, especially with Cary's children. All through the film, the script by Peg Fenwick allows for some great exchanges between the different characters
It is only in the very last act where the story falls a bit into sappy territory with a scene between Cary and a doctor that gives her advice about her relationship, and then with the very ending, which I think was something that could've been worked some other way. Still, it's nothing to take too much off of this. All That Heaven Allows is a great portrayal of a mature relationship between two adults, and the obstacles that they might face; something that we don't see much anymore. Why is it so difficult all of a sudden?
Grade:
ALL THAT HEAVEN ALLOWS
(1955, Sirk)
A film from the TSPDT 1,000 Greatest Films list whose ranking includes the #8 (#378) • A romantic film
-- recommended by Scotty --
(1955, Sirk)
A film from the TSPDT 1,000 Greatest Films list whose ranking includes the #8 (#378) • A romantic film
-- recommended by Scotty --
"Two people who are in love with each other, want to be married. Why is it so difficult all of a sudden?"
At its core, love should be a simple thing. You either love or don't love someone; and if you love someone, you do your best to spend as most time as you can with that person. It is when we let external variables exert influence that things get complicated. How will this interfere with my career? What will people think? What about my children? Those are some of the questions that float above the main characters in this interesting romantic drama.
All That Heaven Allows follows Cary (Jane Wyman), a mature widow with two adult children, that ends up falling in love with Ron (Rock Hudson), a young gardener that works at her home. To complicate things, Cary is affluent which prompts gossip around the neighborhood about Ron's reasons to fall in love with her. Although obviously smitten by Ron, Cary seems to be too worried about what will people in town think about her relationship, and if her children will approve of her relationship.
This film was recommended by a good Internet friend and it was so much better than I was expecting. For the first half, the film is carried by some solid performances from Wyman and Hudson, and good chemistry between them. The relationship feels real and not like others 50's more cliché romantic dramas. However, towards the middle of the film, there is a shift to more serious territory as the burden of gossip and those "external variables" start to take a toll on Cary and Ron's relationship, especially with Cary's children. All through the film, the script by Peg Fenwick allows for some great exchanges between the different characters
It is only in the very last act where the story falls a bit into sappy territory with a scene between Cary and a doctor that gives her advice about her relationship, and then with the very ending, which I think was something that could've been worked some other way. Still, it's nothing to take too much off of this. All That Heaven Allows is a great portrayal of a mature relationship between two adults, and the obstacles that they might face; something that we don't see much anymore. Why is it so difficult all of a sudden?
Grade: