I don't normally like it when people say "they don't make them like this anymore" when referring to movies, because it usually makes people sound like they're just old and resistant to new things. But I have to admit while re-watching "Absence of Malice" lately that I had that feeling myself. In this new world of fractured streaming entertainment, you can still find plenty of good movies made for grownups, but you have to try so much harder. I don't much like most of the mainstream stuff that now saturates movie theaters, and the more serious stuff is hard to find and then is many times so bleak and depressing when you do.
Back in the 1980s, there was a middle tier of movie that "Absence of Malice" is an example of, and that played regularly in theaters next to blockbusters. Intelligent enough to be enjoyed by adults, but accessible enough to be entertaining without stressing you out too much. Really great actors giving really good performances, a serious topic but dealt out in a way that doesn't make it feel like medicine, and an ending that isn't exactly happy but also isn't demoralizing. The romance is dumb and feels tacked on just to tick off a box, but it's not pushed too hard. There's a place for middlebrow, reliable entertainment like this.
Paul Newman and Melinda Dillon received Oscar nominations for their Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress performances, respectively, and the film won a third nomination for its original screenplay.
Grade: A-
Back in the 1980s, there was a middle tier of movie that "Absence of Malice" is an example of, and that played regularly in theaters next to blockbusters. Intelligent enough to be enjoyed by adults, but accessible enough to be entertaining without stressing you out too much. Really great actors giving really good performances, a serious topic but dealt out in a way that doesn't make it feel like medicine, and an ending that isn't exactly happy but also isn't demoralizing. The romance is dumb and feels tacked on just to tick off a box, but it's not pushed too hard. There's a place for middlebrow, reliable entertainment like this.
Paul Newman and Melinda Dillon received Oscar nominations for their Best Actor and Best Supporting Actress performances, respectively, and the film won a third nomination for its original screenplay.
Grade: A-