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Movie Review;
An Intimate Look at the Writer's Life; Arliss Howard directs and
stars in 'Big Bad Love,' a brave and admirable portrayal of an author
on the brink.
The Los Angeles Times; Los Angeles, Calif.; Mar 8, 2002; KEVIN THOMAS;
Abstract:
Reality, however, is closing in on [Leon Barlow], a lean man with
a receding hairline and a rich, poetic Southern sensibility. Leon's
determination to become a writer has already cost him his marriage
to a woman he deeply loves, Marilyn ([Debra Winger]), a hospital
nurse and mother to their two small children. Leon has custody on
the weekends, and while he's lousy at keeping up with child support
payments, he tells great bedtime stories. So far Leon has faced
rejection after rejection of his work but at last an agent offers
appreciation and encouragement, but how long can he hold out before
he and his life disintegrate completely?
Yet this downward trajectory, fueled by quantities of liquor, is
fodder for Leon's creativity, and it increasingly becomes clear
that he will keep on writing even if it kills him. It is no wonder
that the radiant Marilyn, who clearly still loves Leon as much as
he loves her, has put distance between them. Meanwhile, Leon's mother
(Angie Dickinson), a durably elegant Southern belle, fears that
he is as feckless as her late husband.
An IFC release. Director [Arliss Howard]. Producer Debra Winger.
Executive producers Manfred Wilde & Barry Navidi, and Howard & Winger.
Screenplay James Howard & Arliss Howard; based on stories by [Larry
Brown]. Cinematographer [Paul Ryan]. Editor Jay Rabinowitz. Original
songs by [Tom Waits]. Music supervisor Joe Mulherin. Production
and costume design by Patricia Norris. Set decorator Leslie Morales.
Running time: 1 hour, 51 minutes.
Full Text:
(Copyright, The Times Mirror Company; Los Angeles Times 2002 Allrights
reserved)
"Big Bad Love" is a calculated risk that succeeds in evoking what
it means to be a fiction writer as few films have. Shot through
with beauty, pain and humor, this complex and intimate film is drawn
from the short story collection of the same name by Mississippi
writer Larry Brown. It stars Arliss Howard as Brown alter ego Leon
Barlow.
This deeply felt, affecting film is a family affair: Howard also
directed and collaborated on the script with his younger brother
James, and Arliss Howard's wife, Debra Winger, co-stars and served
as producer.
Shot on location in Holly Springs, Miss., by the gifted cinematographer
Paul Ryan, "Big Bad Love" unfolds in a verdant community of comfortable
old homes with lots of space around them. In this sleepy place past,
present and future seem to flow easily among one another. No one
senses this more acutely than Leon, who in writing fiction draws
upon the memories, dreams and imaginings through which the film
threads freely, moving back and forth almost constantly. "Nothing
is real to you except what's in your head," says Velma (Rosanna
Arquette), wife of Leon's best friend and war buddy Monroe (Paul
Le Mat), and in a sense she's right about a man she's known all
her life.
Reality, however, is closing in on Leon, a lean man with a receding
hairline and a rich, poetic Southern sensibility. Leon's determination
to become a writer has already cost him his marriage to a woman
he deeply loves, Marilyn (Winger), a hospital nurse and mother to
their two small children. Leon has custody on the weekends, and
while he's lousy at keeping up with child support payments, he tells
great bedtime stories. So far Leon has faced rejection after rejection
of his work but at last an agent offers appreciation and encouragement,
but how long can he hold out before he and his life disintegrate
completely?
Yet this downward trajectory, fueled by quantities of liquor, is
fodder for Leon's creativity, and it increasingly becomes clear
that he will keep on writing even if it kills him. It is no wonder
that the radiant Marilyn, who clearly still loves Leon as much as
he loves her, has put distance between them. Meanwhile, Leon's mother
(Angie Dickinson), a durably elegant Southern belle, fears that
he is as feckless as her late husband.
Leon's curse of remembering, however, may also prove to be his blessing.
The risk he takes in dedicating himself to writing is mirrored by
the risk the film takes in showing so much through his eyes--eyes
that see the past as sharply and as frequently as the present.
A film that switches continually and with little warning between
its protagonist's various states of mind makes lots of demands upon
its cast. Even through Leon's bouts of drunkenness, Howard manages
to maintain compassion for Leon, valiant in his struggle and aware
of its cost to others, especially Marilyn, who Winger shows us ever-
shifting between defensiveness, exasperation and love. Fine ensemble
support is supplied by Dickinson, Arquette, Le Mat and Michael Parks
as the philosophical proprietor of the local grocery and gas station.
"Big Bad Love" is all of a piece, with its soundtrack echoing every
shift in mood and emotion as harmoniously as the camera. It is an
aptly imaginative blend of artists from the legendary Fat Possum
label such as R.L. Burnside, Junior Kimbrough, T-Model Ford, Robert
Belfour, Asie Payton and Kenny Brown. Also heard on the soundtrack
are Tom Waits, who wrote two new songs for the film, Steve Earle,
and a new collaboration between Tom Verlaine and the Kronos Quartet.
"Big Bad Love" is brave and admirable for the trust that it puts
in a viewer's intuition and willingness in going along with it right
through to its rewarding finish.
*
MPAA rating: R, for language and some sexuality. Times guidelines:
Complex adult themes.
'Big Bad Love'
Arliss Howard ... Leon Barlow
Debra Winger ... Marilyn
Paul Le Mat ... Monroe
Rosanna Arquette ... Velma
Angie Dickinson ... Mrs. Barlow
An IFC release. Director Arliss Howard. Producer Debra Winger. Executive
producers Manfred Wilde & Barry Navidi, and Howard & Winger. Screenplay
James Howard & Arliss Howard; based on stories by Larry Brown. Cinematographer
Paul Ryan. Editor Jay Rabinowitz. Original songs by Tom Waits. Music
supervisor Joe Mulherin. Production and costume design by Patricia
Norris. Set decorator Leslie Morales. Running time: 1 hour, 51 minutes.
Exclusively at the Nuart through Thursday, 11272 Santa Monica Blvd.,
West Los Angeles, (310) 478-6379.
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