On F List of Movie Reviews

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Falling in Love (1984)

Rate: 8
Viewed: 6/25

6/25: After The Deer Hunter, Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep didn't work together again until they began Falling in Love.

I have a long history of being unimpressed with Meryl Streep's acting. It only takes a couple of scenes to know her mannerisms cold, and she'll end up repeating them in every single film. But in Falling in Love, I must say she did a credible job only because the emotions are correct.

When I saw Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep feeling each other out, I was reminded of the New Wave films that used to be shot on location. There's no lust or mindless fucking involved like the one I saw recently: The End of the Affair. At his most handsome with nothing crazy going on, Robert De Niro takes the classical approach as his character tries to figure out whether or not what he's feeling is genuine love while Molly (Meryl Streep) is equally confused and unsure if she's ready to break away from her husband by taking the next step.

From the start, it'll be easy to say, "Hey, these people are cheating on their spouses," but how the situation unfolds actually reduces this dilemma to nothing because they didn't have sex and eventually told their significant other what's up. So, one went ahead with the divorce while the other will probably do it given the ending.

All in all, there have been tons of films about adultery, but Falling in Love ranks one of the most realistic made, thanks to the fine performances by Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep.

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