Cassavetes makes a genre film. Yes, it is definitely a little weird to think of the famed maverick auteur working in the confines of a gangster picture, but that is exactly what Gloria is. Evocative less of New York in 1980 than the film noir landscape of the 1940s and 50s, Cassavetes turns his typical actorly style towards a film that would also include chase scenes and a ridiculously high body count.
Gena Rowlands here plays a variant on her classic 70s Cassavetes roles, especially Mabel of A Woman Under the Influence. Gloria is Mabel plus confidence, even in the waning desperate throws of it.
If the director was working on new turf, Cassavetes had as an actor ample experience in this genre. He knows the ins and outs well enough to put a pretty bizarre spin on them. Especially strange is the performance of John Adames as the kid. His line delivery is not like a poor child performance, but also not like any kid I have ever met. It is a strange confluence of Cassavetes and what just must have been a really bizarre child. And it works. His playing off the assured performance of Rowlands opens up the film beyond a gangster picture into something else.
Not a great Cassavetes, but an interesting and undeniably fun one.
Gena Rowlands here plays a variant on her classic 70s Cassavetes roles, especially Mabel of A Woman Under the Influence. Gloria is Mabel plus confidence, even in the waning desperate throws of it.
If the director was working on new turf, Cassavetes had as an actor ample experience in this genre. He knows the ins and outs well enough to put a pretty bizarre spin on them. Especially strange is the performance of John Adames as the kid. His line delivery is not like a poor child performance, but also not like any kid I have ever met. It is a strange confluence of Cassavetes and what just must have been a really bizarre child. And it works. His playing off the assured performance of Rowlands opens up the film beyond a gangster picture into something else.
Not a great Cassavetes, but an interesting and undeniably fun one.
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