''She's So Lovely'' is a 1997 American

romantic drama film Romance films or movies involve romantic love stories recorded in visual media for broadcast in theatres or on television that focus on passion, emotion, and the affectionate romantic involvement of the main characters. Typically their journey ...

directed by

Nick Cassavetes Nicholas David Rowland Cassavetes (born May 21, 1959) is an American actor, director, and writer. He has directed such films as '' She's So Lovely'' (1997), ''John Q.'' (2002), '' The Notebook'' (2004), ''Alpha Dog'' (2006), and '' My Sister's Ke ...

, written by

John Cassavetes John Nicholas Cassavetes ( ; December 9, 1929 – February 3, 1989) was an American actor, film director, and screenwriter. First known as a television and film actor, Cassavetes also helped pioneer American independent cinema, writing and direc ...

. At the time of its release, it received special attention because, eight years after his death, it was the first (and still only) posthumous film to feature previously unreleased material from John Cassavetes. The film stars

Sean Penn Sean Justin Penn (born August 17, 1960) is an American actor and film director. He has won two Academy Awards, for his roles in the mystery drama '' Mystic River'' (2003) and the biopic ''Milk'' (2008). Penn began his acting career in televis ...

and

John Travolta John Joseph Travolta (born February 18, 1954) is an American actor. He came to public attention during the 1970s, appearing on the television sitcom '' Welcome Back, Kotter'' (1975–1979) and starring in the box office successes ''Carrie'' (1 ...

as the respective men who bid for the affection of Maureen Murphy Quinn (

Robin Wright Robin Gayle Wright (born April 8, 1966) is an American actress. She has won a Golden Globe Award and a Satellite Award, and has received eleven Emmy Award nominations for her work in television. Wright first gained attention for her role in t ...

Harry Dean Stanton Harry Dean Stanton (July 14, 1926 – September 15, 2017) was an American actor, musician, and singer. In a career that spanned more than six decades, Stanton played supporting roles in films including ''Cool Hand Luke'' (1967), ''Kelly's Heroes ...

co-stars as a friend of Penn's character, and

James Gandolfini James Joseph Gandolfini Jr. (; September 18, 1961 – June 19, 2013) was an American actor. For his role as Tony Soprano, the Italian-American Mafia crime boss in HBO's television series '' The Sopranos'', he won three Emmy Awards, five Scree ...

plays the abusive neighbor.

Plot

Eddie Quinn's unruly wife Maureen drinks and smokes to excess, even though she is pregnant. Eddie has troubles of his own, disappearing for days at a time. When she is physically and sexually assaulted by Kiefer, a neighbor, it is more than Eddie can handle. He shoots someone and lands in a psychiatric hospital. Ten years go by. Eddie finally returns, only to find Maureen is now a clean, sober, solid citizen, married to a new man, Joey, and a mother of three children, one of whom is Eddie's own daughter. Eddie's return complicates and endangers all of their lives.

Cast

as Eddie Quinn *

as Maureen Murphy Quinn *

as Joey Giamonti *

as Kiefer *

as Tony "Shorty" Russo *

Neill Barry Neill Barry (born November 29, 1965) is an American film, television and stage actor, as well as an occasional screenwriter. Barry was born in New York City, New York. He made his acting debut at the age of thirteen in Martin Davidson's film ' ...

as Michael *

Debi Mazar Deborah Anne Mazar Corcos (; born August 13, 1964) is an American actress and television personality, known for playing sharp-tongued women. She began her career with supporting roles in '' Goodfellas'' (1990), '' Little Man Tate'' (1991) and '' ...

as Georgie *

Gena Rowlands Virginia Cathryn "Gena" Rowlands (born June 19, 1930) is an American retired actress, whose career in film, stage, and television has spanned seven decades. A four-time Emmy and two-time Golden Globe winner, she is known for her collaborations ...

as Miss Jane Green *

Susan Traylor Susan Traylor is an American actress. She was nominated for the Independent Spirit Award for Best Female Lead for her performance in '' Valerie Flake'' (1999). Traylor's starring role in ''Valerie Flake'' also won the inaugural best feature a ...

as Lucinda * Bobby Cooper as Cooper * John Marshall Jones as Leonard * Chloe Webb as Nancy Swearingen * James Soravilla as Avi * Jamie Bozian as Intern #1 (as James Bozian) *

Paul Johansson Paul Joseph Otto Johansson (born January 26, 1964) is an American-born Canadian actor and director in film and television, best known for playing Dan Scott on the WB/ CW series, ''One Tree Hill'', and for his role as Nick Wolfe on the short l ...

as Intern #2 *

Justina Machado Justina Milagros Machado (born September 6, 1972) is an American actress, known for her roles as Penelope Alvarez on the Netflix and Pop TV sitcom '' One Day at a Time'', Darci Factor in The CW dramedy '' Jane the Virgin'', Vanessa Diaz on the ...

as Carmen Rodriguez as Lady Ticket Taker *

Tito Larriva Humberto "Tito" Larriva (born 1953) is a Mexican/American songwriter, singer, musician, and actor. He came to prominence leading The Plugz, one of the earliest Los Angeles punk rock groups. Since the 1990s, his main musical outlet has been the ...

as Lead Singer

Reception

Critical response

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...

the film has an approval rating of 66% based on 41 reviews.

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

of the

Chicago Sun-Times The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...

gave it 3 out of 4 stars and wrote: "What ick Cassavetesunderstands is that if you want to see true weirdness, you don't look along skid row, where the motives are pretty easy to understand, but out in suburbia, where those green lawns can surround human time bombs." Writing in

Time Out New York ''Time Out'' is a global magazine published by Time Out Group. ''Time Out'' started as a London-only publication in 1968 and has expanded its editorial recommendations to 328 cities in 58 countries worldwide. In 2012, the London edition beca ...

, Andrew Johnston remarked: "Watching the films of John Cassavetes now, one is struck by how complex and human his characters are, compared with those in even the most sophisticated of today's independent films. This effect is even more pronounced in ''She's So Lovely,'' an unproduced Cassavetes script given the '90s treatment and filled with stars by the late director's son. The final product features some of the year's best performances...."

Awards

won the award for Best Actor at the

1997 Cannes Film Festival The 50th Cannes Film Festival was held from 7 to 18 May 1997. The Palme d'Or was jointly awarded to '' Ta'm e guilass'' by Abbas Kiarostami and '' Unagi'' by Shohei Imamura. Jeanne Moreau was the mistress of ceremonies. The festival opened with ...

received a nomination for Outstanding Performance by a Female Actor in a Leading Role at the

4th Screen Actors Guild Awards The 4th Screen Actors Guild Awards, honoring the best achievements in film and television performances for the year 1997, took place on March 8, 1998. The ceremony was held at the Shrine Exposition Center in Los Angeles, California, and was telev ...

References

External links

* * * {{Nick Cassavetes 1997 films 1997 romantic drama films American independent films American romantic drama films Films directed by Nick Cassavetes 1997 independent films 1990s English-language films 1990s American films