Sexyloutak
Absolutely the worst movie.
ThedevilChoose
When a movie has you begging for it to end not even half way through it's pure crap. We've all seen this movie and this characters millions of times, nothing new in it. Don't waste your time.
Voxitype
Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
badmoonryzn-1
This movie surprised me. Being a young man of thirty the video store guy said I would love it. He figured seeing Jamie in the buff was important to everyone my age I suppose. It would have done just as well without the nude scenes. Now don't get me wrong, Jamie Lee is a lovely woman and I love her body, but the movie could have stood fine on it's own. There are times when I think the studios use nudity for all the wrong reasons. This movie actually held my interest It told a story of a woman who was involved with a married man. It did not tell the same old story even if it ended in a similar way. This was the first time I saw Jamie in something where she didn't scream most of the time and was able to act. She was great and her talents were finally showcased. The movie was nothing like I expected and normally I would have never rented something like this just because of the title. I enjoyed the movie and it gave me a perspective on things I was not aware of at the time. It showed what total jerks people can be in these situations. I think it is worth a watch if you are interested in what can happen in a relationship like this, as it covers most of the awful things that will happen to both sides. Oh yea, it shows Jamie's ability to act too. This movie seems like it has been forgotten and not listed up until the last couple of years. If you look at several web sites that show Jamie's movies this one is not listed at all. I have looked for it from time to time wondering why I couldn't find it. I saw it when it was released out to video back in 83 or 84 and the counter person said it was a pretty good movie or I would have not known about it at all. There were a few times where I wanted to get up and kick the crap out of a few people, so it got to me emotionally. That is not an easy task. This movie is difficult to talk about without screwing it up for someone who has not seen it yet. Cheers!
bob_meg
This damn film still makes me cry.There are elements of it that seem schmaltzy and trite at times, but the overall power of the story never lets up. Curtis has probably what are her finest moments in this tiny, almost never-seen film debut from Amy Jones (who did "Slumber Party Massacre" the year before to get the cash to make this Labor Of).It's probably the most honest and gut-wrenching depiction of obsessional love I've seen, or maybe it's just obsession. Whatever it is, it's lacerating and not to be missed. There are times when, watching Curtis' performance, it's hard for your body not to ache at the anguish she seems to be feeling.Back to Jones' script for a second... it's full of dark, moody moments that in another film would be over-the-top and pretentious, yet work beautifully here. The photographic portrait session comes immediately to mind...an awesome scene and the two actors playing it are never shown once. The whole affair is filled with little one-offs like this, all of which are presented with a late-autumn chill.Add to the mix Amy Madigan and Bud Cort's usually fine work (and don't forget the underrated James Keach, whose seemingly at-first overly clinical readings are awkward, then completely fit the character once he's fleshed out). Oh yeah, and Ralph Jones' score is one of the most haunting and beautiful I've ever heard.Gets me every time.
LewisJForce
"Love Letters" is a remarkable and enthralling piece for many reasons. It resists plot contrivance and genre strait-jacketing to concentrate on character nuance, freshness of observation, and originality of milieu. It presents it's material with clarity, intelligence, and a refreshing lack of stylistic tropes.Jaimie Lee plays a classical music DJ at a small, under-funded local radio station. One of her colleagues, a kind of hip nerd typical of the early 1980's time-frame, is played by 'Harold and Maude' star Bud Cort. He was, amazingly, 35 at the time but looks all of 20. During an in-studio performance by a home-made synth wizard (a delightful little sequence) she meets married photographer James Keach and almost immediately begins an affair. The film then follows the course of their various assignations until the inevitably messy conclusion, and it's ambiguous correlation with a cache of her dead mothers secret love letters.The film captivates with it's perceptivity. The characters seem completely 'real', in the sense that they are quirky and human, and not merely constructs required to advance the plot. Their actions and motivations are often recondite, but always believable. Particularly intriguing are Jaimie Lee's relationships with her best friend, played by the delightful Amy Madigan, and her father (Western veteran Matt Clark). Amy and Jaimie create a wonderful rapport: we immediately accept that these gals are old buddies. And Clark's father is a superbly unsettling creation. We never know for sure whether his strange outbursts and creeping, leering presence are merely a combination of his boozing and grief over his wife's death or something more sinisterly incestuous.The handling of the central sexual relationship avoids cliché and exploitation from the first meeting. The trysts are sketched with deftness and economy. Both leads are excellent. Keach plays it nicely low-key as an 'artistic' photographer turned advertising man who is, in truth, a rather selfish pseudo-intellectual bore. Curtis has never been better than here, as a tormented, passionate, almost schizophrenic character (just check her wardrobe changes from sensuous and stylish to bizarrely homely). Appearing just after her reign as the 'scream queen' of early 80's horror films, she evinces a startling, original presence, mixing controlled physicality and strength with numerous subtle character shadings. She's mesmerising, but somehow too unique to suggest a conventional 'star' presence. It's a real shame that she has not been granted such freedom since.Written and directed by former Scorsese associate Amy Jones, who also, as yet, has done nothing as captivating, 'Love Letters' is a most interesting one-off. Eschewing trite corollaries and crowd pleasing expedience, it remains a quietly forceful achievement.
jeffcoat
Jamie Lee Curtis looked great stretched across the bed. Her Lover looked appreciative, but the sight of the microphone at the top of the screen destroyed the illusion and any positive impression of the scene. Such lack of care left the entire production lifeless. IMDB lists this movie as a thriller, perhaps because it contains no adventure, action, romance, etc. Waiting for the "thriller" payoff was futile. Without a buildup to the central relationship of the movie, one is left wondering why it occurred. Although the primary difficulty in the relationship is anticipated at length, the encounter that resulted was lacking in tension and passed much too quickly.If you are not a Jamie Lee Curtis fan you may not want to watch this.
