Living Out Loud- Movie of the Day (4/6/10)

-Living Out Loud (1998)
-Starring Holly Hunter, Danny Devito, and Queen Latifah
-Written and Directed by Richard Lagravenese

-Films about damaged people are not all that uncommon. Movies about seemingly happy, carefree individuals wouldn't be able to sustain any kind of audience for 2 hours. Yet in watching stories about people who have lost their way in life and rely on each other to help pull them through will forever be compelling cinema.

An excellent specimen of such a film is the criminally underrated 1998 comedy/drama Living Out Loud. The film tells the story of Judith Moore (Hunter); a recently divorced upper-east side New Yorker who finds she doesn't know who she is since her long-time husband has left her for another woman. Judith spends her days reading books, eating out, attending jazz clubs and engaging in other similar activites by herself without any real human contact. Meanwhile Pat (Devito) is a doorman at Judith's building who is struggling with problems of his own. His only daughter has just died after a lengthy battle with lukemia and his gambling debts have been mounting. It isn't long before the two connect and in each other, find a true friendship, a possible romance, and the encouragement to finally live the lives they were meant to live.

There is virtually nothing about this film that works against it. Everything from the casting to the writing, to the directing and choice of music serves the film and story well. The humor within it is carefully spaced out, but always present in an effort to not crowd the drama but to also remind veiwers that Living Out Loud is indeed a comedy. Hunter is without question brilliant as Judith and plays her as a controlled mess; a woman who seems poised on the outside but whose inner ramblings are truly manic and neurotic ("I can't stand those terrorists!! They're always so mad at everybody!!") Through Hunter, we get to know Judith inside and out; her fears, desires, her vulnerability and frustrations. Its one of Hunter's finest moments and one which should have brought her more acclaim than it did. Likewise as compelling is Devito as Pat who wears his heart on his sleeve and who doesn't posess a single alterior motive. Its the kind of role one doesn't normally see Devito play. Here the actor abandons his trademark quality and plays Pat in a straight manner allowing the character's humor to come from his own charm. Never has Devito been as down to earth and honest on screen as he is here. Rounding out the cast is a jazz singer named Liz Bailey (Latifah); a one-time recording artist who now sings at the jazz club Judith frequents and later befriends. Like Devito, Latifah doesn't give a flashy performance, but rather one which is full of honesty and (thanks to some choice jazz numbers) class.

Some choice moments in the film brilliantly chronicle Judith's journey. Such as her hilarious inner-monolouges which are filled with anger, yet are still amusing, the sequence in which she enjoys an erotic massage allowing her to feel sexual again and the sequence when she takes ecstasy and accompanies Liz to a nightclub where she partakes in well-choreographed dance sequence. The latter scene is perhaps the most important as it represents Judith's evolution towards re-discovering who she really is and, after magically encountering a teenage version of herself, who she was.

If the movie feels at all like it may be a hair too long, its only because the journey for the characters is so rich and LaGravanese doesn't want to short change their stories in any way. While both Judith and Pat have circumstances that seem dire, their clinging to each other and their belief in hope pulls them through. In fact it is that term hope which is perhaps the movie's biggest theme as seen by an ending that is non-conventional and certianly not the most ideal, but which serves the character's greatly in the long run.

Its fantastic to find a movie such as Living Out Loud whose sole purpose is to tell a real story about characters who are struggling to put themselves back together again. Its easy to find aspects of these people in your own life and if the movie leaves the viewer with anything, its the question: are we truly living our lives out loud??

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AFZGpZVQVm0