Up Close & Personal
Encyclopedia
Up Close & Personal is an American
romantic drama film directed by Jon Avnet
, and starring Robert Redford
as a news director and Michelle Pfeiffer
as his protegée, with Stockard Channing
, Joe Mantegna
and Kate Nelligan
in supporting roles.
The screenplay began as an adaptation of Golden Girl: The Story of Jessica Savitch, a 1988 book by Alanna Nash
that recounted the troubled life of American news anchor Jessica Savitch
. The finished picture, however, was greatly altered by commercial decisions on the part of the producers, and bore little resemblance to Savitch's biography. Screenwriter John Gregory Dunne
, having spent eight years working on the script with his wife Joan Didion
, later wrote a book describing his difficult experience, entitled Monster: Living Off the Big Screen
.
The film was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Original Song
("Because You Loved Me
"), written by Diane Warren
and performed by Céline Dion
.
) is an ambitious, aspiring news reporter, who is discovered by news channel director Warren Justice (Robert Redford
) when she sends in a homemade audition tape. He carefully guides her career to new heights, all the while becoming increasingly attracted to her. Tally soon rises through the ranks of network news to become successful, while Warren's once-stellar career sinks into mediocrity. Furthermore, Tally's ascension takes her away from Warren when she is forced to relocate to Philadelphia. Tally struggles at her new post, in no small part due to the hostility of veteran reporter Marcia McGrath (Stockard Channing
), who jealously protects her position as the top reporter. Warren turns up to inspire Tally, and the two partners begin a new career together. However, on a routine assignment in a Philadelphia prison, Tally and her cameraman are taken hostage in a prison riot and forced to endure hours of intense violence. Tally covers the groundbreaking story from within the walls of the collapsing prison as Warren looks on from outside, guiding her through her first national broadcast. This incredible act of bravery leads to Tally's eagerly anticipated advancement to a national network newscaster position and the continuation of the dynamic duo's rise to fame - but shortly after, disaster strikes.
and Joan Didion
began writing the script for a film entitled Golden Girl, based on Alanna Nash
's biography of Jessica Savitch
. When the film was finally released in 1996, eight years later, it was known as Up Close & Personal and none of the more controversial details of Savitch's private life remained:
According to Dunne, who chronicled his experiences dealing with studio executives in his book Monster: Living Off the Big Screen
, the majority of these changes were made in order to appeal to a broader mainstream market. Producer Scott Rudin
was reported to have said, when asked by a weary Dunne what the film was supposed to be, "it's about two movie stars."
, indicating a mixed-to-negative critical reception.
Critics largely ridiculed the screenplay for bearing little resemblance to the biography of Jessica Savitch
, which was supposed to have inspired it. Roger Ebert
in the Chicago Sun-Times
wrote: "Up Close and Personal is so different from the facts of Savitch's life that if Didion
and Dunne
still have their first draft, they probably could sell it as a completely different movie." Anita Gates in the New York Times wrote that "it all ends up more A Star Is Born
than Network
." Leonard Klady in Variety
described it as "A Star Is Born
meets The Way We Were
, and while discerning audiences will turn their noses up, the hoi polloi are apt to embrace this unabashedly sentimental affair and send it soaring into the box office stratosphere."
Desson Howe in the Washington Post was extremely negative about the film: "Up Close and Personal, which was "suggested" by the Jessica Savitch biography, Golden Girl: The Story of Jessica Savitch, starts out with relative promise... but then, the loooove comes through like a bad-news feed, and our marquee lovers undergo one of those unbearable montages. While an insipid, rock ballad covers the proceedings with auditory treacle, Cushion Lips (Michelle Pfeiffer
) and Armchair Man (Robert Redford
) walk together, laugh together, frolic in the waves with their clothes on - that sort of thing... In this movie, network executives - who depend entirely on focus groups, marketing and advertisers to inform their decisions - are painted as the moral bad guys, while Redford and the emerging Pfeiffer are the embodiment of integrity... And the fact that this is a Touchstone Pictures
production - part of the marketing-obsessed, truth-sweetening Disney empire which just purchased ABC
- is far too hilarious an irony to ignore." Time Out called it a "soppy May-December romance masquerading as a deadly earnest issues movie... Blow-dried, bleached blonde-on-bland entertainment."
However, certain critics argued that the film had its merits. Mick LaSalle
in the San Francisco Chronicle
wrote: "Taken on its own terms, Up Close and Personal is a fine movie. Two star images meet and enhance each other. Redford
, as usual, plays a rugged, outdoorsy, uncompromising man of unshakable integrity who just happens to be news director at a Miami station. Pfeiffer
, as usual, is gorgeous, pretty, gawky and a lot tougher and smarter than she looks." Roger Ebert
gave the film three out of four stars, arguing that the "temptations are great to mock the clichés and melodrama in Up Close and Personal, but the movie undeniably works as what it really is - a love story." Variety praised the "chemistry" of Michelle Pfeiffer
and Robert Redford
, and the "delicious and brief star turns" of Stockard Channing
, Kate Nelligan
and Noble Willingham
, concluding that the film wasn't "as accomplished as its inspiration but, regrettably, it's the best Hollywood has to offer in the heartstring-pulling genre."
", written by Diane Warren
and performed by Céline Dion
, won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture or Television
, and was nominated for the Academy Award
and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song
.
Stockard Channing
won a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actress - Romance.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
romantic drama film directed by Jon Avnet
Jon Avnet
Jonathan Michael "Jon" Avnet is an American director, writer and producer.-Early life:Avnet was born in Brooklyn, the son of Joan Bertha and Lester Francis Avnet, a corporate executive and electronics distributor. He attended Great Neck North High School in Great Neck, New York...
, and starring Robert Redford
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
as a news director and Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Marie Pfeiffer is an American actress. She made her film debut in 1980 in The Hollywood Knights, but first garnered mainstream attention with her performance in Brian De Palma's Scarface . Pfeiffer has won numerous awards for her work...
as his protegée, with Stockard Channing
Stockard Channing
Stockard Channing is an American stage, film and television actress. She is known for her portrayal of First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series The West Wing; for playing Betty Rizzo in the film Grease; and for her role as Ouisa Kittredge in the play Six Degrees of Separation and its...
, Joe Mantegna
Joe Mantegna
Joseph Anthony "Joe" Mantegna, Jr. is an American actor, producer, writer,director, and voice actor. He is best known for his roles in box office hits such as Three Amigos , The Godfather Part III , Forget Paris , and Up Close & Personal...
and Kate Nelligan
Kate Nelligan
Patricia Colleen "Kate" Nelligan is a Canadian BAFTA award winning stage, film and television actress.-Early life:Nelligan, the fourth of six children, was born in London, Ontario, the daughter of Josephine Alice , a schoolteacher, and Patrick Joseph Nelligan, a factory repairman and municipal...
in supporting roles.
The screenplay began as an adaptation of Golden Girl: The Story of Jessica Savitch, a 1988 book by Alanna Nash
Alanna Nash
Alanna Nash is an American journalist and biographer.Nash holds a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and is the author of several acclaimed books...
that recounted the troubled life of American news anchor Jessica Savitch
Jessica Savitch
Jessica Beth Savitch was an American television broadcaster and news reporter, host of PBS' Frontline and New York weekend anchor of NBC Nightly News during the short-lived Roger Mudd/Tom Brokaw era....
. The finished picture, however, was greatly altered by commercial decisions on the part of the producers, and bore little resemblance to Savitch's biography. Screenwriter John Gregory Dunne
John Gregory Dunne
John Gregory Dunne was an American novelist, screenwriter and literary critic.-Life:He was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and was a younger brother of author Dominick Dunne. He suffered from a severe stutter and took up writing to express himself. Eventually he learned to speak normally by...
, having spent eight years working on the script with his wife Joan Didion
Joan Didion
Joan Didion is an American author best known for her novels and her literary journalism. Her novels and essays explore the disintegration of American morals and cultural chaos, where the overriding theme is individual and social fragmentation...
, later wrote a book describing his difficult experience, entitled Monster: Living Off the Big Screen
Monster: Living Off the Big Screen
Monster: Living Off the Big Screen is a 1997 book in which John Gregory Dunne recounts his experiences as a screenwriter in Hollywood. The book focuses on the process of drafting the screenplay for Up Close & Personal, 1996, a movie starring Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer...
.
The film was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Original Song
Academy Award for Best Original Song
The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
("Because You Loved Me
Because You Loved Me
"Because You Loved Me" is a song from Céline Dion's album Falling into You, released as the first single on February 19, 1996 in North America and Japan. In other parts of the world it was released in May 1996 as the second single, after "Falling into You"....
"), written by Diane Warren
Diane Warren
Diane Eve Warren , is a US songwriter. Her songs have received six Academy Award nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, including one win and seven Grammy Award nominations, including one win. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001...
and performed by Céline Dion
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
.
Plot
Sally 'Tally' Atwater (Michelle PfeifferMichelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Marie Pfeiffer is an American actress. She made her film debut in 1980 in The Hollywood Knights, but first garnered mainstream attention with her performance in Brian De Palma's Scarface . Pfeiffer has won numerous awards for her work...
) is an ambitious, aspiring news reporter, who is discovered by news channel director Warren Justice (Robert Redford
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
) when she sends in a homemade audition tape. He carefully guides her career to new heights, all the while becoming increasingly attracted to her. Tally soon rises through the ranks of network news to become successful, while Warren's once-stellar career sinks into mediocrity. Furthermore, Tally's ascension takes her away from Warren when she is forced to relocate to Philadelphia. Tally struggles at her new post, in no small part due to the hostility of veteran reporter Marcia McGrath (Stockard Channing
Stockard Channing
Stockard Channing is an American stage, film and television actress. She is known for her portrayal of First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series The West Wing; for playing Betty Rizzo in the film Grease; and for her role as Ouisa Kittredge in the play Six Degrees of Separation and its...
), who jealously protects her position as the top reporter. Warren turns up to inspire Tally, and the two partners begin a new career together. However, on a routine assignment in a Philadelphia prison, Tally and her cameraman are taken hostage in a prison riot and forced to endure hours of intense violence. Tally covers the groundbreaking story from within the walls of the collapsing prison as Warren looks on from outside, guiding her through her first national broadcast. This incredible act of bravery leads to Tally's eagerly anticipated advancement to a national network newscaster position and the continuation of the dynamic duo's rise to fame - but shortly after, disaster strikes.
Cast
- Robert RedfordRobert RedfordCharles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
as Warren Justice - Michelle PfeifferMichelle PfeifferMichelle Marie Pfeiffer is an American actress. She made her film debut in 1980 in The Hollywood Knights, but first garnered mainstream attention with her performance in Brian De Palma's Scarface . Pfeiffer has won numerous awards for her work...
as Sally "Tally" Atwater - Stockard ChanningStockard ChanningStockard Channing is an American stage, film and television actress. She is known for her portrayal of First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series The West Wing; for playing Betty Rizzo in the film Grease; and for her role as Ouisa Kittredge in the play Six Degrees of Separation and its...
as Marcia McGrath - Joe MantegnaJoe MantegnaJoseph Anthony "Joe" Mantegna, Jr. is an American actor, producer, writer,director, and voice actor. He is best known for his roles in box office hits such as Three Amigos , The Godfather Part III , Forget Paris , and Up Close & Personal...
as Bucky Terranova - Kate NelliganKate NelliganPatricia Colleen "Kate" Nelligan is a Canadian BAFTA award winning stage, film and television actress.-Early life:Nelligan, the fourth of six children, was born in London, Ontario, the daughter of Josephine Alice , a schoolteacher, and Patrick Joseph Nelligan, a factory repairman and municipal...
as Joanna Kennelly - Glenn PlummerGlenn PlummerGlenn E. Plummer is an American film and television actor.Plummer was born in Richmond, California. He has appeared in numerous films and television series, primarily in supporting roles or small bit parts, such as High Top in Colors. His prominent roles came in the films Menace II Society, Speed,...
as Ned Jackson - James RebhornJames RebhornJames Robert Rebhorn is an American character actor who has appeared in over 100 television shows, feature films and plays.-Personal life:...
as John Merino - Scott BryceScott BryceScott Macalister Bryce , sometimes credited as Scott M. Bryce, is an American film and television actor. Bryce is perhaps best known for his portrayal of Craig Montgomery on As the World Turns....
as Rob Sullivan - Raymond CruzRaymond CruzRaymond Cruz is a Mexican American actor. He is mostly known for playing military roles. Since 2005 he has been a regular cast member on the TV series The Closer, playing the character Detective Julio Sanchez...
as Fernando Buttanda - Dedee PfeifferDedee PfeifferDedee Pfeiffer is an American film and television actress.Pfeiffer was born Dorothy D. Pfeiffer in Midway City, California, the daughter of Donna , a home-maker, and Richard Pfeiffer, a heating and air-conditioning contractor...
as Luanne Atwater - Miguel SandovalMiguel SandovalMiguel Sandoval is an American film and television actor.Sandoval was born in Washington, D.C. He began working as a professional actor in 1975 when he joined a mime school in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He later joined the troupe full time and continued his study of mime. He began his film career in...
as Dan Duarte - Noble WillinghamNoble WillinghamNoble Henry Willingham, Jr. was an American television and film actor.-Career:Willingham had appeared in more than thirty feature films, including Harry's War , Up Close and Personal , City Slickers , The Last Boy Scout , City Slickers II , Ace Ventura: Pet Detective , Chinatown...
as Buford Sells - James KarenJames KarenJames Karen is an American character actor of Broadway, film and television.-Life and career:Karen was born Jacob Karnofsky in Wilkes-Barre, in northeastern Pennsylvania, the son of Russian-born Jewish immigrants Mae and Joseph H. Karnofsky, a produce dealer. As a young man, Karen was encouraged...
as Tom Orr - Brian MarkinsonBrian MarkinsonBrian Markinson is a Canadian film and television actor. He has appeared as Police Chief Bill Jacobs on Da Vinci's Inquest and Da Vinci's City Hall...
as Vic Nash - Michael Laskin as IBS Director
- Robert Keith Watson as IBS Makeup Man
- Lily NicksayLily NicksayLily Nicksay is an actress most famous for her role as Morgan Matthews during the first two seasons of Boy Meets World. Her other television credits include Judging Amy, The Guardian and 8 Simple Rules...
as Star Atwater - Joanna Sanchez as Ileana
- Daniel ZacapaDaniel ZacapaDaniel Zacapa is an American trilingual actor, community activist, and ex-class A San Francisco Giants baseball player. He played the role of Detective Taylor in the 1995 David Fincher film, Seven...
as Harvey Harris - Heidi SwedbergHeidi SwedbergHeidi Swedberg is an American actress known for her role as Susan Ross, the fiancée of George Costanza on the television sitcom Seinfeld....
as Sheila - Fern Buchner as WMIA Makeup Woman
- Miguel PérezMiguel Pérez (actor)Miguel Perez is an American actor known for his work in various television appearances.-Personal life:Pérez was born Arnoldo Cruz Perez in San Jose, California, the son of a telephone repairman and a housewife. Growing up, he was a lonely child who was teased by his peers for being obese...
as ' WMIA Floor Manager - Nicholas Cascone as WMIA Director
- Kenneth FuchsKenneth FuchsKenneth Fuchs is an American composer, conductor, and educator. He currently serves as Professor of Music Composition at the University of Connecticut ....
as WMIA Assistant Director - Julie Foreman as WMIA Producer
- Edwina Moore as WMIA Co-Anchor
- Patti Davis Suarez as WMIA Reporter
- Marc MacaulayMarc MacaulayMarc Macaulay is an American actor.He was born and raised in Millinocket, Maine. He graduated with a BFA in theater. He recently appeared in the new USA Network Series Burn Notice for five episodes as Agent Harris, and as "Blaine Bauer" in the horror film Thirteen Floors.Some of his most prominent...
as Police Spokesman - Rosie Malek-YonanRosie Malek-YonanRosie Malek-Yonan is an Assyrian actress, author, director, public figure and human rights activist.-Early life:Born in Tehran, Iran, Rosie Malek-Yonan is a descendant of one of the oldest and most prominent Assyrian families, tracing her Assyrian roots back nearly 11 centuries...
as Boarding Agent - Ed Amatrudo as Miami Reporter
- Ana Azcuy as Miami Reporter
- Peter D'Oench as Miami Reporter
- Dave Game as Miami Reporter
- Michelle Gillen as Miami Reporter
- Eliott RodriguezEliott RodriguezEliott Rodriguez is a Cuban-American television journalist who has received two Emmy Awards and two Edward R. Murrow Awards....
as Miami Reporter - Jennifer ValoppiJennifer ValoppiJennifer Valoppi is a multi-Emmy Award winning journalist who has been recognized four times on the floor of the United States Congress and is a 2006 recipient of Florida Governor Jeb Bush’s Points of Light Award, the highest honor in the state....
as Miami Reporter - Yareli ArizmendiYareli ArizmendiYareli Arizmendi is a Cuban-Mexican-American actress, writer, and director.-Biography:“The function of art is to renew our perceptions. The role of the...
as Inez Cifuentes - Salvador Levy as Congressman Jorge Diaz
- Manny Suárez as Diaz' Aide
- Neil GiuntoliNeil GiuntoliNeil Giuntoli is an American actor active since 1987, whose most famous role was in Child's Play . Giuntoli is also the author and lead actor of the play Hizzoner, a fictional account of former Chicago mayor Richard Daley...
as Trailer Park Manager - Jason SanfordJason SanfordJason Sanford is an American science fiction author best known for his short story writing. His fiction has been published in Interzone, Analog Science Fiction and Fact, Year's Best SF 14, and other magazines and anthologies...
as Photographer - Michael Villani as Doug Dunning
- Elizabeth Ruscio as Lulu Delano
- Michael Shamus Wiles as WFIL Cameraman
- Nigel GibbsNigel GibbsNigel James Gibbs , is a former English footballer. A Watford supporter, as well as a product of their youth system, Gibbs spent his entire professional career as a right back for the club. He was voted Watford F.C. Player of the Season in 1992, and later captained them...
as WFIL Floor Manager - Mary Elizabeth Sheridan as 98-Year-Old Twin
- Marian Lamb Bechtelheimer as 98-Year-Old Twin
- Natalie Barish as Focus Group Member
- Wanda-Lee Evans as Focus Group Member
- Charles NolandCharles NolandCharles Noland is an American actor who had recurring roles on The West Wing, as Steve, a member of the White House press corps, and on ER as a desk man named E-Ray. He has also appeared in the films Dirty Deeds, Wayne's World, Old School, "Blow" and Bubble Boy.-External links:...
as Focus Group Member - Charles Martiniz as Focus Group Member
- Charles C. Stevenson Jr.Charles C. Stevenson Jr.Charles C. Stevenson Jr. is an American actor with over sixty credits in film and television.-References:...
as Focus Group Member - Cynthia Szigeti as Focus Group Member
- Guillermo Gentile as Chess Player
- Richard Alliger as Right-to-Life Protestor
- FabianFabian (entertainer)Fabiano Anthony Forte , known as Fabian, is an American teen idol of the late 1950s and early 1960s. He rose to national prominence after performing several times on American Bandstand. Eleven of his songs reached the Billboard Hot 100 listing.-Early life:Fabian was the son of Josephine and Domenic...
as Himself - Ginny Graham as Homeless Woman
- Frederick Strother as City Councilman
- Larry John Meyers as Murray Gordon
- Andy Prosky as Cord Otavio
- Bruce GrayBruce GrayBruce Gray is a Puerto Rican-born Canadian actor.-Early years:Gray was born Robert Bruce Gray in San Juan, Puerto Rico to Canadian parents...
as Gabe Lawrence - IBS Executive - Norman Parker as Mark Linder, IBS Executive
- Lorielle New as Merino's Secretary
- Charlie Holliday as Priest
Adaptation
In the spring of 1988, John Gregory DunneJohn Gregory Dunne
John Gregory Dunne was an American novelist, screenwriter and literary critic.-Life:He was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and was a younger brother of author Dominick Dunne. He suffered from a severe stutter and took up writing to express himself. Eventually he learned to speak normally by...
and Joan Didion
Joan Didion
Joan Didion is an American author best known for her novels and her literary journalism. Her novels and essays explore the disintegration of American morals and cultural chaos, where the overriding theme is individual and social fragmentation...
began writing the script for a film entitled Golden Girl, based on Alanna Nash
Alanna Nash
Alanna Nash is an American journalist and biographer.Nash holds a master's degree from the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism and is the author of several acclaimed books...
's biography of Jessica Savitch
Jessica Savitch
Jessica Beth Savitch was an American television broadcaster and news reporter, host of PBS' Frontline and New York weekend anchor of NBC Nightly News during the short-lived Roger Mudd/Tom Brokaw era....
. When the film was finally released in 1996, eight years later, it was known as Up Close & Personal and none of the more controversial details of Savitch's private life remained:
- Savitch's erratic behaviour was supposedly due to continued drug abuse, a theory seemingly confirmed by an incoherent news update in October 1983 that led to a national outcry.
- Savitch's second husband (who was homosexual) committed suicide less than a year after they married.
- Savitch underwent an abortion procedure, later claiming that she had suffered a miscarriage.
- Most notably, Savitch died at the age of 36 in a tragic car accident, an event not depicted in the film.
According to Dunne, who chronicled his experiences dealing with studio executives in his book Monster: Living Off the Big Screen
Monster: Living Off the Big Screen
Monster: Living Off the Big Screen is a 1997 book in which John Gregory Dunne recounts his experiences as a screenwriter in Hollywood. The book focuses on the process of drafting the screenplay for Up Close & Personal, 1996, a movie starring Robert Redford and Michelle Pfeiffer...
, the majority of these changes were made in order to appeal to a broader mainstream market. Producer Scott Rudin
Scott Rudin
Scott Rudin is an American film producer and a theatrical producer.-Early life and work:Scott Rudin was born in New York City, NY, on July 14, 1958, and raised in the town of Baldwin on Long Island. At the age of sixteen, he started working as an assistant to theatre producer Kermit Bloomgarden...
was reported to have said, when asked by a weary Dunne what the film was supposed to be, "it's about two movie stars."
Reception
Up Close & Personal currently holds a rating of 33% on Rotten TomatoesRotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is a website devoted to reviews, information, and news of films—widely known as a film review aggregator. Its name derives from the cliché of audiences throwing tomatoes and other vegetables at a poor stage performance...
, indicating a mixed-to-negative critical reception.
Critics largely ridiculed the screenplay for bearing little resemblance to the biography of Jessica Savitch
Jessica Savitch
Jessica Beth Savitch was an American television broadcaster and news reporter, host of PBS' Frontline and New York weekend anchor of NBC Nightly News during the short-lived Roger Mudd/Tom Brokaw era....
, which was supposed to have inspired it. Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
in the Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
The Chicago Sun-Times is an American daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois. It is the flagship paper of the Sun-Times Media Group.-History:The Chicago Sun-Times is the oldest continuously published daily newspaper in the city...
wrote: "Up Close and Personal is so different from the facts of Savitch's life that if Didion
Joan Didion
Joan Didion is an American author best known for her novels and her literary journalism. Her novels and essays explore the disintegration of American morals and cultural chaos, where the overriding theme is individual and social fragmentation...
and Dunne
John Gregory Dunne
John Gregory Dunne was an American novelist, screenwriter and literary critic.-Life:He was born in Hartford, Connecticut, and was a younger brother of author Dominick Dunne. He suffered from a severe stutter and took up writing to express himself. Eventually he learned to speak normally by...
still have their first draft, they probably could sell it as a completely different movie." Anita Gates in the New York Times wrote that "it all ends up more A Star Is Born
A Star Is Born
A Star Is Born may refer to:* A Star Is Born , starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, directed by William A. Wellman* A Star Is Born , starring Judy Garland and James Mason, directed by George Cukor...
than Network
Network (film)
Network is a 1976 American satirical film released by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer about a fictional television network, Union Broadcasting System , and its struggle with poor ratings. The film was written by Paddy Chayefsky and directed by Sidney Lumet...
." Leonard Klady in Variety
Variety (magazine)
Variety is an American weekly entertainment-trade magazine founded in New York City, New York, in 1905 by Sime Silverman. With the rise of the importance of the motion-picture industry, Daily Variety, a daily edition based in Los Angeles, California, was founded by Silverman in 1933. In 1998, the...
described it as "A Star Is Born
A Star Is Born
A Star Is Born may refer to:* A Star Is Born , starring Janet Gaynor and Fredric March, directed by William A. Wellman* A Star Is Born , starring Judy Garland and James Mason, directed by George Cukor...
meets The Way We Were
The Way We Were
The Way We Were is a 1973 American romantic dramatic film co-starring Barbra Streisand and Robert Redford, directed by Sydney Pollack. The screenplay by Arthur Laurents was based on his college days at Cornell University and his experiences with the House Un-American Activities Committee.A box...
, and while discerning audiences will turn their noses up, the hoi polloi are apt to embrace this unabashedly sentimental affair and send it soaring into the box office stratosphere."
Desson Howe in the Washington Post was extremely negative about the film: "Up Close and Personal, which was "suggested" by the Jessica Savitch biography, Golden Girl: The Story of Jessica Savitch, starts out with relative promise... but then, the loooove comes through like a bad-news feed, and our marquee lovers undergo one of those unbearable montages. While an insipid, rock ballad covers the proceedings with auditory treacle, Cushion Lips (Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Marie Pfeiffer is an American actress. She made her film debut in 1980 in The Hollywood Knights, but first garnered mainstream attention with her performance in Brian De Palma's Scarface . Pfeiffer has won numerous awards for her work...
) and Armchair Man (Robert Redford
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
) walk together, laugh together, frolic in the waves with their clothes on - that sort of thing... In this movie, network executives - who depend entirely on focus groups, marketing and advertisers to inform their decisions - are painted as the moral bad guys, while Redford and the emerging Pfeiffer are the embodiment of integrity... And the fact that this is a Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures
Touchstone Pictures is an American film production label and is one of several film labels of the Walt Disney Motion Pictures Group. Established in 1984, its releases typically feature more mature themes and darker tones than those that are released under the Walt Disney Pictures banner.Touchstone...
production - part of the marketing-obsessed, truth-sweetening Disney empire which just purchased ABC
American Broadcasting Company
The American Broadcasting Company is an American commercial broadcasting television network. Created in 1943 from the former NBC Blue radio network, ABC is owned by The Walt Disney Company and is part of Disney-ABC Television Group. Its first broadcast on television was in 1948...
- is far too hilarious an irony to ignore." Time Out called it a "soppy May-December romance masquerading as a deadly earnest issues movie... Blow-dried, bleached blonde-on-bland entertainment."
However, certain critics argued that the film had its merits. Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle
Mick LaSalle is an American Mick LaSalle is an [[United States|American]] Mick LaSalle is an [[United States|American]] [[film reviewer] and the author of two books on pre-[[Motion Picture Production Code|Hays Code]] Hollywood...
in the San Francisco Chronicle
San Francisco Chronicle
thumb|right|upright|The Chronicle Building following the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and fireThe San Francisco Chronicle is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, but distributed throughout Northern and Central California,...
wrote: "Taken on its own terms, Up Close and Personal is a fine movie. Two star images meet and enhance each other. Redford
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
, as usual, plays a rugged, outdoorsy, uncompromising man of unshakable integrity who just happens to be news director at a Miami station. Pfeiffer
Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Marie Pfeiffer is an American actress. She made her film debut in 1980 in The Hollywood Knights, but first garnered mainstream attention with her performance in Brian De Palma's Scarface . Pfeiffer has won numerous awards for her work...
, as usual, is gorgeous, pretty, gawky and a lot tougher and smarter than she looks." Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert is an American film critic and screenwriter. He is the first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize for Criticism.Ebert is known for his film review column and for the television programs Sneak Previews, At the Movies with Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert, and Siskel and Ebert and The...
gave the film three out of four stars, arguing that the "temptations are great to mock the clichés and melodrama in Up Close and Personal, but the movie undeniably works as what it really is - a love story." Variety praised the "chemistry" of Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Pfeiffer
Michelle Marie Pfeiffer is an American actress. She made her film debut in 1980 in The Hollywood Knights, but first garnered mainstream attention with her performance in Brian De Palma's Scarface . Pfeiffer has won numerous awards for her work...
and Robert Redford
Robert Redford
Charles Robert Redford, Jr. , better known as Robert Redford, is an American actor, film director, producer, businessman, environmentalist, philanthropist, and founder of the Sundance Film Festival. He has received two Oscars: one in 1981 for directing Ordinary People, and one for Lifetime...
, and the "delicious and brief star turns" of Stockard Channing
Stockard Channing
Stockard Channing is an American stage, film and television actress. She is known for her portrayal of First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series The West Wing; for playing Betty Rizzo in the film Grease; and for her role as Ouisa Kittredge in the play Six Degrees of Separation and its...
, Kate Nelligan
Kate Nelligan
Patricia Colleen "Kate" Nelligan is a Canadian BAFTA award winning stage, film and television actress.-Early life:Nelligan, the fourth of six children, was born in London, Ontario, the daughter of Josephine Alice , a schoolteacher, and Patrick Joseph Nelligan, a factory repairman and municipal...
and Noble Willingham
Noble Willingham
Noble Henry Willingham, Jr. was an American television and film actor.-Career:Willingham had appeared in more than thirty feature films, including Harry's War , Up Close and Personal , City Slickers , The Last Boy Scout , City Slickers II , Ace Ventura: Pet Detective , Chinatown...
, concluding that the film wasn't "as accomplished as its inspiration but, regrettably, it's the best Hollywood has to offer in the heartstring-pulling genre."
Awards and nominations
The featured song, "Because You Loved MeBecause You Loved Me
"Because You Loved Me" is a song from Céline Dion's album Falling into You, released as the first single on February 19, 1996 in North America and Japan. In other parts of the world it was released in May 1996 as the second single, after "Falling into You"....
", written by Diane Warren
Diane Warren
Diane Eve Warren , is a US songwriter. Her songs have received six Academy Award nominations, five Golden Globe nominations, including one win and seven Grammy Award nominations, including one win. She was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame in 2001...
and performed by Céline Dion
Celine Dion
Céline Marie Claudette Dion, , , is a Canadian singer. Born to a large family from Charlemagne, Quebec, Dion emerged as a teen star in the French-speaking world after her manager and future husband René Angélil mortgaged his home to finance her first record...
, won the Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture or Television
Grammy Award for Best Song Written for a Motion Picture, Television or Other Visual Media
The Grammy Award for Best Song Written for Visual Media has been awarded since 1988 and is awarded to songs written for films, television, video games or other visual media...
, and was nominated for the Academy Award
Academy Award for Best Original Song
The Academy Award for Best Original Song is one of the awards given annually to people working in the motion picture industry by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences . It is presented to the songwriters who have composed the best original song written specifically for a film...
and Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song
Golden Globe Award for Best Original Song was awarded for the first time in 1962 and has been awarded annually since 1965 by the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.-1960s:...
.
Stockard Channing
Stockard Channing
Stockard Channing is an American stage, film and television actress. She is known for her portrayal of First Lady Abbey Bartlet in the NBC television series The West Wing; for playing Betty Rizzo in the film Grease; and for her role as Ouisa Kittredge in the play Six Degrees of Separation and its...
won a Blockbuster Entertainment Award for Favorite Supporting Actress - Romance.
External links
- Up Close & Personal at The Internet Movie Database