Harry is a shy hardware store employee. But whenever he takes a part in a local amateur theater production, he becomes the part completely--while on stage. Helene is new in town, a lonely itinerant telephone company employee. On a whim, she auditions for and gets the part of Stella to Harry's Stanley when the theater group performs A Streetcar Named Desire. Before anyone realizes the growing affection between Helene and Stanley, she falls deeply in love with the sexy brute, not knowing what the real man is like.
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This movie is the proof that the world is becoming a sick and dumb place
An Exercise In Nonsense
The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.
Kurt Vonnegut is my favorite author, Jonathan Demme is an excellent director, and both Christopher Walken and Susan Sarandon are amazing performers-put them all in a blender and you have the smile inducing comedy "Who Am I This Time?"As someone who read the original Vonnegut story beforehand, I can confirm that this brief adaptation is even better than its source material. The characters feel more three dimensional, there's much more humor, and Demme's directing style is highly subtle and appealing. This film is so enjoyable to watch because of its charming story and characters. It's funny, heartwarming, and simply delightful!
To answer that question: that it was longer. Then again to counter that own point, maybe this was a film that was very close to Vonnegut's original story, thus not extending it to feature length or making it an actual theatrical release. As it is it should be just a trifle, but it's more than that. Director Jonathan Demme adds a light air of circumstance to the proceedings, and plants some of his trademarks (notably the precise positioning of the camera on faces, as we all know from most of his films) while letting the actors have at it. And it's quite an amazing piece for those who love theater, and how an actor's mind meets with heart. At the same time it's not sentimental; this story of a woman (Sarandon) who keeps moving from town to town and never settling anywhere or meeting anyone, and a man (Walken) who is an introvert who lets himself out through incredible community theatre productions, who meet on the set of Streetcar Named Desire and fall for each other in the oddest way is about as charming as one could imagine.Aside from the power of seeing Walken take on iconic parts (i.e. Cyrano, Stanley Kowalski), he's fantastic at being incredibly subtle and at underplaying his meek clerk-turned-star. If you want to see him outside of being the Continental or giving gold watch speeches, come here. And Sarandon is excellent too, in a role that requires her to be compassionate and kind and understanding and blah blah and she does it without flinching in a step. It's short, and sadly not longer (though I'd love to see the 95 minute cut from Argentina!), but it's one of Demme's better efforts of the 90s, a true small-town chamber piece of love.
One of my all-time favorite Christopher Walken films, this is the story of painfully shy hardware store clerk, Harry Nash. Harry lives his life as a tongue-tied outcast but, once in character on stage, he comes to life. Anyone out there who thinks that the only characters that Walken can play are villians should definitely see this one! Walken is one of the great ones, with a sensitivity and range to prove it! A real gem!
If I had to to describe this in one word, it would be; Spectacular! This contains possibly the best acting that i have ever seen in my life. I wouldn't hesitate for even a second to recommend this to someone. I didn't think it was possible for a film to out shine the story, but here i have been proved wrong. Once again, Spectacular!