# 1980 John Cassavetes film "Gloria" **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [February 14, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1980-john-cassavetes-film-gloria/612846 "2012-02-14T20:16:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 8:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1980-john-cassavetes-film-gloria/612846/1 "2012-02-14T20:16:25Z")
Basically, does it get better? I’m thirty minutes into [this film](http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0080798/combined) and so far am hating every frakking second of it. Gena Rowlands was nominated for an Oscar (hence it being on my “to watch” list), and all I can say so far is that she _is_ the best thing about the movie. But that ain’t sayin’ much. I don’t ask much of a movie I’m willing to watch while exercising at 7:00 am, but so far I’ve noticed what appear to be two glaring continuity errors, one spectacularly bad special effect, and an metric ass-load of bad writing and acting. No spoilers, please, at least until I decide if I’m going to finish watching it. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1980-john-cassavetes-film-gloria/612846/2 "2012-02-14T20:27:28Z")
No, it doesn’t really get any better. And yet, it’s somehow worth watching. ---
**Author:** ![Two\_Many\_Cats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/8dc957/32.png) [@Two\_Many\_Cats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Two_Many_Cats)\ **Post date:** [February 14, 2012, 11:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1980-john-cassavetes-film-gloria/612846/3 "2012-02-14T23:36:46Z")
No, it keeps on sucking. That kid is _the_ worst child actor I’ve ever seen, and I mean including that kid who played Seven on _Married with Children_. ---
**Author:** ![jordanr2](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/838e76/32.png) [@jordanr2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jordanr2)\ **Post date:** [February 15, 2012, 12:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1980-john-cassavetes-film-gloria/612846/4 "2012-02-15T00:56:55Z")
not one of Cassavetes’s better moments - mostly worth seeing for Gena. Watch any of his other movies from _Shadows_ to _Love Streams_ instead, or to see a similar story told better, try _Julia_ with Tilda Swinton. ---
**Author:** ![KneadToKnow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kneadtoknow/32/3999_2.png) [@KneadToKnow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KneadToKnow)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1980-john-cassavetes-film-gloria/612846/5 "2012-03-07T18:57:33Z")
I didn’t mean to abandon this. Short follow-up: I agree with **Two Many Cats**. This movie starts bad and never gets better. It will take a lot of convincing before I give this director another chance to impress me. ---
**Author:** ![bienville](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/4bbf92/32.png) [@bienville](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bienville)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2012, 10:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/1980-john-cassavetes-film-gloria/612846/6 "2012-03-07T22:44:10Z")
> [@KneadToKnow](#): > > It will take a lot of convincing before I give this director another chance to impress me. _Gloria_ is not one of his better films, but it _is_ one of his more accessible films. Now, I happen to love Cassavetes but I’m going to disagree with **jordanr2** - from your frustration with this film, I expect his other films would just infuriate you. Oh, and not a one of them is good for a movie to watch while exercising at 7:00 am. All of his films were highly improvised which would lead to plenty of continuity errors and awkward editing when a performance would differ so much from one take to the next. The acting was always wonderful, invigorated by the improvisation, but the actors’ improvised “writing” could often be ham-fisted. And again, I say this as someone who loves Cassavetes.