Release Date (UK DVD) – 4th April 2011
Certificate (UK) – 12
Director – John Cassavetes
Runtime – 114 mins
Country – USA
Starring – Gena Rowlands, Seymour Cassel, Timothy Carey
Making its UK DVD debut some 40 years after its original release, Minnie & Moskowitz is a low-budget romantic comedy from director and actor John Cassavetes.
The film follows the rather unlikely romantic coupling of museum curator Minnie Moore (Rowlands) with parking lot attendant Seymour Moskowitz (Cassel). 40-year old divorcee Minnie Moore dreams of true love and a different life as she struggles in a bad relationship, and a blind date that goes horribly wrong leads her to a chance encounter with Moskowitz who instantly falls in love with her. Moskowitz’ love soon turns into an obsession as he does his utmost to persuade Minnie of his affections, to the point of declaring “I’m so crazy about you I forget to go to the bathroom”.
While the film may be being marketed as a ‘captivatingly witty’ romantic comedy, it’s certainly true to say it’s very much a film of its time. Modern day audiences may well find that Minnie & Moskowitz is slow, at some points even tedious. The humour that may well have worked well in 1971 just doesn’t seem so crisp or as fresh as it might, and to this reviewer at least, I found myself asking what on earth all the fuss is about.
We come then to Cassavetes’ directing style. The direction and the editing certainly take some getting used to. Where a modern audience may well expect a scene to “bridge the gap” between key moments in the film’s plot, Cassavetes decides instead to merely gloss over them, cutting from one key scene to another, neglecting anything that may well have happened in-between which can be quite jarring.
This isn’t of course to say that Minnie & Moskowitz is a bad film per se — more it is a film with a very specific audience in mind. With the DVD revolution having been going for quite some time now, it’s easy to see why this particular film has taken so long to reach the UK shores. As a romantic comedy there are certainly many better films out there, but as a study of character — as a study of the emotions that drive us all and make life the interesting experience it is — the film stands up far better. The characters are certainly interesting, and abound in fragile emotions that often threaten to engulf them. Both the protagonists are characters in need of help — and in need of one another. While the tipping point where Minnie does finally relent to Moskowitz may seem all too sudden and unrealistic, the heart of the story is still there for all to see, and despite the films at times rather obvious failings, makes Minnie & Moskowitz a satisfying, if slow-going DVD release.
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