Bad Acting and worse Bad Screenplay

It's a mild crowd pleaser for people who are exhausted by blockbusters.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

Good writing evidently comes from the heart as this picture tries to tell us.Arliss Howard, as the painter who wants to write, experiences rejection upon rejection letters from various publishing houses.His personal life is in the tank as well. Separated from his wife, played quite well by Debra Winger, who again shares her term of endearment, the Howard character has trouble with the bottle and is constantly smoking throughout the film. Angie Dickinson appears as his mother and Roseanna Arquette offers fine support as a town lady.Everyone within the family seems to be running. Are they running from this film? What's the point of all this? This question is really never answered. Does life change when personal tragedy strikes? Of course, but the theme is so emotionally attached, that it is never really realized.

Emotionally on the run from a family tragedy which ruined his marriage, a Mississippi writer--struggling with his new novel--is locked in limbo between the past and the present. Star Arliss Howard, pulling a Rip Torn, also directed and co-adapted the screenplay with James Howard, based upon stories by Larry Brown (which play out here like diluted Henry Miller). Arliss Howard has obviously seen a lot of movies and knows a lot of tricks; his flights-of-fancy have touches of Fellini and Kubrick, yet his lead performance isn't the least bit convincing. As a result, the picture, a labor of love for Howard and real-life spouse Debra Winger (also a producer and co-star), contains all the ingredients for an arty hothouse flower but none of the punch. "Big Bad Love" is an unconventional film which certainly gave employment to many underused actors, yet it doesn't even attempt to entertain us with ironic or wistful images...it's too preoccupied with being Art. ** from ****

Big Bad Love achieves what few films even strive for -- that gritty level of believability (laced with wonderful dream sequences throughout) that makes it seem as though the camera was simply dropped into the center of these characters' lives.There are a number of wonderful lines, and few scenes funnier than when unsuccessful writer, Leon Barlow (played by Howard), sits down to type a response to a letter from a magazine editor, rejecting one of his short stories.Not to say that the film isn't uneven at times. Howard (who not only stars in the film, but also directs), remains true to his narrative, which does become difficult to watch as Barlow becomes more self-destructive. The dream sequences become muddled after a while, but only because that's how Barlow is experiencing them.Performances by Paul Le Mat, Debra Winger, Angie Dickinson, and Rosanna Arquette are all very strong. The soundtrack is top-notch.I highly recommend this film, particularly as an anti-dote to the vapid doggerel Hollywood continues to churn out like link sausages.

Marks the return of Debra Winger to our video stores if not the big screen. For those who wondered, she is still a wonderful actress and is surrounded by a fine cast here. But this is basically the pretty boring story of an unpublished writer whose skills fail to equal his vocabulary which reeks of the platitudes and 'truisms' he decries.Arliss Howard plays the writer, Barlow, and his drinking bouts with his Vietnam War buddy, Monroe, Paul LeMat, are well handled and sufficiently depressing to attract 'artsie' viewers. The subsequent tragic events in the actual plot are universal enough to hold our attention while we hope that something major will be said. But alas, nothing is and we are left with nothing but a empty story with good acting.It is a shame that these notably good artists haven't found anything better to do. Special kudos though to Angie Dickinson who plays a role that no one had ever envisioned for her and does quite nicely.