As Good As It Gets

If the ambition is to provide two hours of instantly forgettable, popcorn-munching escapism, it succeeds.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

Despite the good cast, this is not a good film. Ray Milland overacts and is unconvincing with his dubbed singing voice. He doesn't do comedy well, neither does he do Westerns well. His fake American accent is unbearable to listen to. Jane Wyman has no rhythm when she dances and looks like a flat pancake when she sings. There is a scene where she reveals her firm thighs which looks incongruous in her slight frame. Only Tom Helmore plays a believable role.The strong points in the film include the Technicolor, production and costume designs. It is beautiful to look at, but there is no story to maintain your attention. They are just pictures of people talking.

I would say that remakes are never as good as the original. In this case, however, the musical adaptation of the "Awful Truth", I have not seen the original, so I watched this movie with fresh eyes, uninfluenced by any previous first impressions. And I found it funny and entertaining. It has that "back then" feeling, a sort of old fashioned charm, like the Doris Day/Rock Hudson comedies, which, let's face it, apart from the first hit, Pillow Talk, were all repetitive.There is obviously a question of miscasting the lady lead role, here. A really sexy female star in the role of Jane Wyman, would have been much more suitable and convincing. I like Jane Wyman a lot, but she is best at dramatic roles, as in Lost Weekend or in Douglas Sirk melodramas. She is so decent looking, with that innocent and shy face that it is not easy to imagine her as a sensational Broadway star. Yet she is beautiful, dances well and wears some glorious gowns. But, she is not sexy enough for this particular role.This is a musical adaptation so we have many songs, which are good and correspond to the type of Broadway musicals of the time. However, I strongly object to the dubbing of Ray Milland's songs. I think his own voice would have been much more interesting than that of a professional singer. After all, he was the COMPOSER, not the PERFORMER of the songs, so technical perfection was not an issue here.Ray Milland was not happy about this movie, or about remakes in general. He wrote in his autobiography: " I was once inveigled into a remake of The Awful Truth, which turned out to be a fizzle of the worst kind, for which I still haven't been paid, and rightly so." But he needed not be so over-critical and austere to himself. Because the movie is funny and he is really good at his role. He has many exceptionally fine scenes, as at the beginning, playing the drums, or wearing his wife's yellow robe, or the scene with the change of hats, as well as numerous other moments where he is funny and outstanding. To be noted that he does not play his role in a "Cary Grant" way, he is totally himself, as he himself would react in similar situations, always truthful and real, never over the top. That is what makes him so delightful in every role, be it in comedy, drama, adventure or thriller.I recommend this movie for guaranteed light entertainment, and for giving us an inside look at the world of Broadway stars.

Once I realized that Ray Milland was doing a poor imitation of Cary Grant's mugging in the original screwball comedy, "The Awful Truth," I knew why the film failed to sparkle as a comedy. Added to the comedy are some musical interludes that fall as flat as the dialog. The whole film leaves you feeling that it's a silly waste of time.And in the central role of a woman determined to win her hubby back, Jane Wyman is dressed to kill but looks more like an uptight woman too prudish to display herself in such a lavish wardrobe. Only when she lets loose pretending to be Milland's hyperactive sister and demonstrates some of her flair for musical comedy does her performance come to life. Otherwise, you keep expecting those tears to flow.The story may have worked in the '30s when screwball comedy was supreme and was handled with comic dexterity by a sparkling cast. But here it gets a flat reception from an uncomfortable looking Ray Milland, a miscast Wyman and an equally out-of-his-element Aldo Ray.Summing up: A bad remake of a popular screwball comedy, it falls far short of the mark in every department--writing, acting, direction. Only Tom Helmore (the scheming husband of "Vertigo") manages to look and act as urbane and distinguished as the part demands with the proper comic flair.

Jane Wyman is beautiful and her wardrobe wonderful. Ray Milland seems out of place in this comedy - and I don't know who provides his singing voice. From the opening scene if you are a Cary Grant fan you will recognize it as the plot of "The Awful Truth", and the awful truth is - except for being in color and Ms. Wyman's clothes this remake falls sadly short of the chemistry and snap of the original. Aldo Ray played his best role in Pat and Mike and the casting director should have considered his accent before trying to make him out to be a back-woods boy. When music and dance are added to a plot to try to beef it up in some way it should serve as a red flag for viewer to beware.