Falling in Love

1984 "Sometimes magic is the only thing that's real."
6.5| 1h42m| PG-13| en| More Info
Released: 21 November 1984 Released
Producted By: Paramount Pictures
Country: United States of America
Budget: 0
Revenue: 0
Official Website:
Synopsis

During shopping for Christmas, Frank and Molly run into each other. This fleeting short moment will start to change their lives, when they recognize each other months later in the train home and have a good time together. Although both are married and Frank has two little kids, they meet more and more often, their friendship becoming the most precious thing in their lives.

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Reviews

Interesteg What makes it different from others?
UnowPriceless hyped garbage
Gurlyndrobb While it doesn't offer any answers, it both thrills and makes you think.
Philippa All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
disdressed12 and i mean that in a good way.for one thing,the story isn't contrived like so many others of the genre.also it's not overly sentimental or sappy.you really believe these two people could fall in love.also the way they fell in love was realistic.Robert De Niro and Meryl Streep really do come across as genuine,playing two lonely people who meet through fate.but there's only one small hitch:they're both married.the movie is not fast paced,so if that's what you're expecting,you'll be disappointed.instead,it's an honest,unconventional love story that takes some time for the relationship to develop between the two central characters.Dianne Wiest has a small role,and is almost unrecognizable.it's nice to see Harvey Kietel in an everyman kind of role,as well as Jane Kaczmarek(Malcolm in the Middle).but it's really Streep and DE Niro who make the movie what it is.if their portrayals were not authentic or honest,the film would not work.for me,Falling in Love is a 7/10
Ed Uyeshima I have a certain fondness for this movie, and twenty years later, it still gets to me. I first saw this movie in a theater during a bleak Chicago winter, and the coziness of this romantic fable warmed me at the right time. Meryl Streep and Robert DeNiro - probably at the height of their respective careers in 1984 as respected, Method-style actors and bankable stars - have certainly had more challenging roles to play than the two married suburbanites here, Molly and Frank, who develop a strong attachment to one another by way of train rides back and forth from Connecticut to Manhattan. In fact, this movie does not even have the emotional gravity of Noel Coward's "Brief Encounter", which screenwriter Michael Cristopher is apparently mimicking with a mid-eighties sensibility. There are even excellent actors in supporting roles - Harvey Keitel as Frank's best friend going through his own transition, Dianne Wiest as Molly's sex-obsessed best friend, Jane Kaczmarek as Frank's content but guarded wife, David Clennon as Molly's emotionally unavailable husband - but none are given much to do, other than to be left to their own unstated thoughts and observe what's going on with the main characters.Yet the film has a certain pervasive charm and a subtle sense of intimacy that makes it seem more substantial than it has any right to be. There is a certain improvisational element to the two lead performances that contributes to this feeling and makes the characters easy to like despite upscale lifestyles that appear more appropriate in a Pottery Barn catalog. You do believe these two characters are hesitantly falling in love, and the scene where they try to make love for the first time has an aching honesty that deepens the story at the right moment. Leave it to Streep and DeNiro to make it all look so authentic in spite of some silly Hollywood story conventions, such as the "boy meets girl" meeting over a passel of Christmas packages at Rizzoli's or the one-year-later denouement that ends naturally on a crowded commuter train...as if there was real suspense in how the story would end. Even putting "The End" on the screen induces an aura of Hollywood artifice.Regardless, the little moments are what provide the most pleasure here....the way Molly explains how she has made mu-shu pork with Aunt Jemima's pancake mix; how Frank practices his line for the "accidental" run-in with Molly; the montage of silly, Dallas/Dynasty-era outfits that Molly tries on to look good for Frank. These moments provide a nice counterbalance to the more predictable scenes of regret and guilt that are inevitable with this story. Ulu Grosbard directs the actors with a sure hand, though the pacing drags at times, especially toward the end when he suddenly tries to build some suspense with a speeding car in a downpour. Dave Grusin provides a nice, FM-lite score highlighted by "Mountain Dance", the syncopated theme that plays throughout the movie. This film is definitely recommended for those seeking Hollywood-style romance with two acting heavyweights who inject some nice realism into a slight story.
Khim1 This is my favourite DeNiro movie and one of Meryl Streep's many great roles (but don't miss The Hours, The Bridges of Madison County and Out of Africa!). Meryl Streep can, better than most, carry a slow movie built almost entirely on moods and quiet thinking.Still, Falling in Love could never have been what it is without all the excellent supporting actors. The way it paints the image of two very different marriages slowly falling apart without the participants really understanding what is happening is compelling, and the movie, while not exactly complex or deep, doesn't ever take the easy way out. Instead it relies completely on the talents of all the actors, to tell a realistic story of what can and does happen in real life.The music is also excellent and at times it stands for a significant part of the movie's language.But don't bother if you're prejudiced against romantic drama.
Nicholas Rhodes Absolutely brilliant acting on the part of the main protagonists, Streep and de Niro. I don't believe for one single moment you can find love by taking the train - I have been travelling daily for years on public transport and have never encountered anything remotely resembling what happens in the film - but films ARE made to make us dream and this film certainly does. Why, pray, if you want daily reality, then you watch a documentary.These two characters and the actors that portray them are ideally suited to the script and film. They're both pretty reserved, shy and respect the contract of marriage, but something inexorably brings them together. You watch, thinking "this cannot last" but somehow it does. One or other of the characters takes the right initiative at the right moment. Truly unbelievable when you look at stark reality but oh boy is it fun to watch on the screen.The same story played out by ordinary actors would be a total flop, but with Streep and De Niro, success is guaranteed right the way thru ! A must for all those who have never found true love but secretly harbour the hope of finding it one day .....................