A Woman Under the Influence
Release date: 1974-11-18
Votes: 547
Genres: Drama, Romance
Mabel Longhetti, desperate and lonely, is married to a Los Angeles municipal construction worker, Nick. Increasingly unstable, especially in the company of others, she craves happiness, but her extremely volatile behavior convinces Nick that she poses a danger to their family and decides to commit her to an institution for six months. Alone with a trio of kids to raise on his own, he awaits her return, which holds more than a few surprises.
Reviews
CinemaSerf
“Mabel” (Gena Rowlands) and husband “Nick” (Peter Falk) are happily enough married. He leads a construction team whilst she tries to cope with their three children. “Mabel” definitely burns the candle at both ends. She wishes to come across as a loving mother and wife whilst presenting a life and soul of the party image designed to ensure that all around her are happy. “Nick” knows, however, that many of their friends think her enthusiasm is symptomatic of something more sinister and that just perhaps she might be losing her grip. Gradually, both her husband and this film’s audience start to realise that “Mabel” is on the precipice of something traumatic, and that something will have to be done - a decision that is hastened by an example of recklessness that “Nick” knows he cannot afford to ignore. His solution may well help his wife to get proper medical assessment, diagnosis and to hopefully recover - but it also leaves him trying to juggle his business responsibilities as well as looking after three stroppy and independently-minded youngsters. With his own stress levels increasing and the return of his wife soon looming, the atmosphere reaches a crescendo of temperamental toxicity that involves family and friends alike. The casting of both Rowlands and Falk is inspired, here, She turns in as visceral a performance as you’re ever likely see as she treads an increasingly blurred line between sanity and an illness that all can see coming but her. Meantime, Falk delivers strongly as his character treads a similarly delicate path that sees conflict between love, loyalty and necessity present itself to man whose own grasp on sanity is sorely tested, too. It is also worth noting that the bairns also contribute powerfully here, too. What is distinctly unnerving about this movie is the way in which we are sucked into the plot. So often the photography is intimate and intense, but at other times it seems more designed to support our own more distant, fly-on-the-wall location on the sidelines - yet we never feel that we have missed anything. Suffice to say that there could be a great many “children” here, and they are not all in short pants nor necessarily on the celluloid either. It has moments of humour to it, either deliberately or as a technique from “Nick” to attempt to defuse the increasingly frenzied scenarios “Mabel” is constructing and by the end of this, I felt a degree of uncomfortable exhaustion. This isn’t an easy watch but it’s worth it.
Movie Recommendation
The Killing of a Chinese Bookie1976-02-15Cosmo Vittelli, the proprietor of a sleazy, low-rent Hollywood cabaret, has a real affection for the women who strip in his peepshows and the staff who keep up his dingy establishment. He also has a major gambling problem that has gotten him in trouble before. When Cosmo loses big-time at an underground casino run by mobster Mort, he isn't able to pay up. Mort then offers Cosmo the chance to pay back his debt by knocking off a pesky, Mafia-protected bookie.More...
Opening Night1977-12-22Actress Myrtle Gordon is a functioning alcoholic who is a few days from the opening night of her latest play, concerning a woman distraught about aging. One night a car kills one of Myrtle's fans who is chasing her limousine in an attempt to get the star's attention. Myrtle internalizes the accident and goes on a spiritual quest, but fails to finds the answers she is after. As opening night inches closer and closer, fragile Myrtle must find a way to make the show go on.More...
Ten2002-05-20A visual social examination in the form of ten conversations between a driving woman and her various pick-ups and hitchhikers.More...
She Never Died2019-10-10Lacey, a socially detached loner is cursed with immortality and a never-ending tedium of existence. In her attempts to keep her compulsions in check, she seeks out the darkest souls humanity has to offer. Lacey must now face her own inner demons while simultaneously finding her next meal.More...
Agony: The Life and Death of Rasputin1981-09-01Russian monk Grigori Rasputin rises to power, which corrupts him along the way. His sexual perversions and madness ultimatly leads to his gruesome assasination.More...
Boarding Gate2007-08-22A beautiful woman, Sandra, seduces a wealthy businessman, Miles Rennburg. Little does he realise that she has been sent to kill him at the behest of her boyfriend/crime partner, Lester. Controlling all this is Sue, Lester's wife.More...
Lou Reed's Berlin2007-09-04Lou Reed recorded the album Berlin in 1973. It was a commercial failure. Over the next 33 years, he never performed the album live. For five nights in December 2006 at St. Ann's Warehouse Brooklyn, Lou Reed performed his masterwork about love's dark sisters: jealousy, rage and loss.More...
Wax, or The Discovery of Television Among the Bees1991-10-21Computer programmer/beekeeper Jacob gets a "television" implanted in his brain by a race of telekinetic bees, which causes him to experience severe hallucinations.More...
Suite Habana2003-10-03Dawn breaks in La Habana, and as the day advances we follow the simple lives of ten ordinary Cubans, with only sounds and images accompanied by music.More...
Penelope2016-08-20A woman is caught up with house chores after someone rings her door.More...
The Sappy Sap1985-07-01Early Sam Raimi/Bruce Campbell short.More...
Shadows1960-10-14The relationship between Lelia, a light-skinned black woman, and Tony, a white man is put in jeopardy when Tony meets Lelia’s darker-skinned jazz singer brother, Hugh, and discovers that her racial heritage is not what he thought it was.More...
Minnie and Moskowitz1971-12-22Depressed and jaded after being dumped by her married boyfriend, aging beauty Minnie Moore wonders if she'll ever find love. After shaggy-haired parking lot attendant Seymour Moskowitz comes to her defense from an angry and rebuffed blind date, he falls hopelessly in love with her despite their myriad differences. Minnie reluctantly agrees to a date with Moskowitz, and, slowly but surely, an unlikely romance blossoms between the two.More...
Cosmos2015-12-03Two young men seek the solitude of the country; their peace is disturbed when a set of random occurrences suggest to their susceptible minds a pattern with sinister meanings.More...
Husbands1970-12-08A common friend's sudden death brings three men, married with children, to reconsider their lives and ultimately leave the country together. But mindless enthusiasm for regained freedom will be short-lived.More...
Goodbye, Dragon Inn2003-12-12On a dark, wet night in Taipei City, a cavernous old picture palace is about to close its doors forever. A meager audience, the remaining few staff, and perhaps even a ghost or two, watch King Hu’s wuxia classic "Dragon Inn", each haunted by memories and desires evoked by cinema itself.More...
The Caine Mutiny1954-06-24When a US Naval captain shows signs of mental instability that jeopardize his ship, the first officer relieves him of command and faces court martial for mutiny.More...
Faces1968-11-24Middle-aged suburban husband Richard abruptly tells his wife, Maria, that he wants a divorce. As Richard takes up with a younger woman, Maria enjoys a night on the town with her friends and meets a younger man. As the couple and those around them confront a seemingly futile search for what they've lost -- love, excitement, passion -- this classic American independent film explores themes of aging and alienation.More...
The Looming Storm2017-11-17Yu, a self-assured factory guard, fancies himself a detective and begins poking his nose into a murder investigation.More...
Novitiate2017-10-27In the early 1960s, during the Vatican II era, a young woman training to become a nun struggles with issues of faith, sexuality and the changing church.More...
Similar Movies
The Gangster
1947-11-25Based on the novel Low Company. One of the most peculiar film noirs of the 1940s stars Barry Sullivan as a small-time hood who suffers a mental breakdown as his big plans begin to crumble. Beautiful Belita is his singer girlfriend who only fuels his paranoia.White Rabbit
2018-01-18A dramatic comedy following a Korean American performance artist who struggles to be authentically heard and seen through her multiple identities in modern Los Angeles.Between the Miles
2016-09-27Florence, a hapless musician, takes three homeless teens off the streets of Los Angeles and into her care only to realize she has to overcome her own reckless tendencies in order to care for them.Come and See
1985-10-17The invasion of a village in Belarus by German forces sends young Florya into the forest to join the weary Resistance fighters, against his family's wishes. There he meets a girl, Glasha, who accompanies him back to his village. On returning home, Florya finds his family and fellow peasants massacred. His continued survival amidst the brutal debris of war becomes increasingly nightmarish, a battle between despair and hope.Sunsplit
1997-01-01As the California sun shines down from an Los Angeles sky, three unique individuals are about to collide in the most unexpected ways imaginable. Lyle is a psychotic serial killer who has formed a dangerous fixation on single mother and expert car thief Tess. As Lyle prepares to make his deadly move, widowed Greek Restaurant owner Shandor finds himself forced to take matters into his own hands when the law fails to protect and serve as promised.The Firm
1993-06-30Mitch McDeere is a young man with a promising future in Law. About to sit his Bar exam, he is approached by 'The Firm' and made an offer he doesn't refuse. Seduced by the money and gifts showered on him, he is totally oblivious to the more sinister side of his company. Then, two Associates are murdered. The FBI contact him, asking him for information and suddenly his life is ruined. He has a choice - work with the FBI, or stay with the Firm. Either way he will lose his life as he knows it. Mitch figures the only way out is to follow his own plan...The Graduate
1967-12-21A disillusioned college graduate finds himself torn between his older lover and her daughter.All Ladies Do It
1992-02-21After five years of marriage, Diana discovers the joys of adultery, claiming that she can save her failing relationship through betrayal.Chlorine
2015-01-24Seventeen-year-old Jenny dreams of becoming a synchronized swimmer. Family events turn her life upside down and she is forced move to a remote area to look after her ill father and younger brother. It won't be long before Jenny starts pursuing her dreams again.Sway
2014-11-01Three parallel love stories set in three different cities are set against some of the major international events of the last five years, in this ambitious.Chain of Evidence
1957-01-06A police lieutenant fights to prove a boy's innocence after he's accused of murder. The fourth of five Ben Schwab productions that starred Bill Elliott as a detective lieutenant in the L.A. Sheriff's department.Brown Sugar
2002-10-05Sidney and Dre can attribute their lifelong friendship and the launch of their careers to one single childhood instant... witnessing the birth of hip-hop on a New York street corner. Now some 15 years later, she is a revered music critic at a national magazine and he is a successful, though unfulfilled, hip-hop record company executive. Both come to realize that their true life passions will only be fulfilled by remembering what they learned that day on the corner.The Crooked Way
1949-04-22A war veteran suffering from amnesia, returns to Los Angeles from a San Francisco veterans hospital hoping to learn who he is and discovers his criminal past.Burning Bridges
1990-05-06Fact-based story of a woman who suffered a nervous breakdown after having an extra-marital affair.High School High
1996-10-25Richard Clark has just left the well-known Wellington Academy to teach at Marion Barry High School. Now, he will try to inspire the D-average students into making good grades and try to woo a fellow teacher.Smilla's Sense of Sno...
1997-02-28Smilla Jaspersen attempts to understand the death of a small boy who falls from the roof of her apartment building. Suspecting wrongdoing, Smilla uncovers a trail of clues leading towards a secretive corporation that has made several mysterious expeditions to Greenland.One Hour Photo
2002-08-21Sy Parrish has lovingly developed photographs for the Yorkin family since their son was a baby. But as the Yorkins' lives become fuller, Sy's only seems lonelier, until he eventually convinces himself he's part of their family. When Sy's picture-perfect fantasy collides with an ugly dose of reality, a bizarre and thrilling confrontation ensues.Thank You for Smoking...
2005-09-09Nick Naylor is a charismatic spin-doctor for Big Tobacco who'll fight to protect America's right to smoke -- even if it kills him -- while still remaining a role model for his 12-year old son. When he incurs the wrath of a senator bent on snuffing out cigarettes, Nick's powers of "filtering the truth" will be put to the test.Set It Off
1996-11-06Four inner-city Black women, determined to end their constant struggle, decide to live by one rule — get what you want or die trying. So the four women take back their lives and take out some banks in the process.The Worst Person in t...
2021-10-13The chronicles of four years in the life of Julie, a young woman who navigates the troubled waters of her love life and struggles to find her career path, leading her to take a realistic look at who she really is.