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Gena Rowlands, Peter Falk, Matthew Cassel, Matthew Laborteaux, Christina Grisanti ... see more see more... , Vincent Barbi , Cliff Carnell , Katherine Cassavetes , Nick Cassavetes , Dominique Davalos , Elizabeth Deering , Frederick Draper , O.G. Dunn , John Finnegan , Angelo Grisanti , John Hawker , Charles Horvath , Hugh Hurd , Joanne Moore Jordan , Jimmy Joyce , Lady Rowlands , Eddie Shaw , Leon Wagner , Mario Gallo , Elsie Ames , Ellen Davalos , Syl Words , Frank Richards , Jacki Peters

John Cassavetes' harrowing masterpiece charts the emotional meltdown of a suburban housewife and its effects on her blue-collar Italian family. Gena Rowlands stars as Mabel Longhetti, a mother of thre... read more read more...e whose husband Nick (Peter Falk) works as a construction worker; a mismatched couple like so many others in Cassavetes films, the Longhettis seem to be complete opposites: she's impetuous, extroverted, and fragile, while he's controlling, distant, and hard-bitten. Their differences underscore a series of domestic dramas, culminating in a nervous breakdown that sends Mabel to a psychiatric hospital for six months, only to return to a home environment on even thinner ice than before. The improvisational style central to Cassavetes' vision is at its most acute throughout A Woman Under the Influence. Like its title heroine, the film threatens to veer out of control at any time, its shape and scope defined not by narrative but by the emotional upheaval at its center. Embracing the full spectrum of the Longhettis' relationship, from seismic bursts of high drama to small, even trivial moments of domestic tedium, its long scenes relentlessly probe every nook and cranny of the family's life, drawing out each moment for maximum emotional impact; the film is by turns beautiful and ugly, illuminating and frustrating, and it features a performance by Rowlands as heartwrenching and unforgettable as any ever committed to celluloid. ~ Jason Ankeny, Rovi

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17 critics

R, 2 hr. 35 min.

Directed by: John Cassavetes

Release Date: January 1, 1975

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DVD Release Date: June 29, 1998

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Flixster Reviews (570)

  • fb1664868775
    October 18, 2011
    fb1664868775
    Two of the best performances I've ever seen. Gena Rowlands makes you fall in love with her and feel sorry for her. Peter Falk is great as the rough man who tries to cope with his wife losing her mind. The scene with Falk sitting in the back of a pick up truck sharing a beer with ... read morehis kids is priceless.
  • rubystevens
    June 25, 2011
    rubystevens
    a devastating film containing one of the bravest performances ever seen, for which gena rowlands is justly celebrated, overshadowing the fine work of her costar. peter falk is completely natural as the frustrated blue collar husband trying to deal with his emotionally fragile an... read mored increasingly eccentric wife. the film goes places no one else dared, exhibiting the rawest possible emotions and investigating every corner of the family's life. peter falk may be best remembered as the rumpled detective columbo but he did some wonderful work for cassavettes among others.
  • stevenecarrier
    January 15, 2011
    stevenecarrier
    I feel like I am doing disservice to the picture if I try to summarize John Cassavetes' "A Woman Under the Influence" into a blurb review. It's not that simple. There is so much going on here, so much detail, that simply picking out a couple things seems offensive to all the rest... read more them. This is an incredible film that needs to be experienced by any true fan of the filmed artistic medium. One of Cassavetes' best films and a true testament to independent cinema and Cassavetes' collaboration with Gena Rowlands. Harrowing, funny, real, emotional and timeless, "A Woman Under the Influence" is a one of a kind experience.
  • SirPant
    November 2, 2010
    SirPant
    Cassavetes's leaves the camera running longer than any other director to great effect. It makes for uncomfortable yet compelling viewing and doesn't mess around with the subject matter either, the door to mental illness is left open for all to see, warts and all. Probably Cassave... read moretes's best, although not my favourite, with stunning performances from Rowlands and Falk. Classic American cinema at its best.
  • Saxia
    October 6, 2009
    Saxia
    I was looking forward to a good cry, but I was a nervous wreck after finishing it. This movie is f***ing intense!
    Gena Rowlands won several awards for her performance as Mabel Longhetti for best actress, but I'm really curious who got the Oscar that year, because she should have... read more gotten it!

    I guess this movie is about madness. And I was confronted with my own perceptions and uncomfort with people who 'suffer' from 'psychiatric illness'. The scene that illustrated that the most is the one where she's waiting at the busstop for the school-bus to arrive, to pick up her kids. She's trying to get some people to tell her what time it is, but she scares them and you see her become increasingly agitated because they don't want to stop and tell her the time. I think this is one one of my favorite scenes because her body language, and the way she walks synchronize with the character she's playing. She totally convinced me there.

    After adding the trailer to Flixter and watching it a couple of times, I also have to comment on the outstanding performance of Peter Falk who plays Mabel Longhetti's husband Nick. The movie portrays the fascinating, beautiful and sometimes destructive relationship between the two. There are moments that you can't help but wonder which one of them is 'mad'.

    For me, Gena Rowlands' performance is definitely one of the most memorable in my movie-watching-history.
  • ceWEBrity
    May 16, 2009
    ceWEBrity
    Finals are over! I can actually watch movies again! This was a great induction back into the world of listless cinephilia, simply because I don't think I've ever seen a movie quite like it. Gena Rowlands gives an impeccable performance, painting this woman with incredible depth. ... read moreShe doesn't run straight to crazy-person quirk, but instead illuminates the pain she's feeling from the world around her, giving us a solid reason why she would retreat into madness. The movie does an incredible job of reminding us how harsh and oppressive society can be, especially toward people who think or function differently.

    Some might take umbrage with the length, and at two and a half hours, it is a formidably depressing slog. I thought it was worth every second, though. How did John Cassavetes have such an utterly untalented son?
  • DrBenway
    April 25, 2008
    DrBenway
    This film seemed to rip my guts out. Gena Rowlands teetering into insanity is definitely one for the books and is forceful and disturbing.

    Free-formed filmmaking approach that depends on its' actors than a script or camera work. This film influenced other indie filmmakers to... read more do it themselves. Not necessarily for the casual filmgoer, you can decide if that's you.
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  • tsigur
    October 14, 2007
    tsigur
    Gena Rowlands gives one of the greatest performances of all time. This is my favorite Cassavettes' film.
  • mjgildea
    November 10, 2006
    mjgildea
    Very dry but also very good.
  • thirdway821
    January 8, 2012
    thirdway821
    This is one of John Cassavetes best films. Gena Rowlands gives a stunning performance as the housewife Mabel who isn't all who she's cracked up to be. Her husband Nick (Peter Faulk) is the agressive husband who admires her wife but wants her to stop acting so starnge and unusual ... read morearound his friends. "AWUTI" is a painful film to watch because, well haven't we all tried to please our significant other in a relationship?

    Cassavetes really took his film to another level. I really admired the akward party where Nick gives a speech and tells everyone they have to leave before his wife gets home from being released from a mental institution. There's another great scene where Mabel (Rowlands) makes spaghetti and tries to make friendly aquaintances with Nick's co-workers only she's viewed as akward and flawed, another akward scene is whene Nick and his friend steal the kids from school to spend a day on the beach. While going home, Nick offers his kids a sip of beer. Afer seeing that scene I cringed.

    It's films like these audiences will always remember and Cassavetes hits each scene perfectly on every note and it's never outdated. I'm sure this project must have been very personally for him since every scene, to me rings strong in my mind. Love may be complicated but it sure makes the small things in life unbreakable.

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Critic Reviews

Tim Grierson
October 20, 2009
Tim Grierson, Village Voice

Falk and the rest of the cast are exceptional -- even the smallest roles feel spot-on -- but Rowlands is the film. Full Review

November 12, 2008
Variety

Rowlands' performance in the title role is one of those tour de force numbers available only to screen players of alcoholics and lunatics. Full Review

Nora Sayre
May 9, 2005
Nora Sayre, New York Times

The most frightening scenes are extremely compelling, and this is a thoughtful film that does prompt serious discussion. Full Review

Roger Ebert
January 1, 2000
Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun-Times

Perhaps the greatest of Cassavetes' films. Full Review

Keith Phipps
March 29, 2011
Keith Phipps, AV Club

Falk and Rowlands -- in performances of almost indescribable intensity -- detail a marriage anchored by love, but tossed by the expectations of others and the unpredictable swell of madness. Full Review

Joshua Rothkopf
October 21, 2009
Joshua Rothkopf, Time Out New York

Watching 35 years later, you're struck by its forward sense of therapeutic misfortune. Full Review

Cole Smithey
April 11, 2009
Cole Smithey, ColeSmithey.com

Gena Rowlands gives a career-defining tour de force performance that is a pinnacle of film-acting in an earth-shattering film that is unlike any other ever made. Full Review

Andrew L. Urban
January 9, 2009
Andrew L. Urban, Urban Cinefile

An exceptional film .. a study in the complexities of love, in the subtleties of mental disorder and in the way society demands rigid conformity Full Review

Dan Schneider
March 12, 2007
Dan Schneider, culturevulture.net

John Cassavetes was one of those rare artists of whom it could be said that his flaws were his strengths, and his strengths were his flaws...Consequently, the film has to rank somewhere between the tw... Full Review

Emanuel Levy
December 21, 2006
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com

A insightful essay on sexual politics: Rowlands is terrific as a housewife who crosses the line into sanity. With a light feminist touch, she is perceived as a victim of repressive patriarchal order. Full Review

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