Pennies from Heaven | | Cast : | Steve Martin, Bernadette Peters | | Director : | Herbert Ross | | Studio : | Warner Home Video | | Format : | Color, Closed-captioned, Widescreen | | Released Date : | December 11, 1981 | | DVD Released Date : | July 27, 2004 | | Language : | English (Dubbed), French (Subtitled), English (Subtitled), Spanish (Subtitled), English (Original Language) | | Audience Rating : | R (Restricted) | | | BUY THIS DVD FROM AMAZON |
Customer Reviews
| Rating |  | | Date | May 22, 2005 | | Summary | Totally Original | Content
 | The audience was not ready for this movie.
Steve Martin is an exceptionally intelligent, articulate individual who refuses to take himself seriously.
However, his honest puzzlement about human misery is exemplified in this film. He does not know why we had to suffer so much in the 1930s and, moreover, why the relatively young entertainment industry decided that the misery would become a personal mission of organized denial.
Things are as bad as you might think they are, so we will simply think differently.
At the time, socialists crticized any effort to divert attention from unending and honest fixation on the abundant misery. However, their agenda was to bring down a capitalistic system they'd already concluded was morally wrong and, oh yeah, ineffective, too.
Martin's movie mixes a utilitarian view with a meditation on the role of the entertainer which, he knows, he is. Ain't it awful that Hollywood distracted us from how bad the depression was?
Martin insists that we work this calculus out for ourselves. If Hollywood made us forget about our obligation for social revolution, your political point of view dictates whether that was good or bad. One thing he makes clear here, though: who we are today was made back then.
Or, as Frank Zappa said, "Do you love it? Do you hate it? There it is, the way you made it..."
A great movie; if you think it is flawed, it may be because your expectations going in could be examined more carefully. Definitely don't go if you want to forget about the Depression. |
| Rating | | | Date | April 25, 2005 | | Summary | Good Idea, Mediocre Execution | Content
| The idea for Pennies From Heaven was a good one. The film makers decided to use old music that suited the scenes that the actors would lipsync and dance to. The music scenes are the best part of the film. The idea of using popular music from the time period to illustrate the moods and feelings of the people who could not otherwise express themselves is really original. The men sometimes mouth the words to women's voices and vice versa, but cheesiness is expected of a musical. This strangeness is not too strange as to make the film unwatchable. Other elements contribute to it's downfall.
The movie revolves around a man who is dissatisfied with his mundane life. He leaves his wife one day and steals her money in order to sell sheet music to stores and make a fortune. He meets a beautiful schoolteacher who he corrupts, gets pregnant, and leaves to return to his wife. The schoolteacher is fired from her job, has an abortion, and turns to prostitution. The man returns to her and they proclaim their love for each other while the man is accused of a crime he did not commit. The story is rather tired and standard. One would think the music would make up for it. However, there are more problems than just a dull story.
The 1930s style that was employed was successful in costumes and music, but the flow of the story was not very similar to films of the era. The reactions of the characters to each other should have been edited down more to make the film more basic. It is a very long film but the story is quite simple.
The cast is great. Unfortunately, after the success of Steve Martin in The Jerk, audiences thought that this movie would be the same. The casting of Bernadette Peters, an exceptional Broadway star, aided this misconception. The film is actually a drama, not a comedy. However, the cast does well with what they are given. Jessica Harper as the wife performs quite well in a subtle understated way. Steve Martin is a bit disappointing and Bernadette Peters performs at her usual level (which is rather high compared to most). Christopher Walken even makes a small appearance.
The extra feature on the DVD is a home-videoed recording of some of the cast and crew answering questions from a very flustered interviewer. The setting is informal which makes those being interviewed more candid and relaxed. However, the interviewer hinders the segment.
Overall, this film could have been better. What makes this movie even sound appealing and different is the strange use of music. That is the only bright spot.
NOTE: PLEASE VOTE REGARDING THE QUALITY OF THE REVIEW, NOT WHETHER YOU AGREE WITH IT. |
| Rating | | | Date | September 08, 2004 | | Summary | Excellent! | Content
| People dump on this movie because a) they compare it to the brilliant BBC TV mini series, and b) at the time he did this, Steve Martin was associated with the "wild and crazy guy" image and this movie really threw his fan base. BUT IT'S GREAT! If you don't have the time to sit through the 8 BBC hour mini series, this is a quick fix with some added Hollywood gloss. Christopher Walken's tap dance on top of the bar and Bernadette Peters' Ina Rae Hutton turn in the classroom are highlights, as well as the Busby Berkeley-style number with the bank manager and, of course, the Pennies From Heaven diner scene. But it's ALL good. It moves very quickly and the anamorphic picture and sound quality is fine. Interesting commentary from a film historian is included and there is also a cheaply done 20-year reunion featurette. One of the two essential Steve Martin dvds to own... the other is 'Dead Men Don't Wear Plaid.' 'Pennies From Heaven' is dark, funny and very cool. Both films are a mixture of CLASSIC and QUIRKY and not MAINSTREAM. They both stand up to repeated viewings, especially "Pennies..." |
| Rating | | | Date | August 19, 2004 | | Summary | A rare and unusual treat: a musical shrouded in darkness | Content
| This is a film for thinking people who love movies and aren't afraid to try something very different. The fact that this picture was made was a miracle in itself as it is almost unrelentingly grim, melancholy and dark, but so gorgeously shot, well-acted, and hauntingly scored that many will find quite a measure of joy in watching this film. The brilliant musical numbers (performed to perfection by the cast) are up to the standards of the Gingers/Rogers films of old, yet are so contrary to them thematically. Instead of the standard feel-good joi de vivre, they serve here instead to atually underscore the tragedy of the characters lives and demonstrate just how far away they are from the joyous visions the songs describe. So, if you're looking for a happy-go-lucky lightweight return to the MGM of the past, this likely isn't the picture for you. On the other hand, if you want a stunning homage to the musicals of the 30's, but one which does not sacrifice artful storytelling and an almost picture-quality reproduction of the grief, sorrow and anger of the Depression-era 30's, this is the pinnacle of filmmaking (and with sumptious musical numbers to back it).
IMO, this is hands down Steve Martin's best role and as well as Bernadette Peters (who should have been won the Academy that year). Both are incredible, as is Christopher Walken and Jessica Harper. As the main protagonist of the film, it is a rare distinction for Martin (as well as for this genre film) that he is not really a nice guy -- yet nor is he a true villain. There are sympathetic qualities to his character, but also irremedially selfish, childish ones. One of the great elements of this film is that all of the characters are fully three-dimensional and you don't really know where these characters are going to go or what decisions they're going to make. Behind the stylization, cinematography and dance numbers lies subtle artistic, poetic and psychological underpinnings wherein lie real people and their tragedies and the sorrow they bring upon themselves. Martin plays the frustrated husband who begins an affair with an innocent schoolteacher, destroying all of their lives, including his own, in the process. Make no mistake, this is a dark film which deals powerfully with themes of yearning and lost innocence, and which is fueled by an almost sexual rage. Sexual anger permeates nearly all of the musical numbers in ways that are surprising and original, yet almost always sad. Sex represents the catalyst for doom and evil in this film. There is hypnotizing -- almost trance-like -- and surreal quality to the way this film is shot, and the mood is pervasive and not one a mature film-lover is likely to forget right away...
As far as the DVD transfer is concerned: I'm very glad that it's in anamorphic widescreen as it should be. The color palette is deep and rich, and although there is some artifacting and pixellation, it is hardly distracting. A major treat is the commentary track by film critic Peter Rainer, a man who really understands the brilliance of this movie and its underlying themes. There is also a 20th Anniversary Cast and Crew Reunion (which unfortunately lacks Peters and Walken). The one sore spot of this disk is that it's missing deleted scenes, which is inexusable IMO, especially as one of crew discusses some beautiful scenes he was upset to cut out for the sake of pacing. Let's hope we get a Special Edition sometime in the near future.
Another musical didn't emerge again until Moulin Rouge and Chicago, both of which received great accolades. Without disprect to those, Pennies from Heaven is a far superior film in many ways: Uncompromising and artful, with touches of noir and mystery; at times a strange ride, and profoundly sorrowful, this is one of those rare classics that has not been seen by enough people. |
| Rating | | | Date | August 15, 2004 | | Summary | they tell the truth, songs do.... | Content
| Steve Martin, in an interesting choice with which to follow The Jerk, give an excellent performance as a salesman who falls victim to the romanticized visions of life offered in the lyrics of the sheet music he sells. The real world is continually juxtaposed against the world of song-the place that Martin's character wants to live. "They tell the truth, songs do," he says. He believes each time he meets a beautiful woman that she will be the one promised by storybooks and songs and lives for a short time in the light of that romanticized take, but then descends into reality. In that way, he plays a kind of everyman. It is a heavy film in which almost every scene has a genuine core of sadness to it Von Trier is trying to do something similar in Dancer in the Dark, but is too interested in offering a distorted critical view of an America he doesn't understands save through stereotype and rumor.
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