Gloria

• Written and Directed by John Cassavetes
• October 1, 1980

A woman goes on the run with a young boy being hunted by the mob for a ledger his father passed to him.

As a visual experience Gloria is a trip through the seedy underbelly of New York City at the beginning of the 80s. The city is as much a character as anyone featured in the film in all its dirt and grime. There is a grit and authenticity in 70s and 80s movies that you don’t quite get in the down and dirty films of today. Maybe they were more apt to use locations than sets. In Gloria we get everything from subways that look too dirty for even limited human occupation to apartments where you can see the poorly applied layers of paint. Who does that anymore?

This is not an edge of your seat action film but rather a tension-filled drama. Despite the kid being the one that they are after, the story centers on the title character as she navigate the situation by the seat of her pants and wings it from Point A to Point B. Not a bad though often used concept.

Gena Rowlands as Gloria Swenson (a play on Gloria Swanson) is what largely makes Gloria work as well as it does. Gloria is a hardened older woman who gets herself involved when she probably shouldn’t. She finds herself caring for/keeping safe Phil (John Adames) the son of her friend Jeri (Julie Carmen) who is married to Jack Dawn (Buck Henry). Jack is a man that works as an accountant for the mob that made an offhand comment which put his life in danger.

Gloria keeps fighting the feeling to take care of and protect this kid. She keeps pushing him away but finds herself continually going back to protect the child. There is a strength mixed with exasperation in Rowland’s performance. Gloria is simply trying to get by life and maybe have a little something for herself in the end. Rowlands is a standout in this. She’s excellent in the part but being excellent in the part does not mean it’s an excellent movie. I do think she tries a little too hard with her tough girl accent when it is there. She should’ve spoken in a more natural voice.

Phil whom Gloria is paired with does the adult tough guy talk a little annoyingly. I’m not sure if writer/director John Cassavetes was trying to make him sound beyond his years or make him appear tough or just be a kid out of his element. Truth be told Phil causes a lot of the problems. Sometimes he’s a bit stupid for the necessities of the plot rather than because he’s young. John Adames was just not very good in the part. He’s adequate but adequate for small amounts on screen and not the amount of time he spends being seen.

It just takes his time getting to where it’s going but Gloria never feels like it’s building towards a climax. I don’t need guns blazing or anything like that, but it doesn’t feel there’s a sense that there’s a conclusion coming. It’s just a little over two hours of one event after another taking a slow walk to the credits. The mob is after this kid that has a book ledger with their financial information on it. The thing is the mob seems very casual about getting it all back.

At two hours with the slow pace of the film it feels like there’s too much in Gloria. You could have cut here or there and probably bring it down to you an hour 45 minutes easily. Very little if anything would have been lost by shortening the establishing shots or taking out a scene or two of character interaction that didn’t contribute anything. The bickering between the two mains happens a few too many times and could have been cut a touch. A second or three of a character walking is fine but it is unnecessary to see the entire trip from here to there. Cassavetes I guess was in a situation where nobody could say “No” to him and that word can be helpful.

Gloria isn’t a bad idea but it’s an idea that goes on too long. It lacks focus and takes its good old time getting to an end that doesn’t feel very satisfying.