I noticed that there are lots of very favorable reviews for "Rachel, Rache", but it really left me flat. Mostly it was because the film was done in a very stark manner--lacking music, energy and a real connection with the title character. Perhaps you'll feel different about .it...I just didn't care very much for the movie.
This movie is unusual because Joanne Woodward's husband, Paul Newman, directed the film--and it was his first directorial job. Rachel is a 35 year-old lady who is desperately lonely. She lives with her mother and is the proverbial spinster school teacher. She wants more out of life and spends much of the film thinking of the past and daydreaming about her future. When she begins dating a man (James Olson), she falls VERY deeply in love and throws herself at him--but it's all too fast and too heavy. What is to become of poor Rachel? As I said above, the film really lacks energy. I realize this was deliberately done in order to heighten the blandness of her life, but it felt oppressive. In addition, the flashbacks seemed more of a distraction than anything else. Overall, an interesting idea for a movie but also a film that is not at all pleasant or enlightening---it's just flat and unappealing.
This movie is unusual because Joanne Woodward's husband, Paul Newman, directed the film--and it was his first directorial job. Rachel is a 35 year-old lady who is desperately lonely. She lives with her mother and is the proverbial spinster school teacher. She wants more out of life and spends much of the film thinking of the past and daydreaming about her future. When she begins dating a man (James Olson), she falls VERY deeply in love and throws herself at him--but it's all too fast and too heavy. What is to become of poor Rachel? As I said above, the film really lacks energy. I realize this was deliberately done in order to heighten the blandness of her life, but it felt oppressive. In addition, the flashbacks seemed more of a distraction than anything else. Overall, an interesting idea for a movie but also a film that is not at all pleasant or enlightening---it's just flat and unappealing.