Review of Living Out Loud (1998) by Jeff C — 09 Aug 2006

Mahalo, Joanna, this was a good one. Danny DeVito. Truly underrated. This is worth seeing just because of his performance. For those flixster friends who have been following my evolving thinking on the term "bittersweet," this is another movie which captures that mood.

Neither tragic nor comic, and certainly not classically tragi-comic, there is a wistfulness to this film whiich, for me, can only be called bittersweet. After the horrible life he has had, the most receint blow being the death of his daughter, DeVito is on an upward curve.

You know that his life has turned around. For Hunter, it is a different story. It is easy to believe that, as DeVito departs her life, she may have many more downward trending days ahead. It is sad, but it is so true in life.

You make choces at moments that can lead you to the top, or send you rushing toward the abyss. A beautifully quiet and thoughtful movie.