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Bookmark this pageGrief (1993)
Director: Richard Glatzer
Movie review
From Time Out Film Guide
'There are many ways to tell a story, realism is just the most dull.' That, at any rate, is the ethos of the writers of The Love Judge, a TV show set in a California divorce court. Here circus lesbians vie with schizophrenic opera divas and stripper nuns for truth, justice and alimony. The writers' lot seems mundane in comparison, though these maladjusted under-achievers are a colourful group: Mark (Chester) is still grieving for his lover who died a year ago of AIDS, but he's in with a chance for a production job and is besotted with Bill (Arquette). Jeremy (Wilborn) says Bill's a lost cause, and Leslie (Douglas) agrees with him; she prefers Ben, the photocopy repairman. Meanwhile, the boss, Jo (Beat), is incensed to find her new sofa despoiled with sperm stains every morning. While Glatzer's debut boasts a good number of campy, enjoyable scenes (notably 'extracts' from The Love Judge featuring the likes of Paul Bartel and Mary Woronov) and a stand-out performance from Jackie Beat, it's a surprisingly well structured, carefully nuanced affair (taking place over a working week, and, except in the extracts, never leaving the office). A genuinely moving comedy.Author: TCh
Cast & crew
Director: Richard Glatzer
Producer: Ruth Charny, Yoram Mandel
Cast: Craig Chester, Jackie Beat, Illeana Douglas, Alexis Arquette, Carlton Wilborn, Lucy Gutteridge, Paul Bartel, Mary Woronov full cast
Duration: 87 mins
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