SYNOPSICS
Just the Way You Are (1984) is a English movie. Édouard Molinaro has directed this movie. Kristy McNichol,Michael Ontkean,Kaki Hunter,André Dussollier are the starring of this movie. It was released in 1984. Just the Way You Are (1984) is considered one of the best Comedy,Music,Romance movie in India and around the world.
Susan Berlanger, a New York based concert flutist, is currently in the pit orchestra for a ballet company where her best friend Lisa Elliott is a dancer. Susan's parents are helping arrange a European concert tour to increase her professional profile. She is considering accepting the marriage proposal of straight-laced investment banker Frank Bantam, it a marriage of convenience for both with Frank still in the closet, and Susan facing her own man problems. Having contracted a case of viral encephalitis at age nine, Susan requires a brace to walk, and even then with a limp. As such, many men seem to be attracted to her until they see the brace. In going on that European tour, Susan comes up with an idea to explore life without being judged solely by her disability. On her limited funds, she will ditch a couple of the tour dates and instead head to the French ski resort of Megève on a deal. Before she goes, she is able to persuade a Parisian doctor to put her usually braced leg in a ...
More
Just the Way You Are (1984) Reviews
Smart, sensitive romantic comedy gives way to directionless second-act...
Kristy McNichol gives a good if uneven performance as a crippled flautist--working her way through a series of romantic losers here at home--who travels to a French ski-resort and gets a bright idea: she replaces her cumbersome leg-brace with a cast and finds guys wanting her sexually for the first time. Bumpy romantic comedy begins well, but is really two different pictures, with Kristy's musician going from shyly seductive girl to mercurial, exasperating kid. There are some savvy moments, but mostly in the quietly charming first hour. Once in France, where McNichol hooks up with incredibly patient photographer Michael Ontkean, the filmmakers get too silly, replacing the satiric wit with cheap, blurry sentiment and a pointless discotheque sequence that goes on...and on. **1/2 from ****
I like this movie!!!!
This movie is about a flutist that has a lame leg. She wants to see if people would treat her differently if they didn't know she was handicapped. So she talks a French doctor into putting a cast on her leg. She does and decides to go into the Mountains to a ski Resort. She finds love, friendship and finds life. Great movie I like Kristy in this movie. The music keeps you into the movie. I still watch it every time I see it on. Something to watch when it is cold outside and want something to watch that makes you laugh. Romance and comedy mixed well. Enjoy!!!
Fun, but slightly flawed, movie
Given the title, I expected a little more in common with the Billy Joel song of the same name. But while the heroine at one points tells her soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend that he'll find someone to love him just the way he is, her own discovery of that fact is somewhat unclear. Susan Berlanger (Kristi McNichol) is a pretty, talented flautist, who, unfortunately wears a leg brace. Because her disability is visible, Susan is always treated differently, to the point where she begins to feel that people don't see her, they just see her disability. This is also why her love life has been a disaster. She is all set to marry her gay friend, Frank (Tim Daly), in order to help him hide his sexuality to get ahead in business, but decides not to when she realizes that the marriage won't meet her - or his - sexual needs. After she and her best friend, Lisa (Kaki Hunter) experience a series of disastrous relationships, Susan gets booked on a European tour. While in France, Susan hits upon an idea to find out how people will react if they don't know she is disabled - hide the disability. So, she gets a doctor to put a cast on her bad leg, and heads off to a ski resort. Once there, she meets an assortment of colorful characters: Nicole (Catherine Salviat), a single woman having an affair with a married man who stands her up so that she and Susan have to share a room; Francois Rossignol (Andre Dussollier), a former skier who lost a leg; Peter Nichols (Michael Ontkean), a handsome professional photographer there to shoot a ski competition; and Bobbie (Alexandra Paul), Peter's insufferable girlfriend. As Susan's vacation progresses, she does all kinds of things she's never done before, including winning a ski race. Peter's growing attraction to Susan causes his relationship with Bobbie to break up. And while the feelings are mutual, Susan begins to feel uneasy that she is deceiving Peter, but can't figure out how to tell him about her disability. Will she, or will they part without Peter ever knowing? The premise is intriguing, in that the only way Susan can find out how people will feel about her is by hiding her disability. And yet, once she does that, at some point, she will have to come clean about it. Unfortunately, her revelation is done in such an anticlimactic way, that the viewer is left unsure what, if anything, she has learned as a result of her stay at the ski resort. Also, the movie has a disjointed feel to it, leaving the viewer wondering what Susan's bad relationships in America had to do with her adventures in France. Fortunately, the film moves along at a good pace, the action is fun, and the characters are likable, so you don't care too much that it doesn't have the depth it could. But it did leave me wondering how much better it could have been had the writers decided to explore more of Susan's self discovery. The acting, overall, was good. McNichol never fails to give a pleasant performance, and she makes Susan likable in spite of her shortcomings. Her injection of humor into Susan's situation is exceptionally well done. Ontkean makes a wonderful leading man, playing Peter as someone who definitely looks beneath the surface and who is far more interested in what he finds there. Salviat and Dussollier are delightful as people with distinctly European sensibilities, who completely confuse Susan. Hunter does a nice job with Lisa, giving us a woman who knows her shortcomings, and has learned to live with them. The only weak performance was Alexandra Paul as Bobbie, who was so one dimensional that it was painful. While Bobbie was indeed shallow and self absorbed, a good portrayal of her would have given the viewer some sympathy for her losing her man. Paul's performance makes you want to applaud as she stamps off after throwing her final tantrum. The rest of the supporting cast does a good job of keeping things light. Visually, it's a lovely film, especially the ski resort, which has an air of leisure and celebration completely appropriate to the action taking place there. Overall, this is a fun film, and a very enjoyable one, but it still leaves the nagging question of how much better it could have been had it paused to do a little more exploration of Susan's self discovery, and shown you that she was indeed lovable just the way she was.
I JUST LOVE THIS FILM THE WAY IT IS
OK, I have posted a review for this film in the past, but I just love this film sooooooooooo much. Kristy MacNichol is so terrific and so appealing in this film and the rest of the cast is well perfectly casted. This film really tugs at your heart strings. Like the scene where she is able to ski for the first time, talk about uplifting. And when her character experiences pain, you feel it to because one can't but help to get involved into her journey of self discovery. This is also very well directed with lots of pretty scenery and the music score is just perfect for this film. Every time I see this movie it just gets better every time. Go out and rent this film right away. It is a very underrated classic.
I loved this movie...
...maybe in part because I'm a romantic at heart and maybe in part because I loved the way Ms. McNichol played her character, in spite of the controversy over her mental health. She was splendid! It is the light in which I will always remember her. There were a couple of script continuity issues, but other than that it was a perfect "chick flick," (and I loved the white coat, too! Where can I find one for myself?). I'd like to know when the filming was "interrupted" with Ms. McNichols leave of absence due to mental stress; the editors did a great job interfacing the one year time gap that is stated to have taken place during this time. Thanks, Christy, for sharing your talent in so many ways.