Violets Are Blue... (1986) User Reviews

A Take of a Hairy Chest and Freckles!

[bsmith5552 · 6/10 · 22 June 2020]

"Violets Are Blue" is a ho hum love story involving hairy chested Henry Squires (Kevin Kline) and freckled Gussie Sawyer (Sissy Spacek).

We begin when both are high school sweethearts in the seaside toen of Ocean Falls, Maryland "frolicking" on the beach. Henry is about to go off to Boston to school and Gussie (Augusta) takes off for parts unknown. Fast forward 14 years and we find Gussie as a successful internationally famous photographer and Henry running the local newspaper, marries to Ruth (Bonnie Bedelia) with a teen age son Addy (Jim Standiford).

Gussie returns home for a vacation, gets involved in a sail boat race with her father Ralph (John Kellogg) and spots Henry on another boat. Of course they meet up later and after a brief hesitation they get back together ending up "frolicking" on the beach as they had done previously..

Eventually Henry agrees to take a job with Gussie writing up her photographing assignments. Henry is forced to choose between his family and his true love. In a tear filled climax, Henry makes his choice and..........................

That's it folks. Since both Kline and Spacek do not change their appearance between their high school days and the present, I found it hard to relate to the passage of 14 years. In one instance they are young lovers and the next it's 14 unexplained years later. Kline still has his hairy chest and Spacek her multitude of freckles, unchanged.

family

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 12 December 2023]

Gussie Sawyer (Sissy Spacek) and Henry Squires (Kevin Kline) were high school sweethearts in a small seaside town. She left to be a globetrotting photographer, first for fashion and then news and finally war. After more than a decade, she goes home for a visit. Henry is now married to Ruth Squires (Bonnie Bedelia) with a teenage son.

I've never heard of this movie. It seems to be a minor flop at the box office. The cast is top level. Director Jack Fisk is married to Sissy. The writer is mother to a couple of big time Gyllenhaals. The question becomes whether these connections are enough. Certainly, they got some big name talents to join the project. That does make this intriguing simply for their presence. The premise is fine if somewhat challenging. After all, they are breaking up a happy family. The pacing is leisurely like the location until the dinner. Then it's a leisurely jog. The story is simple. This is most intriguing for individual moments of performances.

People with integrity.

[lydiajp · 6/10 · 31 March 2022]

I liked the writing in this movie. I felt it to be very realistic. Acting was authentic. I liked the fathers advice and the wife Ruth is truly a person I admired how she dealt with the situation. As I said well written for true life type of situation that could happen. People with integrity such a pleasure to see in a movie. Well done.

A Simple Yet Engaging Drama

[santsa70 · 25 February 2002]

This movie doesn't have a lot of great visuals (with the exception of a quick shot of Kevin Kline's cute, naked butt). It doesn't have fast-paced action.....But the story and the acting make it a great film. Kline, Spacek, and Bedelia put in some great performances, and they make this film an intense drama, with their subtle and realistic portrayals. It's certainly not the best film any of those actors ever did, but it is truly a joy to watch them in.

Handsome, but dull, vapid example of the Woman's Picture...

[moonspinner55 · 4/10 · 28 April 2006]

In a picturesque coastal town in Maryland, a married family man is reunited with an old sweetheart, a pretty photographer who's been traveling the world for the last fifteen years. Putting freshly-scrubbed Sissy Spacek in the role as 'the other woman' doesn't really sit right with us because, basically, it's tough to swallow Spacek as the proverbial homewrecker. Sissy's real-life husband Jack Fisk directed the film, and although he sets up some good-looking shots, he doesn't feel the need to involve us in this character's thoughts: does she have a selfish agenda or is she removed from all the confusion and heartache she causes? The screenplay is a limp, squashy mess--a compendium of Woman's Picture clichés--and Kevin Kline doesn't have much to do but stare at others thoughtfully or look conflicted. *1/2 from ****

Seriously, I am Horrified

[Anaban444 · 2/10 · 8 November 2020]

I watched this film starring actors I love but was totally disappointed. Its about marital infidelity. You can put beautiful stars in the leading roles but it doesn't take away from the horrible situation. It seems like this film is glorifying being a home wrecker.

Pulp Romantic Fiction

[NoDakTatum · 2/10 · 28 October 2023]

Pulp romance novels, the bane of garage sales and libraries everywhere, do have their place in the world. While easily dismissed, thousands are read every month by loyal fans. Bestselling authors Nora Roberts and Janet Dailey are just two names that come to mind who started with the novels. Unfortunately, pulp romance seems to have influenced- no, overwhelmed screenwriter Naomi Foner, who penned this abysmal misfire. It's 1969 in Ocean City, Maryland. Hippie chick Gussie (Sissy Spacek) and studly lothario Henry (Kevin Kline) are enjoying some alone time on a small nearby island populated by wild horses (*foreshadowing alert*). Thanks to some hilariously awful expositional dialogue, we find out Henry is a budding journalist on his way to college in Boston, while Gussie plans to take a stewardess job and see the world. They'll always have their beach time on horsie island...Fifteen years later, Gussie is now a roaming war photographer. She returns to vacation at home with her parents. Gussie sees Henry during a big sailboat race, since Henry came back from Boston years ago and now runs the local newspaper. Gussie also gets to meet Henry's wife Ruth (Bonnie Bedelia) and teenage son Addy (Jim Standiford), and witnesses Henry's blissful domestic life. Henry sees his unfulfilled writing career in Gussie, and both are driven to take up where they left off romantically. Henry is gaining a bad reputation around town. That horse island is getting developed, creating hundreds of construction jobs, but Henry is dead set against it, raising the ire of many a townsfolk who read his editorials against the project. Henry and Gussie continue to fool around, until the horse island controversy changes their relationship.

Foner's script is just like a pulp romance novel and yes, I have read a couple over the years. The plot is mechanical. Characterization is surface. It would be one thing if Henry's choice between his two women were clearer. Ruth seems like a fine gal, they only married because she got pregnant. Gussie, also a fine gal, does fight her reawakened feelings for Henry a good two hours before boinking him on the beach. Both women have admirable qualities, which makes Henry seem like the heel. Bedelia's scenes all take place in the home as if she were chained to the breakfast nook. Free spirit Gussie goes wherever she wants on a whim, without bothersome mates and kids tying her down. Henry, while trapped in Ocean City, crusades for the good anyway, not quite fulfilling his Pulitzer dreams but making the most of where he is at. All three do not change one iota from the beginning of the film to the end. Spacek, Kline, and Bedelia are too good for this material. They somehow deliver their goofball dialogue with straight faces. When Ruth finds out about the affair, Bedelia has a line about her husband making her out to be a foolish idiot but never lying to her. This works so well, she delivers the line again almost verbatim a few minutes later in another scene. Director Fisk, Spacek's husband, brings this in at a scant eighty-six minutes, so tightening the dialogue and dumping the silly horse island subplot would have been impossible. The music comically wells in all the wrong spots, and Laura Branigan must belt out the closing love theme, obviously a desperate attempt at a Best Song Oscar nomination. While virtually unheard of today, it is fascinating to watch two Academy Award winners slowly languish in this progressing mess. While not Spacek's worst film, try sitting through "Trading Mom" sometime, it seems like a lark that husband and wife decided to do on a dare during a family vacation. "Violets Are Blue" has all the edge, suspense, and passion of wet sand down the back of your swimsuit.

A Little Known, And Vastly Underrated Romance

[lisa-kevin3531 · 8/10 · 8 June 2009]

I was vacationing in Ocean City, Maryland when this film was being made. I remember hearing on the radio that the production crew was looking for background extras for some early scenes in the film. I wish I had tried out for one! I have always had a soft spot in my heart for this film, not simply because I love Ocean City, but because this movie is proof that a simple story, told with honest sincerity, can rise head and shoulders above flashy production values and overblown dramatics. Spacek and Klein do quite well with their lead roles. Low-key dramas like this seem more down to Earth because this is how real people such as ourselves would act in similar situations. By wisely omitting any shots of the many high rise condominiums of northern Ocean City, the filmmakers have done an excellent job of portraying this as a small coastal town. If romantic sentimentality is not your thing, you'll probably yawn through this movie. But if you're the type of person to often look back and wonder "what if," then Violets Are Blue is certainly worth your time.

Turkey when I first saw it and remains so on second viewing

[laskinner-124-924636 · 1/10 · 21 April 2021]

Dreadful script full of fake characters and bad acting resulting from bad writing and non existent direction. This movie proves you can have an abundance of talent involved and still manage to make a truly dull movie with no creditability or truth on the screen. Sad to see such talent wasted.

I love Kevin Kline.

[Marppreis · 25 April 2002]

Kevin Kline is one of my very favorites. He's quite sexy in this film. Sissy Spacek is beautiful. When the two looked at each other, they made the screen melt. This is one time I was rooting for the 'other woman.' It makes us all think about the one that got away.

So sad I cried

[leighbj · 1/10 · 21 December 2012]

This was the worst film I have ever seen. Married man meets ex-college-girlfriend after 15 years. Married man sleeps with ex-girlfriend upon first meeting, after inviting her to dinner (which his wife cooks) with his family. Married man and ex-girlfriend rekindle long lost love. Ex-girlfriend goes back to her 'cosmopolitan' life, that married man always wanted. Married man decides to stay with wife and child. Implicitly denotes patriarchal superiority. Ex-girlfriend = sex object. Wife = cook, home-maker and child-minder. Is wife supposed to be lucky that she got her husband back? Does she have another choice? This is a reification of stereotypical feminine roles which serves to perpetuate masculine hegemony and inequality. Blatant abuse of women. I'd like to believe that contemporary society would reject a film like this, but I may be a minority. So sad.

So many memories

[irishgypsyeyes · 10/10 · 3 March 2005]

This movie brought back so many memories of Ocean City, Maryland. My husband and I met there and we had so many fond memories.....we were together 33 years years and since his passing two years ago, I find myself traveling to the ocean to recapture that peace and tranquility we both had there. The movie lets me see and remember those things that young people experience in a small resort town. We lived there during the late 60's early 70's and the movie pinpointed one of the buildings we had lived in during that time, what a pleasure it was to watch the actors walk through places that my husband and I had shared many years ago......thank you!

Violets Are Blue

[gwy1932 · 10/10 · 29 November 2005]

I have seen the movie so many times and still love it. I think the Theme Song is great (as well as being a tearjerker). If you have ever let a girl get away or lost her to someone else, this movie really hits home. If you know Ocean City, Md.; it will make you long for a vacation. Sissy Spacek, Kevin Kline and Bonnie Bedelia give excellent performances. This movie gives a great impression of Ocean City and the scenes on Assateague are excellent. If you haven't seen this film I would recommend that you try to find it or at least watch for it on TV, (though, I haven't seen it listed lately, on TV). If you are a Sissy Spacek fan or have visited Ocean City, I recommend this film, you'll love it.

Such a beautiful film!

[allieg8r94 · 10/10 · 27 June 2002]

I've watched this movie at least 30 times, and I never get over how amazing it is. Sissy Spacek, Kevin Kline, and Bonnie Bedelia are so compelling, and I pine for Ocean City over and over again! This movie will take you back to every "what if" you ever had. A classic!

Bonnie's Best

[dansview · 8/10 · 8 December 2012]

There is something intoxicating about being young and in love. Most of us never got to experience that. The couple in this film had it once, and got a brief chance to relive it once. That makes twice. Unfortunately the second one was at the expense of others.

I thoroughly believed the plot. Some people stay in a small town and some go. Some of those who stay, wonder what would have happened if they left, and some of those who left, wonder the opposite. Ocean City is a real place, not a fictional one. That added to the "real" feel of the movie.

Another reviewer mentioned that Kevin Kline mainly had to look at people with a thoughtful expression. But I say he did that exceptionally well. I'm not sure I buy the character's lack of emotion, in terms of guilt. I would think that a real person would break down at some point. He was so caught up in the euphoria of renewed youth.

You don't see Sissy Spacek's character show any signs of guilt. That was disturbing and made me feel less sympathy for her. Maybe she was just a bit self-centered. I think the picture was trying to make the point that she had based her whole life on trying to get what she wanted. In this case, she was not going to let anyone get in her way, or make her feel guilty.

Bonnie Bedelia was the quiet quarterback of this one. Her small time on screen was sublime. I did believe her character. She wasn't the temper tantrum type, and she absolutely adored her husband. Yet the pain her facial expressions and tone of voice conveyed was heart-wrenching.

The man who plays Spacek's father was simply great. He delivers a great line about how we choose our fate by letting things happen, but it was the way he said it, that I loved.

The boy character was quite good too. I think he had a bit of a crush on Spacek's character. Like father, like son. I believed the boy. A nice, semi-nerdy kid, at an awkward age. He played it perfectly.

So, some really solid acting, a pleasant setting, a good closing tune sung by a star of the period, who has since passed away, and only a little obligatory Hollywood liberalism thrown in. (Evil developers, earnest conservationists.)

A great film!

[SweetPea313 · 10/10 · 23 February 2002]

I saw this when I was 8 years old. Since I live in Maryland, I was so excited to find out that a movie was being filmed in Ocean City. Its definitely one to see if you enjoy a good tear-jerker. Sissy Spacek is wonderful as Gussy Sawyer, the former girlfriend of Henry Squier (Kevin Kline). There are some scenes with the Boardwalk of Ocean City that makes me homesick every time I see it.

Heartbreaking...

[willa2puddy · 10/10 · 12 December 2001]

A movie everyone can relate to. Lost love, a chance to go back and relive the past. I think everyone would like to try it just once. Kevin Kline is the sensitive leading man, and Sissy Spacek plays a great 'other woman'. Set in Ocean City, this movie will leave you remembering "The Good Times".

Good. Specially if you like Sissy Spacek

[Hof-2 · 13 December 2001]

Have you ever imagined yourself going back to your birthplace after many years away? Well, imagine so. There you are, meeting your love from old times, now married. Would all that flame come back? What would happen? This film is about this. A very good option for a rainy Sunday afternoon. And Sissy Spacek, like always, shines.

Strong romantic drama

[HotToastyRag · 8/10 · 3 June 2020]

You might have missed this romantic drama when it was released in the 1980s, but try to find it if you can. It's surprisingly good, and Sissy Spacek gives a great against-type performance.

Violets are Blue has a simple story: high school sweethearts are parted as their lives take separate paths. Once reunited, fifteen years later, they still feel the spark. The beauty is in the details, which makes this movie stand out among the genre of "second-chance romances". In a great exchange, Sissy Spacek talks to her father, John Kellogg, about her feelings for her ex-boyfriend, Kevin Kline. He tries to talk her out of rekindling the relationship, and she insists that Kevin's life has been a series of mistakes. He didn't choose the end result; things just happened to him. "That's how we choose: we let it happen," John says. It's a profound statement, and it not only makes sense in the film but also in real life.

The sweethearts, Sissy Spacek and Kevin Kline, have similar interests but different priorities. While he has a passion for writing and she has a passion for photography, he's content to stay in their small coastal town and take over the local newspaper. She itches to explore, and she travels around the world making a name for herself and her photos. When she returns to town, she's the local celebrity. Sissy doesn't usually get to play glamorous career women, and she gives a great performance as she feels out of place in Kevin's world, envious of the chances that passed her by, frustrated by the choices he made, and still glad of the path her own life took.

This might not be the best movie to watch with your spouse, as it might spark an unpleasant conversation about ex-sweethearts, but watching it by yourself or with a good friend will give you a great evening. I highly recommend this one. The leads are young and beautiful, they have great chemistry, and the script gives everyone an interesting point of view.

Love rekindled after 15 years.

[TxMike · 10 August 2020]

This movie is a natural for me because, when I was young I wanted to grow up to be Kevin Kline and I wanted Sissy Spacek as my girlfriend. It didn't quite work out that way.

Here she is August "Gussie" Sawyer and he is Henry Squires, high school sweethearts in this Maryland coastal town. When his father died Henry had to take over the newspaper while Gussie wanted to see the world and became a prominent photojournalist, traveling all over the world on assignments.

Now some 15 years later Gussie returns to her hometown for a visit, she finds Henry there happily married and with a 13-yr-old son. But as soon as they meet they see the passion is still there. Henry's wife is devoted but not stupid, she recognizes what is going on.

The last half of the movie is a morality play of sorts, does Henry give in to the mutual desires and leave with Gussie to team up for a big assignment, and probably leave his family for good? Or does he do the right thing and honor his marriage vows, and be a good husband and father?

This isn't a particularly novel theme but with the actors and direction it is a worthwhile movie. Of note the director is Jack Fisk, the real-life husband of Sissy Spacek, in fact as of now, 2020, they have been married for 46 years.

A Touching and Memorable Story About Longing for the Past

[kgehebe · 10/10 · 8 February 2022]

I'm not a huge fan of romance movies in general but when in the mood I usually go back and watch the ones that touched me. I remember seeing this film when in first came out in 1985, around the time of my high school graduation. It's stayed with me all these years. If nothing else, you'll have a hankering to visit Ocean City, Maryland on a warm summer day. I visited the town over 30 years after this movie was released and it was one of the first things I thought of!

In the opening scene we're introduced to Augusta "Gussie" Sawyer (Sissy Spacek) and Henry Squires (Kevin Kline), young lovers on the eve of their high school graduation and the start of their adult lives. Both have dreams of leaving their hometown and setting the world on fire in their respective careers. (he in journalism, she in photography) Fast forward 13 years. Gussie has achieved her dream...she is a successful photographer, a celebrity in the town she was dying to escape from. Returning home for the first real vacation in years, she by chance runs into Henry, who's now married with a son. They soon realize nothing's changed and they are still in love, sharing stolen moments desperately trying to find a way to bring back the past.

The remainder of the film is a bittersweet story of lost love and leaves the viewer torn. Henry's wife, Ruth, is a wonderful woman, (played by Bonnie Bedelia, bringing a depth and dimension to the character that only a skilled actress could manage) a lady content with her life in the "small" coastal town in a house decorated with artifacts from rummage sales and making French toast for her "men." Ruth knows that a part of Henry has always wanted bigger things than running a small town newspaper while she's happy with life as it is. It's left unspoken as they raise their son but it's always there. Now the past has returned and a choice must be made that will be irreversible one way or the other.

The movie is more than just a simple romantic story of lost love and "the one that got away" but is a metaphor itself. The wistful longing for warm summer days in a beautiful coastal town, knowing the season is short and will soon be gone. The "old timers" who live in the town year round that give it a sentimental feeling of a vanishing age. The old, time worn houses that are past their prime. Childhood memories of amusement parks and the fun that goes by far too fast. Returning home to aging parents (John Kellogg is moving as Gussie's gruff but warm hearted father) who offer wisdom and unconditional love. It all gives it a feeling of a wonderful time that's short and fleeting but where the memories will last forever.

I'll watch any genre; war, western, horror, dystopian science fiction, true crime and usually romance is my bottom pick, but I highly recommend Violets are Blue, even if you watch it just once. Sorry it seems to be forgotten these days, it certainly doesn't deserve to be.

Too bad it's not supposed to be a travelogue.

[Byrdz · 21 July 2016]

I read the previous user reviews and noticed that many who liked the film had fond memories of visiting the seaside community in which it was filmed. Perhaps if I had even been to Ocean City. Maryland I would have liked the film more.

Very long sailboat race at the start of the film. Another favorite scene for the "boating set" who reviewed the film but for this landlubber, not so much.

The whole story struck me as pretty "ho-hum". Re-united teen lovers. Unmarried successful photographer (she) and married newspaper man (he). Seemed to be no self control or moral compass to guide either one. Things "just happened".

Sadly, the little running joke about correcting "I" and "me" grammar mistakes falls totally flat as a final line, as the "correction" was totally in error.

Acting was fine all around but rather wasted on this tepid story with pretty ordinary, who cares what happens to them, characters.

A well crafted sailing movie

[JohnYawl · 8/10 · 11 January 2004]

An endearing and well-crafted love story set in a small town on Maryland's eastern shore. This movie has some excellent small boat sailing sequences, including a pretty exciting Hobie cat race. Sissy Spacek is portrayed as a competent sailor, with sailing as an important element in both the plot and in the relationships between the characters. This movie is particularly appealing to me because the characters approach sailing the way most of us do; it's their recreation, it's what they do for fun.

Lost Opportunity

[dougdoepke · 30 May 2022]

Basically the flick's a one-note romantic beat whose steady repetition sags over time, despite the compelling end. Actually it's a Spacek showcase as she's up-close in most every scene. In fact, I've almost got her nubile girlish features memorized, despite her being near 40 and without noticeable make-up.

So, movie-wise, will Spacek and lover-boy Kline finally get together after so many years apart. They appear made-for-each-other both professionally and romantically. Trouble is he's now married with a growing son, and living an editor's life in his and Spacek's home town. Meanwhile, successful photo-journalist Spacek suddenly returns from abroad to apparently rekindle their mad love from years before. So what will happen as they re-engage, while Kline's dutiful wife (Bedelia) looks haplessly on.

Now had the script and director played up the drama inherent in the material, it might have worked. But they don't. Instead it's a steady stream of Spacek close-ups as she and Kline cavort romantically. And unless I missed something, we never do find out what kept them apart for so many years after their initial fire-up. Also, the spotty conflict between wild horses vs condo clearances just drops in loosely despite its potential that would have added needed flair. Then too, more scenes of actress Bedelia would have added a vivd presence and much needed drama.

Anyway, it helps somewhat that Spacek delivers a lively engaging performance. However, Kline appears just going-though-the-motions, which may be because Spacek's real-life husband Fisk is directing and clearly favoring his wife camera-wise. All in all, I can see why this rather dull 88-minutes soon fell into obscurity. Still, Spacek not only survived but soon flourished.