Hysterical Blindness (2002 TV Movie) User Reviews

Jersey Girls

[jotix100 · 7/10 · 11 April 2005]

Mira Nair, the talented director of this film keeps surprising us. She gets excellent acting from the different casts in all her movies. "Hysterical Blindness" is no exception. Ms. Nair working on the screen play by Laura Cahill, and based on Ms. Cahill's own stage play, takes us to a town in New Jersey, so close to Manhattan in geography, but far away in the way these people seem to be living in another planet.

Debby Miller blames her mother for whatever is wrong with her life. Her father left her when she was quite young. Her mother, Virginia, makes ends meet by working as a waitress in a local diner. Both daughter and mother have been cheated out of happiness because of the loss they have experienced. While Debby dwells on her unhappiness, Virginia seems to have adjusted quite well.

Debby is a woman that is desperate to find a man. Obviously, she is quite capable to give her best into any relationship. It's sad how she goes after the one man she should have avoided in the worst way. It will be too late before she realizes the mistake she has made.

Throughout the film, Debby and Beth, share their hopes and aspirations. While Beth is grounded, Debby is flighty, hoping for things she can't have. On the other hand, Virginia meets a nice man, Nick, at the diner. They begin a friendship that unfortunately is cut short by tragedy. All in all, the film final scenes tells us that Debby realizing her mistakes goes back to her roots and to her friendship with Beth.

The strength in the movie is the great performances Ms. Nair gets out of the four principals. Uma Thurman is good as the Debby. Gena Rowlands, as the mother, makes an appealing Virginia, who makes us care about her. Juliette Lewis, as Beth, is also endearing. Ben Gazzara makes a short, but effective contribution as Nick, the man who finds love with Virginia.

This is a film that shows Ms. Nair's talents perfectly.

Nicely Done

[turtlewax182 · 7/10 · 26 August 2002]

I enjoyed this movie because it was REAL. Hollywood too often sugarcoat characters and their experiences, almost to the point that it makes you want to puke because you know real life never turns out that peachy. This ending wasn't exactly a happy one, all the problems weren't solved and you're left to imagine what went on afterwards. Nobody fell madly in love and got married like some fairy tale... that was refreshing. Splendid job by the actors, I love Juliette Lewis, and she was her usual charming self.

My only complaint, is why was Deb so.... frustrating? I found myself asking, 'Why is she being so difficult? Why doesn't she open her eyes and see what's going on? Does she really think Rick would want anything to do with a girl he picked up from a bar and had a one night stand with?' And so forth. SHE'S the one putting HERSELF in these ridiculous and tragic situations. Halfway through the movie I just got so tired of her endless cynicism. Miss Thurman was terrific, don't get me wrong, but the character irritated me somewhat, maybe that was just me.

Other than that, I think this is one of the best HBO films so far. They really have a knack for bringing real life to the screen, I'm hardly ever disappointed. Quite a few women can probably relate to one of the characters or at least seen themselves, at one time, in their predicaments. I mean, we all want to find true love... but make sure you're looking in the right place! 7/10.

A Mixed Bag of a Comedy-Drama

[blakiepeterson · 6/10 · 22 July 2015]

Seeing Uma Thurman play a genuine, sensitive woman is a strange thing for me. Everyone (including myself) knows she's a terrific actress — but as a Tarantino die-hard obsessed with "Kill Bill" (I've legitimately seen "Vol. 1" at least thirty times), I'm hardly used to her portraying a woman capable of carrying on a soul-baring conversation without cutting someone in half with a Hattori Hanzō sword. Perhaps I should see what else she's capable of before I start making assumptions — so I suppose "Hysterical Blindness", an HBO TV-movie for which she won a Golden Globe, is a good place to start.

Thurman is Debby Miller, a thirty-ish, '80s bound, New Jersey bred, lonely heart in the process of sinking into the suppressed life of an old maid. She's desperate for love — she and her best friend, single mom Beth (Juliette Lewis), parade around seedy bars looking for potential suitors like a second job — but as her low self-confidence is more up front than her immense good looks, she turns most men off, finding herself in a plight of one-night-stands instead of meaningful relationships. She's torn between continuing her search for Mr. Right and completely giving up; she still lives with her mother (Gena Rowlands), and still holds onto a low-paying job she most likely got in her early twenties. Eventually, Debby finds a possible mate in Rick (Justin Chambers), a seemingly nice guy she met during one of her late-night escapades.

The hysterical blindness of the title derives from a condition that causes its victim to temporary become visually impaired after a long period of unresolved stress. Debby, so mind-numbingly obsessed with her lack of a love life, experiences the bizarre phenomenon, twice in the film (once in the beginning, to develop her as a neurotic leading lady, and once toward the conclusion, as a dramatic high point that begs her to consider what the hell she's doing with her life).

Directed by Mira Nair, "Hysterical Blindness" is a drama frustrating in its inability to stay earnest throughout its length. Most of the film is moving, well-acted, but Nair, against good judgment, feels the need to include "Girls Just Want to Have Fun" repeatedly in the soundtrack as if to make the impression that we're watching a sappy woman's world drama more spurious than sincere, to render Debby and Beth as stereotypically New Jersey as possible to make their desperation even more desperate. Thurman and Lewis are so broadly drawn that it's a relief that they stir our emotions during their more dramatic scenes — there, the acting school vulgarity disappears and we finally feel like we understand these women.

It's irritating that "Hysterical Blindness" is so regularly prodded by fakery, because, at its realest, most truthful, it momentarily turns into a movie rich in its passion. It's at its best when focusing on the relationship between Virginia (Rowlands) and her new boyfriend, Nick (Ben Gazzara). Both in their sixties, both numbed and used to their discontent, the love they find together is unexpected and exciting; Rowlands and Gazzara, in a mini Cassavetes reunion, are deeply touching. The side-plot makes for a good contrast between that of Debby and Beth — they would do anything to have a meaningful romance, and while they wander around various taverns, Virginia, who has been a waitress the majority of her adult life, simple finds someone by being herself. The scenes between Rowlands and Thurman are palpably wistful, their mother-daughter bond so thick that it's less of a familial pairing and more of a friends-forever partnership that guarantees the other that when the going gets rough, sticking together will hardly be an action in question.

"Hysterical Blindness" is mostly a mixed bag, a sometimes poignant, sometimes obviously calculated comedy-drama that hits home at its best moments but feels like leftovers from an actor's previous vie for an Oscar nomination that didn't quite make it at its worst. But the cast does well with the uneven material, especially Rowlands, making "Hysterical Blindness" decent enough to make even the most cynical of viewers take a look at the world around them and wonder just how many people live to love, throwing their happiness away when they can't quite find it.

Rowlands and Thurman are Excellent

[caspian1978 · 20 June 2004]

Hysterical Blindness starts where 1980's Gloria ended. Gena Rowlands is one of the most under-rated actresses in Hollywood. She is nothing less than terrific in this movie. Surprisingly, Uma Thurman is just as good. Most of her career has been dubbed as eye candy and a beautiful body with nothing else to offer. In the past few years, Uma has broke away from her earlier career to become a decent actor. Here, Uma gives her best performance. At time, Rowlands and Thurman make you want to switch the channel because their performances are too good. Moments of embarrassment and sadness over whelm you to believe that both characters are doomed to find happiness and to have fun with their lives. A somewhat happy ending, the movie identifies with the lives that these characters have. They are almost doomed from the very start of the film, but manages to find shreds of happiness to keep living. Somewhat of a Cassavetes depiction on human emotion, the movie falls under the category of yet another great film produced by HBO.

Great performances, difficult message

[octomancer · 7/10 · 13 August 2005]

I rate this highly 'cos of the performances of Thurman and Lewis. They were absolutely outstanding. I take on board the comments about the dodgy accents, music, anachronistic details, but they don't matter to 99% of the people who watch. The characterisations were great! Even if they didn't leave you precisely where intended, they were consistent and you could buy into them.

I really like the comment here to the effect that the film would have some merit if the characters achieved even a hint of self-awareness by the end of the film. This is an important point, and I would agree whole-heartedly if the film had a different title. The title is all that's needed to give this film perspective, to place it specifically and allow it to be what it is without reference to the frame that gives it meaning.

Trite story with magnificent acting

[IOBdennis · 7/10 · 4 September 2002]

DEFINITELY CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!! The acting in this film is EVERYTHING. The story--hey, we've seen (read Every Female equals) blue collar Jersey chics slobber over (read Every Male equals) callous, insensitive, brutish, infantile, chauvinistic males before. But that's just the point. There are no greys in this movie. Characterizations are either black or white. Men are brutes--every single last one of them. Even the character that Ben Gazzara plays never once asks the Gena Rowland's character if she WANTS to move to Florida. He just falls in love with her and wants to move to buy a trailer in Jacksonville. And since every trailer in Jacksonville not only has to have push-outs and a separate stall shower but a wife, it seems as if this is only real reason Gazzara's character wants to form an attachment or have some kind of a relationship with Rowland's character.

Justin Chambers' character falls right in line with all the other males in the script. If it's a male in this movie, it's knuckles are dragging on the ground. Women are to be ignored, but when they push themselves on you, you give in but get them to do what you want them to do. In his case, perform fellatio. It's amazing, however, that he doesn't show up for the food Uma Thurman's character prepares for him a few nights thereafter. After all, what more is there in life than beer, pool, fellatio, and filet mignon (all of which are prepared or placed before you with very little effort). He doesn't show up, however. Obviously this brute has some smarts, knowing that this Jersey chic is really bonkers.

But women fare no better in this black or white world. Juliette Lewis has had a bad marriage and a kid from hell. But all she wants is to jump into bed with the next penis that walks down the street. She wants the bartender so bad at their local watering hole. But he seems to be no better than the other apes swinging through the streets of Bayonne (or whatever North Jersey city the story takes place in: locale is unimportant here--all cities in North Jersey are the same, all connected by the Pulaski Skyway).

Uma Thurman's character is pathetically miserable. But it's hard to imagine that a woman can be so desperate to let men walk so deliberately, continually and almost self-inflictingly all over her. She creates such a pitiful portrait, but then you sit back and say: HEY! Wake UP!! Which of course she can't.

Because the characters are written so black and white, it's hard to know what to do with this film. It's hard to like a film that makes male viewers with any sensibility angry at the portayals of ALL males as pigs, and makes female viewers with any sensibility angry at the portayals of ALL females as desperate harridans.

The only female who is portrayed with any ounce of sympathy (and I don't mean the viewer pities her) is Gena Rowlands character. She's a beaten individual, quite honestly past her prime, but realistic in her view of herself and the world. She is the only person who takes life cautiously. When Ben Gazzara's character asks her to move to Florida, while it's obvious she's interested, she tells him "I'll have to look up Jacksonville on the internet." Way to go!! Finally, an ounce of sense, an individual thinking with his or her head, and not simply with one's loins. For not only the men are guilty of loin-logic in this flick. Ben Gazzara's character seems too old to think that way. He's working on a comfortable retirement, and in need of a wife to complete the image, that's all. But everyone else is desperate to mate.

On a higher level, in any slice-of-life drama, there are bound to be liberties taken with portrayals and types of characters selected to tell the story. So the thing to do with this film, it seems, is to put everything in the background and watch the actors portray some really sad people in a very sad environment.

I don't know what to say (Possible Spoilers)

[Tom-578 · 7/10 · 28 August 2002]

I was looking through my satellite guide to find when this movie was on because I am a big fan of Uma Thurman and Juliette Lewis as well. At the end I was a little bit confused. Thurman and Lewis play these two best friends out of convenience or necessity, one or the other. They are typical bar trash in all reality. Being a bartender, I've seen women like this all of the time. They are trying not to pick up guys but get picked up. Uma desperately wants to have a man and goes home with one and is instantly crazy about him even though he treats her as what she was - a one night stand. This movie floats along somewhat aimlessly with no major issues really being resolved. What I liked about this is you as the viewer have to figure it out for yourself. In the end you get the feeling that she has decided to settle down and has a new found closeness with her mother, I think that's the direction it was going. It was definitely a movie you'd have to pay attention to and read between the lines. It seems like the plot is hazy and that you're suffering with Uma's character. Well that's life. The plot is sometimes very hazy and the point of a movie is that you suffer and rejoice with the characters. The acting was brilliant, Gena Rowlands - I neglected to mention - was great as Thurman's mother. The acting really does save this movie. Even though I defended it, I still feel the screenplay left something to be desired. My rating - 7/10.

Hardly...

[LilsZoo2 · 4/10 · 19 September 2002]

A played-down, but still gritty and mostly honest look at how women 'survive' our male oriented, female knee-bending society. Gena Rowlands is the light in this film as the matriarch figure to 3 girls. Her own, Deby (Thurman) and Deby's best friend, Beth (Lewis) and her daughter, Amber. Gena finds love late in life only to discover she waited too long for Nick (played tenderly by Ben Gazarra), nice guy, Deby can't stand. (Read jealous) Beth becomes attracted to and sort of involved with the bartender at the local (read dead) bar. Deby picks up reluctant Nick at same bar and invents a possible future with him to all her girlfriends, whose constant pressure of questions concerning their imminent "engagement" threatens Deby's sanity and self esteem. It seems her Dad left her and her Mom early on and took with him her budding confidence. As the girls struggle with Life issues they discover their greatest strength lay in their own closeness, no matter how vulnerable that also makes them to each other.

A little GEM out of a paper bag

[go_aheadmakemyday · 8/10 · 7 February 2004]

This movie is every good thing that was written on this board and maybe more.

First, when I saw that movie in the guide i had never heard of it before but being a fan of Lewis and Thurman I couldn't let this pass even if apriori the plot SEEMED a little less than original.

Boy was I in for a surprise. Not all great first scene gives you a good film but all good film will give you a great intro scene, but this one gets its greatness in it's "nothingness". There is so "nothing" about it that as soon as you see Juliette and Uma come on the screen, your jawbone drops.

Not only are they unrecognizable but from the moment you see them you KNOW and FEEL exactly where you are, who you are dealing with and that's exactly every director's dream...or nightmare...can I put my audience in the context of the next x minutes.

This could have been an ordinary movie with an ordinary story..who wants to hear about screwed up bimbos stuck in no name city, no name job and a no name life, But somehow without ever falling into melodrama, pity or cliché, you just fall in love with every caracter.

This is a very well directed movie as it is far from obvious and easy to move a story like this into such an enjoyable moment.

As far as acting goes, well as someone else said, It's off the chart. I love Lewis (Natural born killers at her best...here too) and frankly I've seen alot of Uma but she literally blew me away in this. Both are so good that like I said from the first scene they appear, all you see are the caracters not the actresses.

You can see what a truly beautiful women is when even with an "altered down" image of herself (to say the least) you just can't get your eyes off her (yeah I'm a man)

I think the scene in the bar when she really goes loose is stunning and again it comes from a subtle chemistry between good directing and good acting, As a man I felt like the barman which the camera just give you a quick glimpse just to give you the hint. You look at her and you feel love and compassion even admiration for that woman while if it had been badly acted and/or directed she could have looked stupid and slutty so again masterfully crafted. In other scenes you feel her misery and you want it to end as bad and fast as her.

I can't just say I enjoyed that movie, it feels more like you've met real people that were graceful enough to share their life for a monent, wide open. So real that iI felt as an everyday guy like me could ask Uma out for a drink...that's something :-)

My hat to HBO for this one

Bad hair bad clothes but good acting............

[BrainyBlonde · 7/10 · 26 August 2002]

I just saw this movie debut this evening on HBO. While I felt that all the actors were superb in their performance I also felt that there should be more of a story-line. I also thought too much time was spent on trivial dialogue between Thurman and Lewis about hairspray, what to drink , where to sit in the bar and what not, but maybe that was the intention of the director....

I think the desperation that Thurman's character came across very well in her acting ... I did like the interaction between her and her mother and Gazarra but didn't quite buy the close relationship/best friend bond that was supposed to exist between Thurman and Lewis...

Overall it was pretty good and I give it a 7.

Not worth the time spent watching it

[atomicbrain · 1/10 · 10 September 2002]

I can't believe I actually sat through this movie! OK, the music was great, and Gena Rowlands was excellent... but that's it! It's unfortunate, because the subject matter had so much potential, but this was terrible! Juliette Lewis was... interesting - but some of her lines and their deliveries were like nails screeching on a chalkboard. Uma Thurman could have been excellent, but she wasn't given much to work with in terms of a script.

The other thing about this movie is that it at times is too pretentious for its own good symbolism that tries to work with the main plot but comes across as just too much of a bad art house effect (watch for red traffic lights and you'll see what I mean).

A laudable effort, but nothing can save this ship from sinking.

Acting so real that it's painful to watch.

[Kathryn-17 · 10/10 · 10 August 2005]

For anyone who has ever been truly, painfully lonely and done really stupid things under the influence of alcohol just to gain a little affection and affirmation, this movie will be like looking in the mirror. I winced when Uma's character literally flung herself at a guy who is, like a recent book popular dating book says, is just not that into her. The pain on Uma's character's face is just too much to take sometimes. I've watched this film twice and even though the I knew what was going to happen, seeing it a second time was just as heart-wrenching and touching. Kudos to all the actors, especially Uma Thurman and Gena Rowlands. PLEASE see every Gena Rowlands movie ever made - you won't be disappointed. She is one of the finest actors of our time.

I expected more from Mira Nair.

[HPics · 6/10 · 25 August 2002]

After reading what great reviews this film got, I watched it premiere on HBO. Having grown up in the 80's in Northern NJ, I thought I would recognize some familiar characters in this film. And I did.

The hairspray, the cars, the bars, the accents (although not too accurate) were all familiar. But the characters were caricatures - there wasn't much substance there. The film gets a little better towards the end but overall, there's nothing to sink your teeth into. I would recommend Salaam Bombay (a MUCH different film but a film much more representative of Nair's talent.)

Hysterical Blindness was, well, bland.

[magskier · 3/10 · 27 August 2002]

I looked forward to watching Hysterical Blindness, as the HBO promos showed some promise. It is the story of two 20 something New Jersey women coping with dead-end lives by hanging out at the local bar, Ollie's. The script did not tell enough of a story to keep me interested. I felt the story was very predictable, no surprise what happens after Debby and Rick sleep together.

The main characters were not sympathetic at all. I had to force myself to watch the entire movie. Debby (Uma Thurman) and Beth (Juliette Lewis) were selfish and self-pitying. We get glimpses of their back-stories to perhaps help the audience understand their behavior. But even then I could not bring myself to care what caused their immaturity.

Uma's character did not have enough of a character arc, and I was hoping Beth would but to no avail. Juliette Lewis gave a good performance, subtly desperate but trying to keep a good face as a single mom. Uma's was too over the top. I did not think her looks worked against her, she looked very 80's cheap Lycra bimbo. Her gestures and accent were not believable. The best scenes in the movie involved Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara, and I would have preferred a story where they were the lead characters.

Real and touching.

[foxgirl · 22 March 2004]

**PLEASE NOTE: Review contains spoilers!**

Uma Thurman and Gena Rowlands do an outstanding job in this film. Their performances deserve first mention in any review, but certainly the movie has plenty of other good qualities to recommend it.

Set very authentically in the New Jersey of the '80s, it is a short, intimate and rather naked story of women, heartbreak and life... without, thankfully, being a saccharine 'chick flick.' The interplay between the characters is elegant and subtle as the symbolism is brash and heavy-handed, but most of the characters themselves are brash, trashy, vulgar. One can hardly blame the symbolism for matching, and it somehow does seem to perversely fit the setting.

This movie pulls no punches. If you are looking for something lighthearted or affirming, this is not the best choice. If, however, you are seeking something that will move you, something that is at once both extremely familiar (for those of us who recall the '80s, or know New Jersey, particularly) and refreshing in its honest vulnerability, you may enjoy this as much as I did. You may find that the death of one character breaks your heart on behalf of another, or that the final bar scene is difficult to watch in its desperation and rejection.

In the end, the best way I have to describe this movie is by describing a particular scene, and borrowing its sentiments. Ben Gazzara's character, Nicky, is seeing Debby's (Uma Thurman) mother, Virginia (Gena Rowlands). Debby is protective of her mother, whose husband left her when Debby was thirteen--it's been them against the world ever since, one gets the impression. Debby runs into Nicky in the local bar one afternoon, and is persuaded to sit, have a conversation. Nicky, as a character, is almost too kind and patient, overflowing with good qualities in a movie where every other male character seems an antagonist at best, even the ones who never appear. They have a touching conversation wherein he surprises Debby by making a comment about how 'girls like [her]' have to be careful, regarding partying, the bar scene. She asks him what he means, deciding whether or not to take offense... he explains that she has a special quality, just like her mother, that not too many people will be able to see, or appreciate. She seems disarmed, touched. It's a very sweet prelude to the most tragic moment of the film, when Nicky dies before he can take his beloved 'Gin' (Virginia) away to live with him in Florida, to grow old(er) together with a lemon tree in their front yard.

This movie has a special quality, too, and it won't be appreciated by everyone. It was originally an off-Broadway play, and I think that shines through in the brevity of the story arc, the raw intimacy and pain, the concentration on the emotional interplay between the characters. As Nicky goes on to say in the scene I mentioned, you think life can't go on, sometimes, but it always does. It just goes on, and it never stops, and it is both important and difficult to remember that, sometimes. That's what this movie leaves you with, that's this film's version of a happy ending. And it's not happy, not really... but it's real, and there is definitely something to be said for that.

a little over the top

[bfred · 7/10 · 26 August 2002]

Just a little over the top but Thurmann and Lewis really do capture the "big-hair" Jersey girl to a tee. The whole Gena Rowlands Ben Gazzara relationship was just filler. The over the top performance was Thurmanns' she had so much angst and bitterness it is surprising that anyone spoke to her, ever. The melt down scene at the end was inevitable. The point is the telling of a story about a small segment of an american female "type"; the jersey girl.

Not very good

[kimojb-1 · 6/10 · 26 August 2002]

The characters were simply~ Pathetic. They were not endearing or interesting and they did not invoke any emotion from the audience. The one exception and shining star was Gena Rowlands character. But, the character occupied such a small portion of the movie it was not enough to save any redeeming aspects.

The story was set around 1986 (though the Nissan Xterra in the first shot of the movie would beg to differ) in New Jersey and plays out in three location; a bar, and two separate residences. The plot is about two, pathetic, twenty-something friends living their pathetic, dys-functional lives. Having sex with random bar-flys, betraying each other and feeling, suprisingly enough - Lost.

Just a bad movie. Oh yeah, fire the editor!

Um, different

[harveyfan · 7/10 · 18 June 2003]

Here we have an almost unrecognisable Uma Thurman playing against type as a dowdy neurotic who irrationally hopes to find one of her one night stands will turn out to be Mr. Right. And therein lies the problem. I suspect Uma's legion of fans (myself included, obviously) would rather see her being sexy and ultra-cool. I understand Uma wants to "stretch" herself, but I can't see people queuing around the block for this one.

By the way, I know I'm a Philistine, and I just don't care!

Hysterical Blindness was, well, bland.

[magskier · 3/10 · 26 August 2002]

I looked forward to watching Hysterical Blindness, as the HBO promos showed some promise. It is the story of two 20 something New Jersey women coping with dead-end lives by hanging out at the local bar, Ollie's. The script did not tell enough of a story to keep me interested. I felt the story was very predictable, no surprise what happens after Debby and Rick sleep together.

The main characters were not sympathetic at all. I had to force myself to watch the entire movie. Debby (Uma Thurman) and Beth (Juliette Lewis) were selfish and self-pitying. We get glimpses of their back-stories to perhaps help the audience understand their behavior. But even then I could not bring myself to care what caused their immaturity.

Uma's character did not have enough of a character arc, and I was hoping Beth would but to no avail. Juliette Lewis gave a good performance. Uma's was too over the top. I did not think her looks worked against her, she looked very 80's cheap Lycra bimbo. Her gestures and accent were not believable. The best scenes in the movie involved Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara, and I would have preferred a story where they were the lead characters. I enjoyed the direction, but even Mira Nair could not save this mediocre script.

A very pleasant surprise

[dixxjamm · 10/10 · 9 November 2004]

I think all women under 40 should see this movie.Thumbs up for the women director's vision on the issues depicted in this movie.Uma Thurman is absolutely gorgeous,very talented,very subtle.All actors are great.This is what women should mostly watch,not soap operas,Pretty Woman,Titanic and other crap.If all movies, TV and music would follow the same pattern of this movie (and other), as opposed to unrealistic,cheesy crap that you usually find,the world would be a better place, for both men and women. The scene in the end where Uma's character makes a spectacle of herself in the pub is right there with Pacino's "say hello to my little friend!".Beautiful.Realistic.Interesting.Shattering.

I am speechless, 10 points.

superb performances of dreadfully boring people doing nothing

[Doke · 3/10 · 19 September 2007]

Uma Thurman, Juliette Lewis, Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara all give wonderful performances. Unfortunately, a great performance of a boring character is still uninteresting. When the movie is a largely plot-less character study, dull characters are fatal.

Uma Thurman is particularly good as Debbie, a painfully neurotic, almost psychotic twenty-something girl. She's desperate for love, and stalks it in all the stupidest ways possible. She repeatedly throws herself at men, only to be disappointed. She's exactly the sort of barfly that you can find in every local bar.

Gena Rowlands and Ben Gazzara give amazing performances as an older waitress and a retiree in a budding romance. Unfortunately, they're secondary characters, and don't get enough screen time to properly develop.

It's all about enjoying life!

[GOWBTW · 9/10 · 31 May 2005]

Being single is always frustrating, but letting that unhappy feeling get the better of you would only make things worse. That's what's all about in this movie. The 80's is always something and this movie sets back in that decade. And I'll say, this movie was excellent. Uma Thurman, Juliet Lewis, and Gena Rowlands were astounding. Uma Thurman, is a heavy hitting actress from "Pulp Fiction" to The "Kill Bill" movies really played her part well as Debby. She goes to the doctor when she temporarily goes blind. It can be scary. At least she's trying to take it easy. Her friend Beth, a wild child had a daughter whose father didn't keep his end on the relationship. Debby's mother Virginia(Rowlands) is strong, yet her daughter's resentment to her new boyfriend lead to her own remorse when the boyfriend died of a heart attack. The resentment was caused when her father left the family. The movie has everything, laughs, cries, wonder, curiosity, and a sense of direction on showing on how important life should be. And it's not too late to catch the big one! A very good movie, and a major keeper in the video library.

A night at your local bar is better spent

[jackburden · 3/10 · 25 August 2002]

The utter and complete lack of self esteem conveyed by Thurman and Lewis in the lead roles will be testament to their talent as you suffer through the neon-lit pallor of 1980s New Jersey bar life. If you want to be painfully reminded of every person whom you either broke up with or declined to date due to his or her extreme self loathing, lack of direction, or bad taste in juke box selections, then this is your ticket. If not, you're better off spending two hours in your favorite working-class bar, because this film is such a perfect portrayal of unfortunate mediocrity (and achieves just as much intrigue) that you might as well enjoy it in real 3D and in a cloud of real cigarette smoke. If you want a movie that makes self misery compelling, treat yourself to Barfly, in which you'll get all the glory of a Charles Bukowski script fleshed out by some strong acting from Rourke and Dunaway. If you must have a Thurman fix in this genre, try Beautiful Girls, which while not a very good film in its own right certainly beats Hysterical Blindness hands down.

Desperately Seeking Someone Anyone

[yoyo-12 · 26 August 2002]

This film concentrates on how much women focus on men to fulfill their lives, make them happy, make them feel good about themselves, give their lives meaning. As the film develops we are shown that men leave, men reject, etc. all, in one way or another: disappoint. Some do so intentionally, some unintentionally. Does this mean the end to hopes of happiness? No..all the above fulfillments are available from other women, from oneself, from pleasure in being alive. Deb [Thurman] does go somewhat over-the-top in portraying a woman so needy, so desperate, so driven, so willing to do anything, pay any price, for the affection of some man [Rick]..so willing to ignore [hysterical blindness?] his every signal of disinterest. Rick, her chosen focus, doesn't lie to her, doesn't seduce, is not a bad guy; she alone escalates their casual meeting into a fantasy romance. If this is exaggerated ok, but every woman viewing will cringe in awareness at some point, every man will recognize some woman he has met. The film could be seen as an existential metaphor: deliverance from some boring,drab, unfulfilling life cannot be attained from someone else/the world but from within:finding the meaning of one's own life.

The cast is wonderful, engaging, authentic.

Kind of Like a Train Wreck...

[lafemmeloca · 4/10 · 26 August 2002]

You wish you could look away but you can't... you get hooked into hoping that there is a point to the story... but... Anyway...

First to start with the good, the acting was incredible. Uma makes you really want to smack some sense into her and basically she instills a lot of disdain for her character; her portrayal of an immature brat that acts like she never grew out of her rebellious teenage years was fabulous. Gene and Juliette are just awesome actresses who really shown in their roles. The outfits, hair, dialog, and music really did make you feel trapped back in the 80s.

Other than that, the story didn't go anywhere. You saw a snippet of an immature, attention seeking, b****'s life, who you really wish would get hit by a train, so as to end your misery.

The end of the movie really makes you think... huh ? I just wasted 2 hours watching that instead of reading a book ??? It is very slow and if you are thinking of watching a movie to escape reality... this is not the film for you. It is not the fairy tale happy ever after story. It is true to life and depressing.