Heartaches

I woke up early Saturday morning and happened to catch a movie I'd never seen before, on Showtime Too East. The movie was called Heartaches and starred Margot Kidder (Superman), Annie Potts (Pretty in Pink) and Robert Carradine (Revenge of the Nerds). The cable guide labeled it a "feminist buddy movie," but it didn't feel femilicious to me. It was just a good, fun movie. The movie was released in 1981 and the synopsis is as follows: A young wife becomes pregnant, but the child's father is not her husband. Afraid to tell him, she leaves home, and meets an outgoing, free-spirited woman on a bus. Although the two are polar opposites, the wife moves in with the young woman, and finds out that they have much more in common than she realized.

First off, I miss cheesy poster art like this. It's bad, but it's so bad that I love it. I miss the era when movies used to have poster art. When any font was possible and good and bad drawings alike adorned video boxes everywhere. There's just something about the old poster art that really lent itself to the VHS format. It just looked right on a coverbox, whereas on a DVD cover, it loses something in the translation.

I have lots of favorite scenes from the movie, most of which contain Margot (who I've always loved):

• Margot wearing brown Converse shoes, lying on the couch learning Italian from a record and getting hammered.
• Margot on the bus in her big ol' sunglasses, getting plastered.
• Margot painting the apartment, while getting loaded.
• Margot outside the abortion clinic, getting tanked.
• Margott lying on the couch in her bathrobe and curlers, watching a movie about mutant ants attacking Los Angeles...while she's getting sloshed.

Margot's character loves the booze. AND, just for the record, unlike the movie poster, her T-shirt in the movie actually has the words: J'*Heart* Les Hommes. I love it! I guess the filmmakers thought the original wording would confuse the general public. C'est la vie.

So, if you get a chance, catch it on Showtime or buy a copy for under $5 over at Half.com. It's a fun movie you're sure to enjoy!