Theme Song: Kevin Bacon, a young cabbie looking for love in the third story of this anthology film, sings a few songs, but they sound like they might be overdubbed. You can be the judge.
There’s also a nice, smooth, synthy instrumental over the closing credits.
Interesting Dated References: The role of a social worker being highly valued and upheld by society.
Social Context: This is a very pro-woman, Newyorkian movie containing three (loosely) interwoven stories about female protagonists. It’s based on a short story collection by the same name, originally published in 1974 by author Grace Paley.
Summary: Enormous Changes… uses interactions with social worker Alexandra (Maria Tucci) to link three stories together.
The first segment follows a mother of three, Virginia (Ellen Barkin), as her marriage implodes and she learns to navigate single parenting. Via flashback, we see her long for better days with her husband Jerry (David Strathairn) and then try for happiness when wealthy suitor John comes around. Barkin plays a fantastic role, and the location’s true grit makes this feel authentic.
The second segment follows Faith and her crisis of conscience as her very Jewish poet-father proceeds to unload on her about all his infidelities. Then she makes her kids bury her on the beach. This segment seemed to cover some Jewish parable or something that went totally over my head.
The final segment loops back to Virginia, who randomly popped up in the previous two segments in her role as a social worker. On her way to care for her ailing father, she meets aggressively horny cabbie Dennis (Kevin Bacon), who insists on going out on a date with her despite their age gap.
They sleep together, and Virginia ends up pregnant. Dennis continually tries to solve Virginia’s problems, which causes a rift and splits them up. Eventually, her father passes, and Dennis shows up, insisting on being part of her life.
As with the first story, great performances and authentic locales make for an endearing story. Overall, the entire picture is a good watch and unfairly forgotten.
Worth Mentioning:
– The first segment (with Barkin) was directed by Ellen Hovde and Muffie Meyer, co-directors (with the Maysles brothers) of the original Grey Gardens. The second segment is by Hovde and Mirra Bank, and the third is by Bank alone.
– John Sayles (Hard Choices) and Susan Rice wrote the film based on the short story collection.
– Jeffrey DeMunn (Windy City) popped up for a bit in the second segment.
Poster and Box Art: The one-color, quote-heavy poster is indicative of a small indie theater release. I couldn’t find any info on a wider theatrical release.
It’s also worth noting that after Kevin Bacon rose to fame, legally questionable home video companies released the movie with a super-large picture of him.
A real human photo retoucher had to go in with an airbrush to help define this cleaning spray bottle for the home video release. Imagine that poor person and remember them always! I think they made a mistake and added a t-shirt ridge into the shape of the nozzle/trigger but that’s not really important.
