Prelude to a Kiss (film)

Prelude to a Kiss (film)

Infobox Film
name = Prelude to a Kiss


image_size = 150
caption = Original poster
director = Norman René
producer = Norman René
Craig Lucas
writer = Craig Lucas
starring = Alex Baldwin
Meg Ryan
Sydney Walker
music = Howard Shore
cinematography = Stefan Czapsky
distributor = 20th Century Fox
released = July 10, 1992 USA
runtime = 105 minutes
country = USA
language = English
budget =
gross =
amg_id =
imdb_id = 0105165

"Prelude to a Kiss" is a 1992 American romantic fantasy film directed by Norman René. The screenplay by Craig Lucas is based on his 1988 play of the same title.

Plot synopsis

Despite her pessimistic outlook on life, Rita Boyle, a liberal, free-spirited aspiring graphic designer who earns a living as a bartender, falls in love with and marries Peter Hoskins, the conservative employee of a Chicago publishing house. At their wedding, the couple is approached by Julius, a lonely, elderly man who requests permission to kiss the bride. When he does, their spirits switch places, leaving Peter with a young, vibrant wife trapped within an aged, diseased, disintegrating body. Whether or not he can see beyond the physical and embrace the beautiful soul he loves and Julius will agree to return to his cancer-riddled flesh by kissing Rita again are the dilemmas that must be resolved.

Production notes

The film's title is derived from the Duke Ellington/Irving Gordon/Irving Mills tune of the same name, which is heard performed by Deborah Harry during the opening credits. The soundtrack also includes the Cole Porter song "Every Time We Say Goodbye" performed by Annie Lennox, "The More I See You" and "I Had the Craziest Dream" by Harry Warren and Mack Gordon, "A Certain Smile" by Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster, "The Very Thought of You" by Ray Noble, "Sweet Jane" by Lou Reed, and "Someone Like You" by Van Morrison.

The film grossed $20,006,730 in the US and $2,690,961 in foreign markets for a total worldwide box office of $22,697,691 [ [http://www.the-numbers.com/movies/1992/0PTAK.php "Prelude to a Kiss" at TheNumbers.com] ] .

Principal cast

*Alec Baldwin ..... Peter Hoskins
*Meg Ryan ..... Rita Boyle
*Sydney Walker ..... Julius
*Kathy Bates ..... Leah Blier
*Ned Beatty ..... Dr. Boyle
*Patty Duke ..... Mrs. Boyle
*Stanley Tucci ..... Taylor
*Debra Monk ..... Aunt Dorothy

Critical reception

In his review in the "New York Times", Vincent Canby said, "The sad news about this movie adaptation is that it functions as a cruel critique of the problems that, for whatever reason, did not seem important in the stage production. This "Prelude to a Kiss" is not only without charm and wit, but it's also clumsily set forth: many people seeing it may wonder what, in heaven's name, is going on . . . The opened-up film lumbers like someone on crutches. Against the literal surroundings of Chicago, the North Shore and Jamaica, Peter, Rita and the old man become perfunctory characters, interesting only for the bizarre situation in which they are caught. They lack any convincing particularity or idiosyncrasy. The same dialogue that served well enough on the stage now sounds arch and coy or metaphysically flat." [ [http://movies.nytimes.com/movie/review?res=9E0CE1DC163DF933A25754C0A964958260 "New York Times" review] ]

Roger Ebert of the "Chicago Sun-Times" said of the film "although it could probably do more with its story, what it does is gentle and moving. The film is fairly hard to categorize, which is one of its strengths . . . Of the dialogue, I'll say how unusual it is for Hollywood characters to talk longingly and thoughtfully about our search for happiness in this world where most assuredly we will die. "Prelude to a Kiss" is the kind of movie that can inspire long conversations about the only subject really worth talking about, the Meaning of It All . . . The emotional heart of the movie belongs to the old guy, Walker, a New York stage actor who got his first starring role at 71. He is wonderful here. He begins as a block of human wood, an old man who looks as if he has not one single thing to say, and then he develops eloquently into a person of poetry and longing. He is, in many of his scenes, literally playing a woman in her 20s. How he does it - how he gets away with it - is through not just craft, but heart." [ [http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/19920710/REVIEWS/207100301/1023 "Chicago Sun-Times" review] ]

In "Rolling Stone", Peter Travers stated, "Craig Lucas's prince of a play has been turned into a toad of a movie. The disappointment is rending, since Lucas and director Norman René . . . made magic onstage . . . The play challenges us to make an imaginative leap into the wild blue. The film, however much it flails, stays resolutely earthbound." [ [http://www.rollingstone.com/reviews/movie/5948393/review/5948394/a_prelude_to_a_kiss "Rolling Stone" review] ]

Owen Gleiberman of "Entertainment Weekly" graded the film C- and added, "Why is "Prelude to a Kiss" such a washout? I'm afraid it's because the play itself is a whimsically inept piece of high kitsch - a "Twilight Zone" for yuppie soft-heads . . . The characters . . . aren't fleshed out as human beings; they seem like urban types concocted in screenwriting class. And so the ethereality of the premise never takes hold." [ [http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,311081,00.html "Entertainment Weekly" review] ]

In "Variety", Todd McCarthy observed, "Thanks to a magnetic cast and intelligent adaptation, "Prelude to a Kiss" has made a solid transfer from stage to screen. Back in the 1930s or '40s, this sort of sophisticated, literary-oriented treatment of a simple romantic idea would have been the norm. Today's general audiences, however, may be put off by the quick-witted talk and mildly confused by the central device, despite its resemblance to "Ghost" . . . Baldwin and Ryan make such a winning pair. Looking great and playing a normal guy whose optimism has prevailed over his troubled past, Baldwin is a romantic lead both men and women can enjoy watching. Cuter-than-cute, almost too adorable for words, Ryan rambunctiously embodies the life force even when playing a basically aimless young woman, and the film suffers during her prolonged absence in the later stages." [ [http://www.variety.com/review/VE1117901338.html?categoryid=31&cs=1&p=0 "Variety" review] ]

Rita Kempley of the "Washington Post" said, "Packed with cheap sentiment and puerile romanticism, "Prelude to a Kiss" oozes sugarcoated comfort as might a drugstore valentine crushed enthusiastically to the recipient's heaving bosom. A faithful adaptation of Craig Lucas's popular play, it proves a feast for love gourmands, especially those with an appetite for body-swapping. The less starry-eyed viewers . . . will remain starved for the comparative profundity of a leaky "Love Boat" rerun." [ [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/style/longterm/movies/videos/preludetoakisspg13kempley_a0a2c7.htm "Washington Post" review] ]

References

External links

* [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0105165/ "Prelude to a Kiss" at the Internet Movie Database]


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