 |  | In Defense of Robert E. Howard... |  |
I have not read Novalyne Price's book, on which this movie is based--but if the movie is any indication, I would say that her point in writing the book was not so much to detail a "love story" as to give insight--insofar as she could provide it--into the personality, the writer that was Robert E. Howard. In some respects, it seems like the relationship between Price and Howard is actually more a friendship than actual love affair--a device by which Price was able to show, at least on a certain level, what made Howard "tick." As a writer and artist myself, I believe I can likewise offer a few words of wisdom regarding "what made Howard tick"--in ways that a non-artistic person may not truly understand. Having perused some of the reviews here, I was not surprised to see descriptions of Robert Howard (and the actor who portrays him) as "over-the top", as someone who was too immature to cut the apron strings with his mother and have a "healthy" relationship with a real woman (one who was not his mother). Someone who had problems relating to others in his community, and so in fact eschewed their company when he was not alarming them with his eccentric behavior. Some reviewers obviously are more sympathetic to Price than to Howard--and that is understandable to an extent, because most people can relate more readily to Price's need for a more conventional lifestyle than Howard's decidedly unconventional ways of needing to relate. The movie made it quite clear that if there was one factor that ultimately destroyed the "romantic" relationship between Price and Howard, it was that when all was said and done, Price was just too conventional for Robert Howard. While it may be true that he had "bonding issues" regarding his mother that developed in childhood, yet I think there was a more important reason Howard could not break the tie to his mother that Novalyne Price (and others) saw as "smothering"--his mother UNDERSTOOD him. There is a reason why he clung to her, and it wasn't all to do with unhealthy psychological clinging. (Consider also the fact that--had he not had that nurturing relationship with someone, anyone--in his case his mother--isn't it possible, and maybe even probable, that he would not have been able to accomplish his writing at all? So couldn't their relationship be seen as, while perhaps not "healthy"--at least a necessary evil?) His mother was his best friend and confidant, someone who 100% supported him in his writing, who understood he had genius. In the biography of Howard's life, "Dark Valley Destiny," it is stated that Bob's mother brought him food while he worked, she waited on him and pampered him--and then, when she became ill, he returned the favor--out of love and loyalty. Novalyne Price apparently resented that, but probably just because she simply did not see it for what it was: returned loyalty for loyalty. If there is a reason that Howard would not meet Novalyne "half-way" in their relationship, that he told her things like "the road I walk, I walk alone"--I think it is because she could not give him the things he really needed, and that his mother alone provided. Novalyne was intelligent, she was able to converse with him in ways others could not, and she tried hard to understand him--but she was too conventional, she refused to be the "subservient" woman Howard needed in a significant other, and she was not the kind of writer that Howard could really relate to. I feel that if Howard had met someone who was more like him, that things might have been different. She would have to be someone who understood his obligations to his mother, who did not care what the townspeople thought, (i.e. someone unconventional), and she would have to have the same sort of talent Howard did, or at least not be offended by the fact that he wrote for the socially unacceptable "pulps," by the sexuality in his writing, etc. Howard did have famous friendships with other writers, but as far as a life partner--he simply had no peers. There was no internet in his time, and he must have felt--not surprisingly--very isolated in his little world. It is any wonder then, that once the only person in his life who could truly fathom him was dying--his response was to take his own life? A tragedy, yes...but also, I think, a very predictable one (he'd been telling people for years that when his mother died, he would have no more reason to live). I think this movie was quite good, but it is Novalyne Price's story--and she was only one part of Robert Howard's life. Anyone interested in Robert E. Howard should try reading his biographies, which delve a lot deeper than this movie was able to. Still, I would recommend "The Whole Wide World," because it is a well told story, with great acting, and very poignant at that...and at least it is a starting point on the road to understanding this very gifted--and troubled--writer who was Robert E. Howard...
August 23, 2008The Whole Wide World is a sad and lovely film starring Vincent D'Onofrio and Renee Zellweger. D'Onofrio always tends to overact and in this movie he does quite desperately. Zellweger on the other hand, is a quiet, serene, and regal actress, she holds this indie love story from drowning. Good film, give it a try sometime.
July 10, 2008Captures the book really well. Love the movie Dan! Wish there was a way to get the soundtrack. I loved the music in this movie.
June 28, 2008I have a huge complaint about the transfer of this DVD. It is the worst I have ever seen - really unacceptable. I don't see how it ever got distributed in such a condition. Scratches, dust, and even cigarette burns are in every scene. After a while it starts to get really irritating. Hopefully someone will get a clue and spend the paltry sum to fix it up.
May 1, 2008 | | Tedious, thinly acted melodrama. | |
Never have I been so misled by Amazon reviews. It was hard to watch this shallow film unfold without shaking my head at the five-star "consensus" it achieved here. The movie, to my mind, had potential. The famed creator of Conan the Barbarian finds romantic love. It had the chance to show nuance. To contrast the reality of love with the overblown romantic and sexual themes of the old style pulp fiction world in which all men are savage and strong, and all women are savage, strong, busty, and usually pretty quiet. And, there's no doubt this movie tries. But, these characters, and, more accurately, the portrayals of them, don't live to up to any of that promise. Renee Zellweger is certainly charming in a very subtle way, but her performance lacks emotional nuance so necessary for a drama that aspires to some degree of seriousness -- something which the ending (which I won't give away) necessitates. Vincent D'Onofrio does a little better, but not much. If Robert E. Howard really was this dysfunctional "momma's boy" in the way portrayed here, a little more depth would have been helpful. Instead, we get an emotionally immature man with very little to recommend him, and not a heck of lot of insight into his enormously sad and troubling inability to grow up.
March 13, 2008More reviews at Amazon.com ...
Daily Birthdays
(108 reviews)
