{"id":29556,"date":"2013-02-05T22:20:11","date_gmt":"2013-02-06T05:20:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=29556"},"modified":"2020-12-21T12:48:23","modified_gmt":"2020-12-21T19:48:23","slug":"windy-city-1984","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=29556","title":{"rendered":"Windy City (1984)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>&#8220;I have nothing to say. I am not a writer.&#8221;<\/strong><\/p>\n<table>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Poster.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Poster-197x300.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"197\" height=\"300\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-29557\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Poster-197x300.jpg 197w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Poster-84x128.jpg 84w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Poster.jpg 343w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Synopsis:<\/strong><br \/>\nAn aspiring writer (John Shea) enlists the help of his childhood buddies in supporting their dying friend (Josh Mostel); meanwhile, he reminisces about a former girlfriend (Kate Capshaw) who has since become engaged to another man.\n<\/p>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<tr>\n<td>\n<p>\n<strong>Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Friendship<\/li>\n<li>Winning Him\/Her Back<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><strong>Review: <\/strong><br \/>\nTwo years after penning the uninspired screenplay for Francis Ford Coppola&#8217;s otherwise impressive <a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=16558\"><em>One From the Heart<\/em> (1982)<\/a>, Armyan Bernstein wrote and directed this dull ensemble piece about a group of lifelong friends growing up in Chicago and facing a variety of concerns. The film is eminently forgettable on every count, given that we don&#8217;t care about any of the poorly developed characters, who spout trite dialogue (&#8220;I guess some people aren&#8217;t replaceable&#8221;) and generally act like overgrown adolescents. There&#8217;s potential for something heartfelt in a subplot about a dying friend in the gang, played with pathos by Mostel (the one live spark in the bunch): <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Mostel.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Mostel.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"1543\" height=\"925\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-58797\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Mostel.png 1543w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Mostel-300x180.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Mostel-1024x614.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Mostel-128x77.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Mostel-768x460.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Mostel-1536x921.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Mostel-450x270.png 450w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1543px) 100vw, 1543px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&#8212; but this is swallowed up by the shallow central narrative about Shea&#8217;s longing for his now-engaged former girlfriend (Capshaw). <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Capshaw.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Capshaw-1024x614.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"384\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-58798\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Capshaw-1024x614.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Capshaw-300x180.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Capshaw-128x77.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Capshaw-768x461.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Capshaw-1536x921.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Capshaw-450x270.png 450w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Capshaw.png 1542w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Bernstein is clearly a film buff, given how many cinematic allusions he incorporates throughout his movie &#8212; i.e., the film opens on a scene of the boyhood friends watching an Errol Flynn swashbuckler on television:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Watching.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Watching-1024x583.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"364\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-58799\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Watching-1024x583.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Watching-300x171.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Watching-128x73.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Watching-768x437.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Watching-1536x874.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Watching-474x270.png 474w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Watching.png 1629w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>and at one point the camera pans strategically past a revival theater marquee advertising <em>A Guy Named Joe<\/em>. However, these allusions simply highlight how shallow Bernstein&#8217;s own picture is. Ironically, Shea&#8217;s character (an aspiring writer, ostensibly based on Bernstein himself) breaks up with his girlfriend after they argue about his failure to work on his craft; she insists that he &#8220;has stories to tell&#8221;, while he yells back, &#8220;I have nothing to say&#8221; &#8212; a point we (sadly) can&#8217;t help immediately agreeing with. <\/p>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Still2.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Still2-1024x595.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"640\" height=\"372\" class=\"alignnone size-large wp-image-58796\" srcset=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Still2-1024x595.png 1024w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Still2-300x174.png 300w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Still2-128x74.png 128w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Still2-768x446.png 768w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Still2-1536x892.png 1536w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Still2-465x270.png 465w, https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2013\/02\/Windy-City-Still2.png 1599w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 640px) 100vw, 640px\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Redeeming Qualities and Moments: <\/strong><br \/>\nNot much. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Must See? <\/strong><br \/>\nNo; definitely feel free to skip this one. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Links: <\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.imdb.com\/title\/tt0088405\/\">IMDb entry<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/1984\/09\/21\/movies\/windy-city.html\">NY Times Review<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"http:\/\/www.allmovie.com\/movie\/windy-city-v54777\/review\">All Movie Guide Review<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/table>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;I have nothing to say. I am not a writer.&#8221; Synopsis: An aspiring writer (John Shea) enlists the help of his childhood buddies in supporting their dying friend (Josh Mostel); meanwhile, he reminisces about a former girlfriend (Kate Capshaw) who has since become engaged to another man. Genres, Themes, Actors, and Directors: Friendship Winning Him\/Her Back Review: Two years after penning the uninspired screenplay for Francis Ford Coppola&#8217;s otherwise impressive One From the Heart (1982), Armyan Bernstein wrote and directed&#8230;<\/p>\n<p class=\"read-more\"><a class=\"btn btn-default\" href=\"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/?p=29556\"> Read More<span class=\"screen-reader-text\">  Read More<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29556","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-reviews"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29556","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29556"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29556\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58801,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29556\/revisions\/58801"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29556"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29556"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/filmfanatic.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29556"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}