Debra Winger in "The Lovers"
Friday, May 5, 2017 at 12:40PM by Murtada
Allow me to tell you a story about Debra Winger and the ever lasting effect she had on a 9 year old boy. That is how old I was when I rented An Officer and a Gentleman (1982) from my local video store. I was so enthralled that I hid the tape - since I wasn’t allowed to watch R rated flicks - and watched again and again, refusing to return it as the late fees piled on. I didn’t even fully speak or understand English at the time, but I got everything that Winger was conveying. As an impressionable young gay you’d think I’d be more interested in Richard Gere. And sure I found him attractive, but it was Winger I identified with. Something about the mix of pride and anguish she had as Paula, the small town factory girl trying to break free to a better life, enchanted me and I became an eternal admirer.
Imagine my excitement then to see her in a film for the first time in years. Directed by Azazel Jacobs and co-starring Tracy Letts, The Lovers is about a long married couple who are both in serious affairs (with Aiden Gillen and Melora Walters). They find themselves inexplicably once again attracted to each other, re-igniting a passionate physical relationship that has serious ramifications for everyone in their lives. Winger has a prickly but earthy presence that makes one understand why these two guys are so into her. As someone who is involved in two affairs, she has to lie a lot and what a bad liar she is. She forgets the lie the second it leaves her mouth which means everyone knows she is a liar. Winger makes that running joke endearing and funny yet also spikes it with a devil may care shrug that fits the sharp woman she’s playing. It’s a joy of a performance.
Winger is well matched by Letts who amuses as a man who is exasperated by almost everyone in his life. His realization that the wife he doesn’t see anymore might be the one after all, is poignant and full of heart. The relationship and foibles are well realized and take us to surprising places, and the two leads are hard to resist even as their characters hurt themselves and others.
In recent interviews Winger mentioned that the reason for her intermittent work in the last two decades, is that she got interested in other stuff beyond film. She lately started watching more, especially on tv, and that's how she found Jacobs's previous film Terri (2011). She loved it and wrote him a letter saying "If you ever think of me for anything, I'd love to work with you because your touch was pretty sweet." And that is how they came to collaborate on The Lovers.
Debra, please watch more and definately write more letters to the directors you like. We’ve missed you.
The Lovers opened today in limited release in New York and LA.
Reader Comments (15)
Thank you Debra for turning down Peggy Sue Got Married!
P.S. I'm dying to see this movie
Get that Oscar nom Debra!
Glad to see her out there again!
Me too. I've always liked her.
But Murtada: you were watching An Officer and a Gentleman at nine?? A little bit young for it, no?!
And did you ever return the tape, or are the late fees still mounting up?
"Flinty" is what comes to my mind, re: Winger. It's always maddening when someone like Winger, with a (small but affecting) role like she had in Rachel Getting Married, knocks it out of the park and then...nothing substantive in the way of a follow-up. (I had similar feeling about Winona Ryder after Black Swan until, I guess, Stranger Things.) Pray for rain.
Mareko I agree.
this is such a sweet, personal piece. very nice. thank you.
Like you, she was EVERTYHING to me in Officer & Gentleman! I can't wait to watch this.
What's your first language?
Debra Winger is dangerous. Both A Dangerous Woman and The Sheltering Sky deserve thorough investigations.
She was my number one actress in the early 1980s, I mean Urban Cowboy in 1980, An Officer and a Gentleman in 1982 and then Terms of Endearment in 1983. So happy to see her back.
My Debra Winger, she is mine...one of the greatest actress of all time...she's 80's diva, I guess...
happy to see others enjoying Winger....
Edward L - yes I eventually had to return the tape.... :-)
3rtful - Arabic is my first language.
murtada, winger is the best! i too was transfixed at age 13 seeing an officer and a gentleman...i remember making my mother take me to see it in the theater.
she's better than maclaine in TERMS!
Loved Winger so much in Terms... But I don't see myself sitting through this movie. I know Letts is supremely talented but something about him just exudes arrogance. Not sure I can tolerate him as a leading man.
I only discovered her recently but I am hooked