{"id":607,"date":"2025-08-01T03:50:46","date_gmt":"2025-08-01T07:50:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=607"},"modified":"2026-07-04T17:24:00","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T21:24:00","slug":"gloria-1980","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/?p=607","title":{"rendered":"Gloria-1980"},"content":{"rendered":"

Gloria-1980<\/strong><\/p>\n

Director John Cassavetes<\/strong><\/p>\n

Starring Gena Rowlands<\/strong><\/p>\n

Top 250 Films #32<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Scott’s Review #166<\/strong><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Reviewed September 9, 2014<\/p>\n

Grade: A<\/strong><\/p>\n

Gloria (1980) is an action\/thriller film that features the standard action-crime thriller elements, including shoot-em-ups, guns blazing, and clich\u00e9d fare.<\/p>\n

It also contains an interesting and appealing leading character, a gritty atmosphere, and witty dialogue.<\/p>\n

It is a significantly better film than most indistinguishable action films.<\/p>\n

Directed and written by independent film master, John Cassavetes, who wanted to make a more conventional, mainstream film than was typical for him- think the very left of center, brilliant A Woman Under the Influence, also starring Gena Rowlands.<\/p>\n

Gloria was the perfect film for him to create with Rowlands as the focal point.<\/p>\n

Made in 1980, Gloria perfectly captures New York City of that era.<\/p>\n

New York City was gritty, dirty, rough, crime-infested, violent, and chaotic, and the film frequently travels throughout Manhattan, the Bronx, and New Jersey, with many scenes shot directly on the streets of New York.<\/p>\n

Several other scenes are set in dingy apartments, hotels, seedy bars, and rundown streets, and are highly effective in portraying a gloomy atmosphere.<\/p>\n

The cinematography in the film is perfect.<\/p>\n

The heart of the film lies with Rowlands (Cassavetes’s wife), who gives a mesmerizing performance as a former mob girlfriend who, by circumstance, must protect a young Hispanic boy from execution by the mob because of an informant’s book he clings to for dear life.<\/p>\n

No other actress could have played this role of a tough-talking, brash New Yorker as well as Rowlands does.<\/p>\n

The boy’s father, played by Buck Henry, is a scared accountant with ties to a company fronted by the mob.<\/p>\n

He fears his entire family will be murdered and hands his kid over to Gloria. Julie Carmen gives a brief but effective performance as Phil’s frazzled mother.<\/p>\n

I wish Henry and Carmen had been given more screen time and fleshed-out characters because both had huge potential.<\/p>\n

The film belongs to Rowlands- she is no-nonsense, tough, and so convincing in the part.<\/p>\n

I also enjoyed the casting of John Adames as the kid, Phil. Many critics inexplicably panned his performance, and I’m not sure why.<\/p>\n

I also love the unique opening credits, as intense folk\/jazz music plays over watercolor portraits that turn into the skyline of New York City, with a melancholy, eerie quality.<\/p>\n

Amid the violence, a sweet bond develops between Gloria and Phil that is neither too sentimental nor cheesy.<\/p>\n

A great, compelling late 1970s\/early 1980s film with definite Godfather and Dirty Harry influences in its texture and characters, especially in some of the mobster roles.<\/p>\n

The appeal of the film is that it has a heart without ever delving into schlock. Surprisingly rated only PG, it is gritty, but not lewd or harsh, and seems dirtier than it is, with barely any filthy language.<\/p>\n

The chemistry and heartfelt connection between Gloria and Phil are darling without being too sappy or safe.<\/p>\n

Gloria (1980) is a fast-paced, action gem that is both appealing and tough.<\/p>\n

Oscar Nominations<\/strong>: Best Actress-Gena Rowlands<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Gloria-1980 Director John Cassavetes Starring Gena Rowlands Top 250 Films #32 Scott’s Review #166 Reviewed September 9, 2014 Grade: A Gloria (1980) is an action\/thriller film that features the standard action-crime thriller elements, including shoot-em-ups, guns blazing, and clich\u00e9d fare. It also contains an interesting and appealing leading character, a gritty atmosphere, and witty dialogue. … Continue reading Gloria-1980<\/span> →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[106,11605,329,182,11667,11665,204,7530,7464,7465],"tags":[8085,8521,1054,10324,832,10323,11479,5184],"class_list":["post-607","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-1980-films","category-action","category-crime-thriller","category-mobfilms","category-new-york-city","category-summer","category-thrillers","category-top-100-films","category-top-250-films","category-top-50-films","tag-32-favorite-film","tag-buck-henry","tag-gena-rowlands","tag-john-adames","tag-john-cassavetes","tag-julie-carmen","tag-lawrence-tierney","tag-tom-noonan"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=607"}],"version-history":[{"count":19,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":23719,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/607\/revisions\/23719"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=607"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=607"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/scottsfilmreviews.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=607"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}