- There's something not quite right about Mabel Longhetti (Gena Rowlands). When she becomes agitated, she mumbles to herself, flailing her arms and blowing raspberries. At dinner parties, she slowly introduces herself one-by-one to people she's already met. She likes to sing and dance, and she's not shy about asking other people to join in with her. The kids think it's just mommy being herself, but her husband Nick (Peter Falk) thinks otherwise. So far, her bizarre behavior hasn't been a serious problem, but it seems like things are growing worse by the day.
- Of course, Nick's not exactly the epitome of mental health himself. He obviously loves Mabel, but he tends to strongly overreact whenever her bizarre condition manifests itself. Sometimes this means slapping her across the face in front of their guests. At work, his extreme insecurity even leads to a near-fatal accident for one of his co-workers. One imagines that Nick's domineering Italian mother (played by the director's mother, Katherine Cassavetes) doesn't help the situation by insisting that Mabel is loony, but clearly something needs to be done. Finally, the family doctor (Eddie Shaw) gets called in, and Mabel has to go away for a while.
- Six months later, she's back. Did her time at the asylum help any? Initially, it's tough to say. Mabel certainly seems more withdrawn upon her return, but that's hardly an obvious improvement. Her "Welcome Home" party, dramatically scaled down from its original size, goes smoothly enough with only a few harmless gaffes, but everyone treats Mabel like she's about to explode. Later that night, that's essentially what happens when she executes a swan dance on the sofa just before cutting herself with a razor. Looks like good old Mabel's back!
- Normally, I don't go for films where the entire point of the movie is to depict awful things happening to halfway decent people. I'm not denying that suffering is a part of life, but I've just never seen the attraction. That said, I'll gladly admit that John Cassavetes' A Woman Under the Influence is well-made and features some very memorable performances. Peter Falk is great as always as the unhinged husband, but Gena Rowlands is absolutely mesmerizing as a woman who is literally a little crazy. Given that mental illness is usually a source of villainy in film, it's refreshing to see a character whose frightening behavior always manages to elicit a sympathetic response.
