Changing Habits (1997)

User Rating:

5.6/10   

Director:

Lynn Roth

Writer (WGA):

Scott Davis Jones (written by)

Genre:

Comedy | Drama

Plot:

An aspiring artist runs from men as a result of an early life problem that has left her relationship with her father strained...

Plot Keywords:

Convent | Art | Mother Superior | Bishop | Nun

Cast

Moira Kelly	...	Susan 'Soosh' Teague
Taylor Negron	...	Boutique owner
Teri Garr	...	Connie
Eileen Brennan	...	Mother Superior
Shelley Duvall	...	Sister Agatha
Dylan Walsh	...	Felix Shepherd
Jennifer Aspen	...	Art Store Customer
Marissa Ribisi	...	Erin
Frances Bay	...	Midge
Anne Haney	...	Sister Humiliata
Jennifer Youngs	...	Alice
Laurel Moglen	...	Brandy
Christopher Lloyd	...	Theo Teagarden
Bairbre Dowling	...	Woman in Loft
Bob Gunton	...	Bishop Creighton

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

95 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Sound Mix:

Dolby

Certification:

Iceland:L | Germany:12 (video premiere) | USA:PG-13 (cut) | USA:R | Spain:13 | Argentina:Atp

Company:

Initial Entertainment Group (IEG)

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: On the DVD (4:3 screen) at the end of the film when Soosh is walking out of the convent, the camera dollies back and the tracks and cables come into view.

Quotes:

Theo Teagarden: I wish I could paint something for you so beautiful that you'd never feel an ounce of pain ever again.

A somber tale.

The movie is about a girl named Susan who is trying to live her life independently from her father. She has a lot of animosity for her father because she blames him for the abject memories of her childhood. Moira Kelly plays Susan who steals and lies to get what she desires. She deceived her way into a convent after she was evicted from her apartment. She shop lifts paint supplies from a local art store. She justifies her actions by the moral standard she learned from her parents. Then she meets a guy named Felix who looks past these moral flaws and helps her face the past. She learns a lot from Felix and over time she decides to face her past and learns that her father isn't the person who is to blame for her wretched childhood.

Susan carries a lot of emotional baggage from her past like resentment, anger and hatred. I got a chance to witness another side to Moira's acting abilities that I haven't seen in a previous film. Moira displays these emotions very vividly and her mannerisms add another dimension to her character. I also liked Christopher Lloyd who has starred in the Back To The Future trilogy. His character is in turmoil over Susan's past and how he desperately wants to be a part of her present life.

I neither liked nor disliked this movie. I am indifferent. This movie can be somber or uplifting and humorous. It just depends on how you interpret the subject matter. Moira and Christopher are very good and I only wish other actors and actresses could take lessons from them. The memories that Susan and her father share is the reason why I think this movie is very sad.