Opening Night (1977) actually had a little more "oomph" to the story line, but still very stylistic of Cassavetes. Gena Rowlands plays an actress named Myrtle Gordon, who is experiencing a confidence breakdown from the pressures of the acting world in New York City. I read a review by Dan Schneider and found this interesting:
"John Cassavetes’ 1977 film ‘Opening Night’ is what critics usually call the work of such a significant artist ‘overlooked’. It is an excellent film, in its own right, and one of the best portraits of a midlife crisis ever put to film. It’s not a perfect film, in that, at two hours and twenty four minutes it’s about a half hour too long, ... long after we’ve gotten the point."
First off, it is interesting that he called Cassavetes "overlooked". In a sense I'm sure that is true of Cassavetes, for his time he was a very talented man. However, I'm not surprised he is sort of overlooked now-a-days.
Second, I'm glad Schneider commented on the movie length and it being a half hour too long. My group has said that about all three Cassavetes films we watched. It makes me glad to hear that we aren't just naive, critical teens being harsh on a unique film director.
Thirdly, I agreed with Schneider in saying that it was a good portrait of a midlife crisis, however personally I definitely wouldn't say the best. By different techniques, especially magnifying Myrtle's alcoholism, Cassavetes was successful in portraying the downfall of an actress.
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