Gloria (Gena Rowlands), a self-involved woman in her forties who was once a mobster's mistress, is asked to look after Philip (Juan Adames), the son of her Mafia-connected Puerto Rican neighbors. This temporary set-up becomes permanent when the neighbors are killed in a mob hit. Philip has in his possession a diary containing a record of illegal Mafia activities; thus the boy is as good as dead unless Gloria takes decisive action. With Philip in tow, Gloria leads the hit men on a frantic chase
around Manhattan, and during the various gunfire exchanges, more than holds her own. Offering to exchange the diary for the boy's life, Gloria is rebuffed by the vendetta-driven assassins. Where once she was content squirreling herself away in her lonely apartment, Gloria now must face a lifetime on the run. Directed on a more commercial level than was customary for John Cassavetes (with a subversive streak of self-parody in the bargain), Gloria served as an excellent showcase for Cassavetes' wife Gena Rowlands. The film won the Golden Lion Award at the 1980 Berlin Film Festival. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi
Gena Rowlands is excellent as the tired woman who decides to take her chances for the boy. The kid is a right blend of understanding and childish tantrums.
Rowlands's gutsy portrayal of the woman who takes a redemptive and life-threatening plunge, and Adames as the brat who grows up fast in the pressurized situation.
Gloria boasts a tough and tender performance by Gina Rowlands as an ex-gun moll and showgirl whose nurturing instincts come to the fore when she is called upon to protect a little boy in jeopardy.
Indie godfather John Cassavetes transforms Gena Rowlands into his own little Pam Grier in this odd mob melodrama with, naturally, an orphan kid. Rowlands is an extremely classy ex-mob dame with a hair-trigger temper and a tongue of fire.If there is any dead weight in the film, it's child actor John Adams, screeching
and squeaking that he's "the man" and knows what to do. But what child actor isn't irritating? In the end, Gloria isn't a major effort or breakthrough film, it's just Cassavetes creating a fun action/chase movie that features a female heroine with a set of brass balls.
April 25, 2008
El Hombre Invisible
Super Reviewer
An ass-kicking Gena Rowlands is the major force behind this riveting, one of a kind gangster film from the unique vision of American new wave's craftsman John Cassavetes. direct precursor of Leon: The professional.
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