Opening Night

Opening Night Photos

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Cast & Crew

Gena Rowlands
Myrtle Gordon

Ben Gazzara
Manny Victor

Joan Blondell
Sarah Goode

John Cassavetes
Maurice Aarons

Paul Stewart
David Samuels

Zohra Lampert
Dorothy Victor

John Finnegan
Bobby

Ray Powers
Jimmy

John Cassavetes
Director

John Cassavetes
Writer

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News & Interviews for Opening Night

Audience Reviews for Opening Night

• Mar 02, 2021

  A tense examination of an artist in freefall. Rowlands is obviously dynamite here and I appreciate how often the movie plays like a horror film.
  

  Alec B Super Reviewer
• Feb 16, 2013

  a mesmerizing film about the theater and aging, akin to 'all about eve' in many ways. knockout performance by gena rowlands in the bette davis role. extra star for joan blondell driving a trans am. one of cassavetes' very best
  Stella D Super Reviewer
• Jan 12, 2013

  It was once suggested by Pauline Kael, never a fan, that Cassavetes thought not like a director, but like an actor. What Kael meant was that he lacked sophistication as a filmmaker; to take that comparison further, to me, it never feels like Cassavetes is directing himself in a film, it feels like Cassavetes implanting himself inside his own creation, like Orson Welles. Opening Night is about the mystery of becoming, performing, and acting. Like a haunted Skip James record, it's got the echoes of ghosts all around. Gena Rowlands' breakdowns, which are stupefying and almost operatic, surprising coming from Cassavetes, are accompanied by a jumpy, unsettling piano. It's also refreshing to see some plot points -- Who is this dead girl? The metaphysical possibilities are endless, and it's amazing to find this kind of thing in a Cassavetes film. This is not Adaptation; here, the blending of reality and fiction and drama is not to show cleverness but to show the inner turmoil and confusion it creates. There's so much going on here. The pure, joyous love when Rowlands greets her doorman; the horror when she beats herself up... The scene where the girl talks about how she devoted her life to art and to music is one of the most effective demonstrations of understanding what it means to be a fan of someone. You can see some roots of this in A Star Is Born, and Almodovar borrowed from it for All About My Mother. I think the ending is a little bit of a disappointment in its ambiguity because of the laughing fits, but the preparation leading up to it is almost sickening. (Also, I think it's worth mentioning that I don't think this film is about alcoholism -- despite its urgency in many of the scenes, it's a relatively small point about the film.) It's a living, breathing thing, and it feels like a process: it could go any direction at any time. Like Taste of Cherry, we are reminded that "you must never forget this is only a play." Yet it is dangerous: when Rowlands says that line, is it great drama? How will the audience take it? Is she being reflexive or does she just not care? Her (character's) breakdowns are incorporated into the performances, and ultimately the film, in such a way that it's like witnessing a female James Dean. Yet another stellar collaboration between Rowlands and Cassavetes.
  Jonathan H Super Reviewer
• Feb 13, 2012

  Gena Rowlands is great once again in Cassavtes's "Opening Night". I liked the film especially the madness from the characters. The improvisation is at it's finest but as for the film, I'm not sure if it's great. "Opening Night" is too long and some scenes drag and questions raised a lot in my mind. Take for instance when the Rowlands character keeps witnessing a young girl in her frenzied state. Is the girl real? Why does Rowlands have these strange thoughts in her head? Is she crazy? What is her purpose? I was left sorta baffled.
  Brian R Super Reviewer