Loved (1997)

Cast includes:
CHARACTER	ACTOR/ACTRESS	RATING
Hedda Amerson	Robin Wright Penn
K.D. Dietrickson	William Hurt	½
Brett Amerson	Amy Madigan
The Defendant	Anthony Lucero	½
Leo Amerson	Paul Dooley	-
Kate Amerson	Lucinda Jenney	-
Elenore Amerson	Joanna Cassidy	-
Michael	Sean Penn	-

Review

This obscure drama film about a former talented swimmer who tries to piece her life together after a troubled relationship is so aloof and uncommunicative that you feel like you've snuck into a party you weren't invited to. Writer/director Erin Dignam arguably aims for authenticity and depth by being offish, and it works in the sense that Robin Wright Penn's lead character comes off as remarkably true, even if she still isn’t particularly interesting. William Hurt plays her lawyer in an even more introspective manner than we usually see him. His character seems absentminded, almost like a distraction, until we ultimately get a little glimpse into his own demons, which seem to gravitate him towards Wright Penn. It's all a somewhat slight and detached character study, but at least it's an actual study. The women are in focus here, which may be some sort of accomplishment in itself, and the film tries to discuss issues which it doesn’t claim to have a definitive answer to beforehand. For that Dignam and her cast deserve credit, even if the end product is artistically lacking and never quite comes alive. Sean Penn produced and appears in an allegorical cameo.