The Whole Wide World (1996)

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

Excellent but underrated film

It's a good bad... and worth a popcorn matinée. While it's easy to lament what could have been...

I enjoyed watching this film and would recommend other to give it a try , (as I am) but this movie, although enjoyable to watch due to the better than average acting fails to add anything new to its storyline that is all too familiar to these types of movies.

Again put off from watching re description. I don't tend to watch many biographical movies and certainly couldn't see appeal of watching one about author of Conan the Barbarian (British so not such a cult over here and also a woman so not much appeal!) . I think picked up few times in video store as Renee in it and by then had watched her in Bridget Jones.. but kept reading story line and popped it back. Should have read "1930s Texas, a story of love between a writer of erotic,fantasy adventures, lost in his own world and a forward thinking school teacher torn between conventionality and love." Having googled a little about Robert Howard, think they portrayed his relationship with his mother compassionately and accurately. One of best romantic films I have ever watched ...just think they cut a few scenes that were needed and maybe needed to edit some of longer drawn out parts of movie.

Often I have seen a great script thrown away by miscasting or poor direction. Not here! Spectacular acting, great story and direction. This is a drama that is brought to life in the realistic portrayals by Renee Zellweger and Vincent D'Onofrio. I have never really liked Renee much. Seen most of her films, including Jerry McGuire, Chicago, Cold Mountain, Bridget Jones, etc and and thought what is the big fuss about? However, I saw this film later after all her successes and was blown away by her performance. This in my opinion is by far her best work - she and D'Onofrio were so compelling in every scene that it leaves me wanting more each time I see it. I wish they would find another vehicle to work in together. Of course Vincent is is his normal "larger than life" performance. He always entirely captures my attention whenever he is on the screen in any film - but he made the person of Robert E. Howard come alive and even though I never knew much about this author, I wanted to read the book written by Novalyne Price after I saw the film the first time. Their physical difference in height was interesting contrast because you don't notice it after awhile because of both of their strong performances - they share equally and I loved the contrast in how physical the portrayal by Vincent was and how internal the portrayal by Renee. Since this is a drama, it's not a film that you tell all your friends to watch - they just won't understand. But you tell everyone who has a passion for film making to watch it and without exception they all love it and thank you for turning them on to it. If you tell someone to see this because it's a love story - they are going to be really depressed when it is over so I am careful when recommending it - its a tragic love story that is a true labor of love by the entire production team is a much better description. The director, producers and enter cast and crew gave this little gem so much love and attention, and it shows - I think that if this film was made now and Mirmax distributed it, or was debuted at the right festival it would be a film that would be recognized and given the much deserved awards and distribution it deserves.

It's not often that biographies are produced about pulp writers, but this little gem scores on all counts. It's sweet, funny, earnest and insightful, conveying the difficulties faced by a young writer on his way up. Vincent Donofrio and Renee Zelwegger make a great team (a pity they have not been matched up again), and the film succeeds as drama, romance and biography. The technical credits are fine, with a warm feel for the time and place of Howard's home and environs. If you're a Conan fan (bookS and/or films), this will be of special interest, as you may have thought of Howard as a macho jock, salivating over the typewriter as he composed his adventure stories.

The setting was wonderful, and the way small-town life and attitudes were portrayed were also wonderful. Zellweger showed enormous emotional range in this film. D'Onofrio was somewhat irritating, and he was a producer of this film, and I don't know if was his acting or the direction that made it that way. In the end, since he committed suicide, it was right to portray him as someone who was really high-strung. The movie certainly showed women as very independent, or at least as having independence if they really went after it. As having a career. And that was the crux of the plot: feminine independence versus male dominance. Of course, for Bob, it was his mother that dominated his life and on whom he was totally dependent, could not leave home, and Ann Wedgworth played that part very well.