| Green Card [Region 2] |  | Director: Peter Weir
Actors: Gerard Depardieu, Andie Macdowell, Bebe Neuwirth, Gregg Edelman, Robert Prosky
Category: DVD
Buy Used: $7.98
Used (3) from $7.98
Rating:  41 reviews
Sales Rank: 255555
Format: Pal
Languages: English (Original Language), French (Original Language)
Rating: PG-13 (Parental Guidance Suggested)
Region: 2
Discs: 1
Running Time: 103 Minutes
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 7.1 x 5.4 x 0.6
EAN: 5017188884426
ASIN: B00005U1Y2
Theatrical Release Date: January 11, 1991
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Amazon.com essential video
With the help of his lawyer, Georges (Gerard Depardieu), a composer and one-time petty thief who grew up in poverty, attempts to escape his life in Paris and begin anew in America by illegally marrying Bronte (Andie MacDowell), a prim and repressed young lady from a privileged life in Connecticut. Bronte, who has agreed to the scheme for her own self-serving reasons, is exasperated when the Immigration & Naturalization Service investigates their case, and she and Georges, whom she detests, must spend time together studying each other's lives to avoid disaster. The fallout, and how it ends, is infinitely more delightful than your run-of-the-mill Hollywood romantic comedy, and the very ending itself stops deliciously short of where Hollywood would feel compelled to drag the story. Fine performances are given by MacDowell, Depardieu--who is fiercely charming pounding the keyboard of a Steinway at an upper class Manhattan dinner party--and Bebe Neuwirth, who is perfect as an upper-class child turned artist who revels in her irresponsibility. --James McGrath
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| Customer Reviews: Read 36 more reviews...
More Thoughtful than Appearances June 8, 2009
JDavid (Salinas, CA USA)
It is fascinating how people have such diverse and even incompatible understandings of films and books, not to mention other slices of life.
My take on "Green Card,", unlike other Amazon reviewers, is that it is a fairly serious film, despite its wonderful comic moments and tone. I saw an unusual plea for the strength, mystery and nobility of marriage in this engaging account of two people who enter into a contrived marriage for their self-seeking ends. The film actually works for me on two different levels, one as a metaphor for all marriages and another as a sly attempt to break through the modern mentality that sees the institution of marriage as irrelevant.
In the film two perfect strangers to each other marry to achieve their individual goals--Georges the Frenchman to get a green card and Bronte the American girl to get a prized apartment with a rare greenhouse. Their plan was to quickly divorce afterwards and never see each other again. They are busy pursuing personal ends when this unusual arrangement throws both of their lives into disorder. Because the INS is suspicious, they are forced to spend time together to prepare for an examination of their marriage. As a result they fall in love by the story's conclusion and emotionally assent to their legal status as husband and wife.
In every marriage the man and woman bring many personal and selfish goals into the relationship. They are not necessarily getting married out of pure, selfless love for the other and they may not be truly committed to the marital relationship. The emotional power of love acts as a certain force to overcome some of this natural selfishness. Love is typically the force that overcomes earlier resistance to marriage but it is not enough to make marriage work. Marriage also requires a foundational sacred meaning to make people take their marriage promises seriously. When they do so, their love grows in maturity, loyalty and selflessness.
Obviously most people are not plotting to deliberately use marriage as a temporary instrument to achieve a personal wish like Georges and Bronte. But we are not so different from them as we might think when we use marriage for personal wish fulfillment, rather than as a sacred relationship of community building. We may feel caught in the marriage web wondering how we got into this mess in the first place, much
like Bronte does in the film. But when we stay committed to our spouse and keep our marriage vows, love grows. In an abbreviated manner, Georges and Bronte too experience the growth of true love after getting married and experiencing the trials of being chained to each other.
I also saw the film as a clever endorsement of marriage in an age where many people don't take marriage seriously, either not believing that marriage is important or necessary like many Europeans or reducing marriage to meaning whatever they want it to mean. In this light the doorman in Bronte's hotel could be viewed as an advocate for a deeper and more profound understanding of marriage. His life is so far removed from the trendy liberalism of Bronte and the streetwise permissiveness of Georges, both of whom were destined for a lifetime of serial relationships and may never have married anyone absent this quirky twist of circumstance. His admittedly brief role reminds the viewer of the many decent and unassuming people who take their responsibilities, particularly of marriage and parenthood, seriously. By the end of the film, Bronte and Georges are becoming more like the doorman and less like themselves. They both speak tenderly and with appreciation of each other's good and unique qualities in their interviews with the INS officials. Georges thinks of Bronte's well-being rather than his own lost green card when he is caught in a mistake and their entire scheme is exposed. Many moderns brought up to disdain natural law and religious interpretations of the deep significance of marriage might at least be tricked into a grudging respect for the marital institution through life experience like Georges and Bronte.
Is it just romantic chemistry at work here? Many may think so but I dissent. The film depicts romantic chemistry undergirded and galvanized by the bond of marriage, a connection that even when lightly undertaken and even more lightly appreciated, forces a man and woman to think more seriously about the nature of human relationships. What is the hope for Georges and Bronte at the end of the film, when Georges is to be taken away for probably deportation by the INS just after the two realize their deep love for each other and have emotionally confirmed their legal marriage? Again, it is the fact that they are married to each other that will provide the likely impetus for their future reunion. Absent marriage, they are just two lovers who could as easily move on to the next attractive and interesting partner who moves into their environment. Absent marriage and a high view of marriage, there is never a compelling and authoritative reason for people to stay together. But as married man and wife, they can never forget that their love has a legal and traditional bond that must be intentionally broken to be dissolved, that they have participated in an ancient institution that reflects the complementary and procreative nature of man and woman. Marriages can be broken and ended as our divorce rates instruct us. But the ending of a marriage means tearing a man and woman apart at a level far deeper than the breaking of any other relationship. Despite the many different ideas about marriage today, I think most people would at least recognize that divorce is qualitatively different from breaking up.
I give this thought-provoking film four stars only because a few plot details were not convincing, at least in my one viewing. Otherwise I found the film to be excellent.
Lovable Movie April 24, 2009
Catherin M. Osborn (Casselberry, FL United States)
Lovable movie and Gerard Depardieu is at his best. Loved the whole idea behind the movie
A Timeless Charmer March 26, 2009
KH (NC Smokies, US)
Green Card (1990) Andie McDowell, Gerard Depardieu
While this is basically yer garden variety "chick movie", it goes one better by having some superbly done, charming scenes and clever plot devices. In one engrossing scene, for instance, our two would be lovers have only a weekend to get to know each other, create a history for themselves and memorize facts before interviews at the INS office on Monday. They end up having so much fun faking photographs in bogus locations and laughing it up that when, the doorbell rings suddenly - instantly sucking them back into the real world - they are genuinely startled. So is the viewing audience....you get that caught up in the characters. Ethan Phillips (Nelix from Voyager) is great as a suspicious INS agent who is on to their scam. This one was directed by Peter Weir (I assume in one of his earlier American film efforts) and he throws in a couple of clever plot devices such as starting out the movie with Gerard's & Andie's characters on their "wedding day" and taking a little while to let us in on the rationale of why they did this thing. Another good one is Depardieu's character's original "composition" which is preceded by a moment of silence that rivals the chasm of the grand canyon. Not to give anything away, but the ambiguous ending is just the icing on this entertaining slice-of-life cake, which got the Golden Globe for best picture that year.
 Great movie, Great dvd quality January 7, 2009
Karla Chapa (MX)
The movie is great, a little slow but I like it... The shipping and handling as always from amazon was perfect and the dvd was new
 An acquired taste September 27, 2008
Emily Taylor (Northern Utah)
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
After purchasing this movie I guess I was a little disappointed after all the rave reviews I had read. But subsequent viewings did something to me, and while I'm still not a huge fan of this tale, I truly began to see why so many people like it. I would say that this is either an acquired taste or one of those films that must be shown to the right audience. To me, I never really saw the "romance" of it, and I think that is my biggest complaint. We see two people meet, have akward tension, hang out, and suddenly claim to be in love. I really would not call this a romantic comedy, either. However, what the film does have going for it is beauty. The Enya-infused soundtrack fits the mood well, and I enjoyed the interplay between the various characters.
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