No Looking Back (1998)

which means to me that it was a well thought out realistically acted damn good story and well worth watching.You've read the plot outline so I won't rehash that. Burns is quite good as always and the rest of the cast is too. Just a good story about a young woman with dreams she never tried to realize coming to a point in her life when she has to decide whether to try to follow those dreams or just go on with her comfortable life in the small town of her birth. Burns arrives as her former boyfriend, a dreamer who did leave to chase his dreams and found he couldn't catch them. Our heroine sees what could have been, what would be and chooses what could be. Nice ending.

I cannot begin to explain just how REAL this film feels when you watch it. The characters seem to resemble people that all of us, at some stage or another, has met in our lives. How many people out there can say that they have never met a guy like Charlie or a big hearted guy like Mikey? Burns is proving himself as a writer and director, I hope he was proud of this piece. The script is believable and the scenery is exactly what most of us step out from our homes into! There is some great acting from Jon Bon Jovi, nice to see he's proving his critics wrong! This is a very moving and unforgettable movie, proving to me that mistakes make a man what he is.

"No Looking Back" spends almost all of it's 1.5 hour run time with a guy (Burns) trying to reclaim his girlfriend (Holly) after years away from the small town where they grew up together. Typical of Burns flicks this film is all conversation amongst working class people. The problem with the story is there is never any mention of a reason why she should want to go anywhere with him. No plan to ensure their mutual success and happiness save a brief mention of Texas. He has no goals. She has no goals. Her roomie/boyfriend (Bon Jovi) has no plans save the status quo. Apparently none of them care about goals and live as slaves of kismet or karma or something. There's no talk of anything such as..."Hey, what're you gonna do for a living?". Bottom line is this "dog" is shallow, simple minded drivel with some good actors caught up in a story/script which goes no where and has the ending to prove it.

My biggest grievance with No Looking Back is that it doesn't have a character like the ones Mike McClone played in The Brothers McMullen and She's the One. He had a great chemistry with Ed Burns who just isn't as funny without him. Having said that, No Looking Back is a nice little slice-of-life thing. It won't change your perception of life or anything else except perhaps Lauren Holly who is quite adorable. I give it a 6 out of 10.