My review was written in April 1987 after watching the film at a Midtown Manhattan screening room.
"Forever, Lulu" is an amateurish effort desperately seeking laughs but getting mainly unintentional ones. Fortunately not the clone of "Desperately Seeking Susan" that its plot summary suggests, picture is still wide of the mark as entertainment and will be mainly of interest to midnight movie followers of high camp. Mystery is why Tristar acquired the indie production, presumably thought to be of interest to undemanding home video and pay-cable users but hardly a theatrical entry.
Hanna Schygulla toplines as Elaine Hines, a European transplant living in New York who is working in temporary jobs while writing her novel. Film comically depicts her growing list of misfortunes: fired from her job; stuck with the check on a big date; stuck in the rain; evicted from her apartment, etc. Things pick up when she contemplates suicide: wielding her gun creates confusin and rsults in a well-dressed couple deposting their coats in her arms out of fright.
Elaine becomes involved in a goofy adventure when she finds a package in the man's coat pocket, which leads her to an apartment where she becomes involved in a gun battle between gangsters and the police. Only Elaine survives, making off with two cases containing drugs and $500,000 in big bills.
Pic's resemblance to Susan Seidelman's hit "Susan" pic peaks when Elaine finds a photo (signed "forever, Lulu") of the eponymous heroine (played by rock star Deborah Harry) and starts searching for her, after earlier placing a personals ad in the paper to find the owners of the coats. Unfortunately for the film (and Harry's fans, lured perhaps by her billing ov3er the title with Schygulla), she doesn't find Lulu until the very end, with Harry getting perhaps one line of dialog in what amounts to an extended cameo popping up on the outskirts of the action as a bystander from time to time. En route to this underwhelming conclusion, Elaine becomes a hit novelist due to the media attention she receives after she turns in the money to the police.
Filmmaker Amos Kollek, who in addition to his behind the camera credits delivers a poor performance as Elaine's cynical literary agent Larry, directs ineptly , most of his would-be funny lines falling flat. Gimmick casting of Schygulla, talented dramatic star from the R. W. Fassbinder troupe, giving odd, heavily accented readings to "hip" expressions is more embarrassing than funny. Pic's camp value is finally realized in an over-the-top climax staged at the Fulton Street fish market.
Cast tries hard, with sympathetic readings by Annie Golden and Paul Gleason as Elaine's best pal, an ex-lover, respectively. Schygulla has her moments, but she is at the mercy of very weak material. Not to be faulted is some extremely color pastel lighting by cinematographer Lisa Rinzler, which brightens up the low-budget production.
"Forever, Lulu" is an amateurish effort desperately seeking laughs but getting mainly unintentional ones. Fortunately not the clone of "Desperately Seeking Susan" that its plot summary suggests, picture is still wide of the mark as entertainment and will be mainly of interest to midnight movie followers of high camp. Mystery is why Tristar acquired the indie production, presumably thought to be of interest to undemanding home video and pay-cable users but hardly a theatrical entry.
Hanna Schygulla toplines as Elaine Hines, a European transplant living in New York who is working in temporary jobs while writing her novel. Film comically depicts her growing list of misfortunes: fired from her job; stuck with the check on a big date; stuck in the rain; evicted from her apartment, etc. Things pick up when she contemplates suicide: wielding her gun creates confusin and rsults in a well-dressed couple deposting their coats in her arms out of fright.
Elaine becomes involved in a goofy adventure when she finds a package in the man's coat pocket, which leads her to an apartment where she becomes involved in a gun battle between gangsters and the police. Only Elaine survives, making off with two cases containing drugs and $500,000 in big bills.
Pic's resemblance to Susan Seidelman's hit "Susan" pic peaks when Elaine finds a photo (signed "forever, Lulu") of the eponymous heroine (played by rock star Deborah Harry) and starts searching for her, after earlier placing a personals ad in the paper to find the owners of the coats. Unfortunately for the film (and Harry's fans, lured perhaps by her billing ov3er the title with Schygulla), she doesn't find Lulu until the very end, with Harry getting perhaps one line of dialog in what amounts to an extended cameo popping up on the outskirts of the action as a bystander from time to time. En route to this underwhelming conclusion, Elaine becomes a hit novelist due to the media attention she receives after she turns in the money to the police.
Filmmaker Amos Kollek, who in addition to his behind the camera credits delivers a poor performance as Elaine's cynical literary agent Larry, directs ineptly , most of his would-be funny lines falling flat. Gimmick casting of Schygulla, talented dramatic star from the R. W. Fassbinder troupe, giving odd, heavily accented readings to "hip" expressions is more embarrassing than funny. Pic's camp value is finally realized in an over-the-top climax staged at the Fulton Street fish market.
Cast tries hard, with sympathetic readings by Annie Golden and Paul Gleason as Elaine's best pal, an ex-lover, respectively. Schygulla has her moments, but she is at the mercy of very weak material. Not to be faulted is some extremely color pastel lighting by cinematographer Lisa Rinzler, which brightens up the low-budget production.