Who Am I This Time?

PG 7.6
1982 0 hr 53 min Drama , Romance , TV Movie

Harry is a shy hardware store employee. But whenever he takes a part in a local amateur theater production, he becomes the part completely--while on stage. Helene is new in town, a lonely itinerant telephone company employee. On a whim, she auditions for and gets the part of Stella to Harry's Stanley when the theater group performs A Streetcar Named Desire. Before anyone realizes the growing affection between Helene and Stanley, she falls deeply in love with the sexy brute, not knowing what the real man is like.

  • Cast:
    Christopher Walken , Susan Sarandon , Robert Ridgely , Mike Bacarella

Similar titles

Corpse Bride
Corpse Bride
Set in a 19th-century European village, this stop-motion animation feature follows the story of Victor, a young man whisked away to the underworld and wed to a mysterious corpse bride, while his real bride Victoria waits bereft in the land of the living.
Corpse Bride 2005
The Baby of Mâcon
The Baby of Mâcon
Set halfway through the 17th century, a church play is performed for the benefit of the young aristocrat Cosimo. In the play, a grotesque old woman gives birth to a beautiful baby boy. The child's older sister is quick to exploit the situation, selling blessings from the baby, and even claiming she's the true mother by virgin birth. However, when she attempts to seduce the bishop's son, the Church exacts a terrible revenge.
The Baby of Mâcon 1994
Punch-Drunk Love
Punch-Drunk Love
A socially awkward and volatile small business owner meets the love of his life after being threatened by a gang of scammers.
Punch-Drunk Love 2002
Lars and the Real Girl
Lars and the Real Girl
Extremely shy Lars finds it impossible to make friends or socialize. His brother and sister-in-law worry about him, so when he announces that he has a girlfriend he met on the Internet, they are overjoyed. But Lars' new lady is a life-size plastic woman. On the advice of a doctor, his family and the rest of the community go along with his delusion.
Lars and the Real Girl 2007
A Lot Like Love
A Lot Like Love
On a flight from Los Angeles to New York, Oliver and Emily make a connection, only to decide that they are poorly suited to be together. Over the next seven years, however, they are reunited time and time again, they go from being acquaintances to close friends to ... lovers?
A Lot Like Love 2005
Montserrat
Montserrat
The story is set during the South American Wars of Independence. Simón Bolivar, the liberator, has escaped from Spanish custody with the aid of an idealistic Spanish officer, Captain Montserrat. The Spanish commander, Colonel Izquierdo ('left' in Spanish), threatens Montserrat with torture to find out where Bolivar can be recaptured.
Montserrat 1971
Phoebe in Wonderland
Phoebe in Wonderland
The fantastical tale of a little girl who won't - or can't - follow the rules. Confounded by her clashes with the rule-obsessed world around her, Phoebe seeks enlightenment from her unconventional drama teacher, even as her brilliant but anguished mother looks to Phoebe herself for inspiration.
Phoebe in Wonderland 2009
National Theatre Live: Coriolanus
National Theatre Live: Coriolanus
When an old adversary threatens Rome, the city calls once more on her hero and defender: Coriolanus. But he has enemies at home too. Famine threatens the city, the citizens’ hunger swells to an appetite for change, and on returning from the field Coriolanus must confront the march of realpolitik and the voice of an angry people.
National Theatre Live: Coriolanus 2014
National Theatre Live: King Lear
National Theatre Live: King Lear
An ageing monarch. A kingdom divided. A child’s love rejected. As Lear’s world descends into chaos, all that he once believed is brought into question. One of the greatest works in Western literature, King Lear explores the very nature of human existence: love and duty, power and loss, good and evil.
National Theatre Live: King Lear 2011
National Theatre Live: Phèdre
National Theatre Live: Phèdre
A new English adaptation of the classic French tragedy Phèdre by Jean Racine (1639-1699). It retells the ancient Greek tale of the wife of the Atenian King Theseus, who conceived a forbidden love for his son (by an earlier wife) Hyppolytus. All ends badly for all.
National Theatre Live: Phèdre 2009

Reviews

WillSushyMedia
1982/02/02

This movie was so-so. It had it's moments, but wasn't the greatest.

... more
Janae Milner
1982/02/03

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

... more
Kien Navarro
1982/02/04

Exactly the movie you think it is, but not the movie you want it to be.

... more
Caryl
1982/02/05

It is a whirlwind of delight --- attractive actors, stunning couture, spectacular sets and outrageous parties. It's a feast for the eyes. But what really makes this dramedy work is the acting.

... more
framptonhollis
1982/02/06

Kurt Vonnegut is my favorite author, Jonathan Demme is an excellent director, and both Christopher Walken and Susan Sarandon are amazing performers-put them all in a blender and you have the smile inducing comedy "Who Am I This Time?"As someone who read the original Vonnegut story beforehand, I can confirm that this brief adaptation is even better than its source material. The characters feel more three dimensional, there's much more humor, and Demme's directing style is highly subtle and appealing. This film is so enjoyable to watch because of its charming story and characters. It's funny, heartwarming, and simply delightful!

... more
dimplet
1982/02/07

Films about actors playing actors can easily fall into cliché. But Who Am I This Time gives the concept a truly original and profound twist, while giving the two stars the roles of a lifetime.I vaguely remember seeing this many years ago, probably when it was on public television in the 1980s, but I don't think it made the impression on me it did this time. Back then I had barely heard of Kurt Vonnegut, and Christopher Walken and Susan Sarandon were just actors. But now I'm a huge fan of Vonnegut, and have seen and admired Walken and Sarandon in countless roles, so I was better able to appreciate the marvelous acting here. And while the story is not 45 degrees off plumb from reality, as with other Vonnegut works like Slaughterhouse Five or Breakfast of Champions, it has the true originality and charm of a great writer. Many famous actors and actresses fall into well-worn grooves as they get older, playing their personas almost more than their roles. This is not quite true of this pair, but there is a wonderfully fresh creativity to their performances here that you might not see in more seasoned actors. This is vital to their roles because they must transform themselves, both when they switch between their street selves and their community playhouse selves, and as they are transformed over the course of the story. So the story, itself, demands great acting, but so does the play they perform, A Streetcar Named Desire, surely one of the most demanding of all, which the viewer can appreciate from the great performances of Walken and Sarandon. In Who Am I This Time you see the two leads constantly transforming themselves in a tour de force of acting. I can't act for beans, but I have heard actors say repeatedly that the key is to truly watch the other actor, and react honestly. You see that exemplified in Sarandon's tryout when she falls flat reading her lines, but soars as soon as she reacts to Walken. This is set in a small town, much like a thousand other small towns across America, and the key here is to act like real people, to feel like people who could be your neighbors. And that's what the rest of the cast does, avoiding any temptation to ham it up. But above all, this is a great story with a delightful ending. The chemistry between the two seems so genuine you half expect Sarandon and Walken to get married in real life. I appreciate Who Am I This Time more now, in part because I have seen the later work of these great actors. I hope some interviewer, such as Terry Gross, asks Walken and Sarandon how they feel about this film, little seen in recent years. My guess is they consider it one of their finest works. I also suspect their magnificent performances here helped move their careers into high gear. But it also benefits from being able to see it on a recording you can control, so you can better compare the performances at different points in the film. For example, in the opening with Cyrano, it is not immediately clear whether you are looking at a great actor or an over- acting ham. You soon realize this guy can really act! You also wonder how many actors are really as shy as Harry Nash, deep down inside.

... more
MisterWhiplash
1982/02/08

To answer that question: that it was longer. Then again to counter that own point, maybe this was a film that was very close to Vonnegut's original story, thus not extending it to feature length or making it an actual theatrical release. As it is it should be just a trifle, but it's more than that. Director Jonathan Demme adds a light air of circumstance to the proceedings, and plants some of his trademarks (notably the precise positioning of the camera on faces, as we all know from most of his films) while letting the actors have at it. And it's quite an amazing piece for those who love theater, and how an actor's mind meets with heart. At the same time it's not sentimental; this story of a woman (Sarandon) who keeps moving from town to town and never settling anywhere or meeting anyone, and a man (Walken) who is an introvert who lets himself out through incredible community theatre productions, who meet on the set of Streetcar Named Desire and fall for each other in the oddest way is about as charming as one could imagine.Aside from the power of seeing Walken take on iconic parts (i.e. Cyrano, Stanley Kowalski), he's fantastic at being incredibly subtle and at underplaying his meek clerk-turned-star. If you want to see him outside of being the Continental or giving gold watch speeches, come here. And Sarandon is excellent too, in a role that requires her to be compassionate and kind and understanding and blah blah and she does it without flinching in a step. It's short, and sadly not longer (though I'd love to see the 95 minute cut from Argentina!), but it's one of Demme's better efforts of the 90s, a true small-town chamber piece of love.

... more
tygerbright
1982/02/09

I show this film to whoever I can. It's heartwarming without ever being saccharine. Walken and Saradon are marvelous together, the script is great, the evocation of the small town theatre group perfect. There are several uses of the play within a play theme, all of them perfect. I especially loved the game played with The Importance of Being Earnest.

... more