I’ve seen this movie a few times as a kid and then probably in my early 20’s, but it’s been at least 10 years since I saw it and I can tell I’ve become more of a grownup in the interim.

I like the Nick Nolte, Rosanna Arquette Life Lessons story more. I used to like it the least, with that boring Coppola Life Without Zoey Eloise ripoff made to delight rich Manhattan tweens. I never liked it much, but when I was a kid I understood it enough to not mind it, whereas it was too hard to understand why Nick Nolte didn’t just let Rosanna Arquette leave him, and why Rosanna Arquette hesitated. 

Now it makes more sense to me. Not necessarily trying to parallel it with my decision to move out on someone. Less about that. Just, that hesitation you have as you’re trying to decide if the life you have chosen is viable, and the frustration you can feel with yourself when confronted with someone who is so certain about what they’re doing. Most of my friends seem certain and I’ve been less certain for the last year or so. But I think this is something almost all of us go through. Usually in our 30’s. Life Lessons is a little silly and dated in places, but I like it anyway. 

I’ve always liked Oedipus Wrecks, the one in which Woody Allen’s mother appears in the sky above New York. It holds up so long as you’re still as fascinated as Woody Allen is by Oedipal complexes and his then-tendency to gravitate toward icy, nordic blonds. I don’t mind it. 

Biggest Revelation: Steve Buschemi is supposed to be a heartthrob in this movie. 

Watch it, Real Adults! Just skip the middle one!