GLORIA – DVD MovieEven a genre film looks different in the hands of writer-director John Cassavetes. In this one, he casts a wonderfully hard-boiled Gena Rowlands as the title character: a former Mob moll who picked up a few tricks along the way. She becomes the unexpected guardian of a young boy (John Adames) who has just seen his parents wiped out. Worse, the Mob is after him as well, seeking a book he has–and the overdue fine is a killer. Though Cassavetes lets his actors have a little too much rein, it pays off in the complex–and surprisingly funny–performance by Rowlands as an unlikely nanny who discovers that, though she is an unwilling bodyguard, she actually learns to care for the tough little guy she’s trying to keep out of harm’s way. –Marshall Fine

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