You Light Up My Life (1977)

Directed by

Joseph Brooks

Genre

drama film, comedy drama, coming-of-age film, romantic comedy film

Country

United States

Runtime

1h 31m

Rated

PG

Rating

5.4 of 10 from 20 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A young woman feels pressure to follow her father's career as a comedian, but her true passion is singing and songwriting. She navigates small acting jobs, a strained engagement, and a meeting with a director who challenges her choices.

romanticmelancholicsentimentalconflict-riddenearnestslowdatedunderdog

What happens

You Light Up My Life is a 1977 American romantic drama film written, produced, scored, and directed by Joseph Brooks. It stars Didi Conn, Joe Silver, and Michael Zaslow. The film follows a young singer and songwriter who feels obligated to follow her father's borscht belt comedian career. She struggles to get small time acting work in advertising and children's shows with her fellow acting friends in Hollywood and shows marginal talent in standup comedy (mostly set up using her father's connections). Her happenstance meeting with a young director will set the stage for a series of conflicts with her fiancé, father and career decisions. On initial release, the film received widespread negative reviews from critics, though it was a commercial success. However, the film's soundtrack proved a hit and the title song (written by Brooks and sung for the film by Kasey Cisyk) won multiple accolades including the Academy Award for Best Original Song. A cover version by Debby Boone became a major hit, winning the 1978 Grammy Award for Song of the Year and becoming the single biggest hit of the decade. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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