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I wanted to like it more than I actually did... But much of the humor totally escaped me and I walked out only mildly impressed.

what a terribly boring film. I'm sorry but this is absolutely not deserving of best picture and will be forgotten quickly. Entertaining and engaging cinema? No. Nothing performances with flat faces and mistaking silence for subtlety.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

The life story of a nonentity. Incredibly, Hollywood let this amateur write the script herself (something they wouldn't let even a pro like William Faulkner do) and the script is just that - amateurish. True it has something, authenticity, drive, even wit and sparkle and Mike Curtiz makes it all go by so fast for the first hour or so; but then the interest of the director seems to die with the script and, oddly enough, the disappearance of Donald Woods. Woods is a mechanical and unconvincing actor, far too old for an undergraduate, but Curtiz spikes up his scenes with elaborate camera movement (the dolly shot through the snow in the proposal scene) and effects (repetition of the record scratching out "Rock-a-Bye Baby") - maybe he felt Woods needed help. He sure did! But when Carson makes his belated entrance, Curtiz is content to let the camera run for long takes on such incredibly boring material as Jack's simulation of a vacuum cleaner salesman.After this low point, the script even starts to repeat some of the sharp one-liners from the first half of the film. It all ends, inconclusively and somewhat downbeat, in a railroad station as the camera dollies away from Russell and Carson through the scurrying crowds (we suspect that is Harry Hayden's voice on the loudspeaker) to The End title. Mind you, the film doesn't lack production values. A fortune has been poured into it. It has sets and atmosphere, good acting (the principals are their usual selves, but the script also has parts for a goodly parade of character actors including Alan Hale (one scene only) and some believable kids, but most of all an original Steiner score consisting mostly of generously and richly repeated excerpts from By The Light of the Silvery Moon and Bulldog Bulldog. Also We're in the Money, Oh You Beautiful Doll, It Had to be You. Oddly enough, it's the downbeat, very ordinarily directed scenes that stay in the memory, like the Pierson's losing their shirts because of a glut of roses. Fortunately, Walker's moody black-and-white photography overcomes and dampens Miss Russell's relentlessly jolly, perky performance (about which even Donald Woods justifiably complains).

Roughly Speaking is a Warner Brothers picture that has a feel-good quality to it. And in some ways it functions as propaganda, convincing the average viewer that life is full of ups and downs and that she can muster the courage to continue, despite the odds. Rosalind Russell is the star of this film, and her character learns the hard way about men- marriage-and-love. Jack Carson is the big lug she identifies as her main squeeze. Their undeniable chemistry leads one to wonder why they hadn't been paired on screen before.Not so delicately but roughly speaking the script could have withstood some revisions. There is an amusing vacuum cleaner demonstration scene, but some of the comic episodes do not exactly lead anywhere. And just what is the theme of this movie? That a woman can find love again? Or that her family must brace for difficulty and war?

When Robert Osborne said, "This is a real gem," I decided to watch... he doesn't lie. Being a big Rosalind Russell fan since "Auntie Mame," I'm both surprised and delighted that I did! In these early days, there was no such thing as "women's lib" or women's rights, or anything of the kind. That's why I believe this film is a truly ground breaking work of classic film. Unlike the "Pollyannish" movies of this era that tried to make light of those Depression era times with things like big MGM musicals that tried to sugar coat the difficulties of those days, this film takes on a myriad of historical troubles in a way that is both heartbreaking and incredibly optimistic (kudos, incidentally, to a superb star turn by Jack Carson in another wonderful characterization). It never preaches or feels sorry for itself—much like the female protagonist—but continually moves forward without getting bogged down in self-pity, which the characters certainly had the right to. It doesn't pull any punches. I suppose the best way to describe it is: "A tale of towering highs and gut wrenching lows, with the indomitable spirit of man aways conquering adversity." But a far better way of learning the many important lesson this entertaining film has to offer is simply by watching it.

Long after this movie's release, the term "Slice of Life" was coined to describe films such as this. I dislike labels, and I especially tend to dislike modern films for which this term was coined. However, it seems like an apt label for this movie which I paradoxically love. (This comment provides as much insight into film history as it does into my own character.) I admit to being a sentimentalist. Consequently Slice of Life films from the thirties to the late forties usually appeal to me far more than later films. A lot of Slice of Life movies since the late forties seem to me to be rather pointless, rather tragic - or worse - both! Like any art form, films express the ethos of the culture in which they are made. I sometimes lament the passing of the society that produced Slice of Life films from the thirties to the late forties...Roughly Speaking is a film that is full of tragic events, but none seem pointless or even tragic. In that sense it is moralistic. As their dialog during the film's fadeout clearly indicates, Rosalind Russell and Jack Carson seem made for each other in their twin indomitable spirits. That spirit imbues this entire film with optimism. If the film seems at times to be overly sentimental (even maudlin to some), I think it is because today most people think of that kind of optimism, itself, as overly sentimental. Raised by parents who experienced the Great Depression and WWII, I can imagine a time when such optimism was not deemed overly sentimental or unbelievable. This film epitomizes that time and those people, and it speaks to my heart and soul. It inspires me and makes me yearn today for such a milieu, in a retrospective way that was not possible for audiences at the time of the film's release. So, for me this movie has grown in stature and improved with age.Russell is one of those actresses who is capable of delivering a performance that evokes laughter and yet tugs at your heartstrings. Carson is not usually seen in roles that offer him the opportunity to portray such nuanced characters. Here he is, and he shines. He was one of the era's great "second bananas." When I see him in a film such as this or Mildred Pierce, I regret that he wasn't given more meaty, starring roles. In this movie Russell is the strength and Carson is the vision - they are a great team, and I enjoyed seeing them grow old together.The ending does come rather abruptly. Yet for those who lived through WWII, there is enough foreshadowing for the rest of the story to be imagined in a general sense. Hardly any family that sent as many sons to the war was blessed to see them all return home. This family had seen plenty of hardship, and would, no doubt, see more. But it would overcome...This doesn't seem overly sentimental to me - just optimistic.