Cassavettes

Is it just me, or is John Cassavettes remembered and revered for all the wrong reasons? His commitment to realism at all costs helped usher in a new era of American cinema and set a new standard for taking the language of film out of the hands of Hollywood and into the hands of the people. Good for him. But watching most of his work, I can't get past this overwrought sense of self-indulgence. So much of the time, these actors (great as they are) come off as nothing more than actors, and their conversations feel like those of actors indulging their own random impulses. Improvisation is great if it takes the film somewhere, but otherwise it's just watching a bunch of actors jerking themselves (and occasionally each other) off. If this is realism, I'm living in a movie.