Mira Furlan shines amongst a wonderful cast in this charming 1984 comedy. "In the Jaws of Life" follows the exploits of Dunja (Gorica Popovic), a middle-aged television director trying to balance her personal life with the demands of producing her popular television serial, "The Jaws of Life."

Dunja's less-than-stellar love life is reflected through the serial's fictional lead, Stefica (Vitomira Loncar). As Dunja deals with men, romance (or the lack thereof), and the stress of being a modern woman, Stefica experiences wildly funny fictional versions of the same situations. Whether it's her over-intellectual ex-lover, Sale, (Miodrag Krivokapic) or her depressed scientist "buddy" Pipo (Bogdan Diklic), all of Dunja's men find themselves portrayed on the small screen with vivid (and often unflattering) accuracy.

On the television series, Mira Furlan's character, Marijana, is Stefica's best friend and coworker. A gum-smacking, man-chasing, strawberry blonde Obiwan Kenobi, Marijana leads the wide-eyed Stefica through a string of men, advise, and food. But in the end, even Marijana can't help Stefica find true love.

Throughout the film, friends, coworkers, and perfect strangers keep asking Dunja how her serial will end. Will it be a happy or sad ending? Will Stefica find true love? The fun of "In the Jaws of Life" is finding out the answer to those questions.

The performances in this film are excellent. Popovic and Loncar are wonderful mirror images as Dunja and Stefica. Dunja is one of the most sympathetic and well-rounded female characters I've seen in my (granted, limited) experience with Yugoslav cinema. She is smart, funny, independent, and...well, yeah, a little depressed. Miodrag Krivokapic is also excellent as the pseudo-intellectual Sale, a bearded caricature of learning who is reduced from snobbery to shouting "I love you, Dunja" from a high-rise apartment window.

I would strongly recommend this video to anyone looking for a funny, if somewhat off-beat, romantic comedy. I'd recommend it even if Mira wasn't in it, which tells you how much I enjoyed the film.