In movies that deal with unhappy subjects, I've tended to feel sympathetic toward the characters. I've tended to feel pity, and a desire to mother them and tell them everything will be all right.
What I thought was interesting, and exciting about this movie, is that I didn't feel sympathy. I didn't like the characters, and I didn't want to hug them. In fact, I just felt the need to escape from their lives.
This struck me as excellent because it seems more realistic. There are lots of people, not feeling sorry for themselves in the general sense, that have troublesome lives. Many of these people, if I met them, would not be the sort of people I'd like to know better. There are people in my life currently, who have troubles (don't we all!), who I love dearly but whose problems I just wish would disappear. I don't pity them, I'm more annoyed/upset by the troubles that I have no right, or ability to remove. This movie really gave a sense of that.
Spoiler: In particular, looking at Ray's marriage, I thought, gosh, that's hard. What do you do? Do you leave after the first beating? Do you try to work things out? And how? Is he really repentant? And what are the repercussions? Would he turn psycho if she leaves? How will their daughter cope?
And throughout, you still see the love, laughter and human side of these well developed characters. You feel like their life is normal.
I thought the acting was excellent. The directing/editing very well done. The premise and feel of the movie very good.
The only reason I do not rate this movie higher (aside from being a hard marker) is that I found it not so enthralling. As I said, I felt like I wanted to escape from their lives. I wasn't anxiously waiting to find out what happened in their lives. In some sense, I think it may be that you couldn't have that type of pace/entertainment factor while having the slice of life/normalcy factor. More of a thoughtful movie. Maybe if I were less frivolous I would have voted higher.
Anyway, those are my impressions. It's definitely worth seeing!
:) Alma
p.s. I was drawn to watch this movie after seeing the interview with Mr. Oldman on the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead DVD. It is a tribute to his acting that he comes across so differently in an interview than he does in his film roles. But, I had though he was more of a philosopher....so I became even more curious to see his writing/directing. It was very well done.
What I thought was interesting, and exciting about this movie, is that I didn't feel sympathy. I didn't like the characters, and I didn't want to hug them. In fact, I just felt the need to escape from their lives.
This struck me as excellent because it seems more realistic. There are lots of people, not feeling sorry for themselves in the general sense, that have troublesome lives. Many of these people, if I met them, would not be the sort of people I'd like to know better. There are people in my life currently, who have troubles (don't we all!), who I love dearly but whose problems I just wish would disappear. I don't pity them, I'm more annoyed/upset by the troubles that I have no right, or ability to remove. This movie really gave a sense of that.
Spoiler: In particular, looking at Ray's marriage, I thought, gosh, that's hard. What do you do? Do you leave after the first beating? Do you try to work things out? And how? Is he really repentant? And what are the repercussions? Would he turn psycho if she leaves? How will their daughter cope?
And throughout, you still see the love, laughter and human side of these well developed characters. You feel like their life is normal.
I thought the acting was excellent. The directing/editing very well done. The premise and feel of the movie very good.
The only reason I do not rate this movie higher (aside from being a hard marker) is that I found it not so enthralling. As I said, I felt like I wanted to escape from their lives. I wasn't anxiously waiting to find out what happened in their lives. In some sense, I think it may be that you couldn't have that type of pace/entertainment factor while having the slice of life/normalcy factor. More of a thoughtful movie. Maybe if I were less frivolous I would have voted higher.
Anyway, those are my impressions. It's definitely worth seeing!
:) Alma
p.s. I was drawn to watch this movie after seeing the interview with Mr. Oldman on the Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead DVD. It is a tribute to his acting that he comes across so differently in an interview than he does in his film roles. But, I had though he was more of a philosopher....so I became even more curious to see his writing/directing. It was very well done.