The first 3/4ths of this movie has some of the most quietly glorious film-making I have ever seen. The capture of the look and feel of small-town Maine was perfect, and the flinty nature of many of the characters was also very well captured. I could go on and on just about the way the lighting, even the selection of the kinds of violets in the home was just right.
The movie was sweet, then very sad, but the first 3/4ths of the movie was also very, very true.
And that's why the last quarter of the movie is such a huge disappointment. I kept waiting to hear a seductive female voice say "Open Your Eyes..." but it just didn't happen.
Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson, Mariesa Tomei and Nick Stahl are all wonderful. Go and watch them. And as soon as you see a character do something completely unreal, walk out then. Or wait until you can rent it and fast forward once the scriptwriter and director decide it's time to start showing a rather different kind of a movie.
The movie was sweet, then very sad, but the first 3/4ths of the movie was also very, very true.
And that's why the last quarter of the movie is such a huge disappointment. I kept waiting to hear a seductive female voice say "Open Your Eyes..." but it just didn't happen.
Sissy Spacek, Tom Wilkinson, Mariesa Tomei and Nick Stahl are all wonderful. Go and watch them. And as soon as you see a character do something completely unreal, walk out then. Or wait until you can rent it and fast forward once the scriptwriter and director decide it's time to start showing a rather different kind of a movie.