Normally I like films like this. A serious drama about relationships, memory, and the pieces left behind. It's a great premise and you can tell everyone is committed to the project, with rich cinematography and convincing performances all around.
But even a solid foundation can be undone by the little things. There's probably 45 minutes of material here uncomfortably stretched to almost two hours. It takes a while for things to get started and when it does, it feels like you're watching at 75% speed. And not just that but the camera mercilessly lingers on every insignificant detail like it's just so important, like they lost their editor and could not find a replacement. The director also likes to milk every gesture, vacant stare, and ugly-cry for as long as possible. There is no significant contrast between important moments and unimportant moments, it's all equally precious and saturated to the utmost sentimentality.
I fell asleep on my first try then tried later only to fall asleep again only to startle awake to loud mother-daughter screech matches. I had to keep going back and checking how much was more there was to it. Even when it feels like its nearing a possible conclusion there was still like 30 minutes to go. But one preliminary tearful goodbye deserves a follow-up tearful goodbye and so on...
But even a solid foundation can be undone by the little things. There's probably 45 minutes of material here uncomfortably stretched to almost two hours. It takes a while for things to get started and when it does, it feels like you're watching at 75% speed. And not just that but the camera mercilessly lingers on every insignificant detail like it's just so important, like they lost their editor and could not find a replacement. The director also likes to milk every gesture, vacant stare, and ugly-cry for as long as possible. There is no significant contrast between important moments and unimportant moments, it's all equally precious and saturated to the utmost sentimentality.
I fell asleep on my first try then tried later only to fall asleep again only to startle awake to loud mother-daughter screech matches. I had to keep going back and checking how much was more there was to it. Even when it feels like its nearing a possible conclusion there was still like 30 minutes to go. But one preliminary tearful goodbye deserves a follow-up tearful goodbye and so on...