Tango
I just got back from watching "Dear Frankie" -- I confess, I went mostly because it stars Gerard Butler (Phantom of the Opera) but honestly, that's just the cherry on top. 
I can't say when I last watched such a lovely, quietly heartfelt, heartbreaking but uplifting film.
The really wonderful thing about it was how underplayed it was. Everything happens and you know it happens, and yet it's hardly ever externalised. It's all inside the characters. The basic plot could have been really pat and melodramatic -- deaf boy's mother invents a story that his dad is at sea, the ship comes in, she has to find dad for the day -- but instead of being melodramatic, it comes across as human and profound.
Emily Mortimer, who plays the boy's mother, is fantastic. Somewhere along the way you realise that this story is about her fantasy as much as about the boy's (or more so), and the way she manages to convey her own life history without ever really giving it away is amazing.
The same is actually true of Gerard Butler's character, though we find out even less about him. His character development happens entirely on the inside, practically without dialogue and yet you're there for it all, and you catch all the little changes.
And of course, the little boy is superb -- it's such a great character, too. A clever, sly but thoughtful and loving boy, who doesn't feel sorry for himself. He seems to be straightforward at first, but in light of what we find out at at the end of the movie, you begin to reassess his actions and realise that he's just as "internalised" and deep as the adults.
Anyway, if you haven't yet seen this movie and you have the chance, run don't walk to the cinema and catch it!
Tango
I can't say when I last watched such a lovely, quietly heartfelt, heartbreaking but uplifting film.The really wonderful thing about it was how underplayed it was. Everything happens and you know it happens, and yet it's hardly ever externalised. It's all inside the characters. The basic plot could have been really pat and melodramatic -- deaf boy's mother invents a story that his dad is at sea, the ship comes in, she has to find dad for the day -- but instead of being melodramatic, it comes across as human and profound.
Emily Mortimer, who plays the boy's mother, is fantastic. Somewhere along the way you realise that this story is about her fantasy as much as about the boy's (or more so), and the way she manages to convey her own life history without ever really giving it away is amazing.
The same is actually true of Gerard Butler's character, though we find out even less about him. His character development happens entirely on the inside, practically without dialogue and yet you're there for it all, and you catch all the little changes.
And of course, the little boy is superb -- it's such a great character, too. A clever, sly but thoughtful and loving boy, who doesn't feel sorry for himself. He seems to be straightforward at first, but in light of what we find out at at the end of the movie, you begin to reassess his actions and realise that he's just as "internalised" and deep as the adults.
Anyway, if you haven't yet seen this movie and you have the chance, run don't walk to the cinema and catch it!
Tango
-
-
17.04.2005 в 15:45ok
-
-
17.04.2005 в 16:03I'll be interested to hear what you think of it, if you see it.
Tango
-
-
17.04.2005 в 16:09and, btw, please, tell me is it movie novelty in Sydney cinemas?
-
-
17.04.2005 в 16:27-
-
17.04.2005 в 16:53and, btw, please, tell me is it movie novelty in Sydney cinemas?
You mean, did it just come out here? Yes, actually I went to the "preview", which means that it's a cinema sneaking in a screening before the official release date. The movie opens "officially" on Thursday.
I know the movie was actually filmed in 2004, but was delayed to allow "Phantom" to come out first -- so perhaps it came out in the US earlier. Not sure.
CryBaby
I wish I could write reviews like this one!..
Actually I hate writing reviews without spoilers (like this one)
Tango
-
-
17.04.2005 в 16:58i hope it'll come soon
-
-
17.04.2005 в 17:04It's an arthouse film, only the "arty" cinemas are playing it here (that is, the ones that play smaller European and Asian films in preference to Hollywood blockbusters). I'm not sure how it works in Moscow these days... Are there different cinemas, too?
Tango
-
-
17.04.2005 в 17:13