| Overall Grade: |
A |
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| Story: |
A |
|
|
| Acting: |
A+ |
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| Direction: |
A |
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|
| Visuals: |
B |
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|
Slices of Life
by Bruce (movies profile)
May 26, 2007
42
of
54 people found this review helpful
When the credits started to roll, my first response was "She should have done more. She should have gone further. She should have taken more chances" (She is Writer-Director Nicole Holofcener). I think I take that back. I think that not showing everything may be exactly what N.H. was trying to do.
There is so much that we don't get to find out about in this movie:
How did these people become friends?
How f**ed up is Jane?
Is Aaron gay?
If so, is that a problem?
Is Franny vacant?
Will she leave these people behind?
Is her kid gay?
What will happen to that house?
What will Olivia do with her life if she's not a maid?
What about the stalking?
Does Olivia have a drug problem?
Is this rich chubby guy right for her?
Etc.
But I think I like that we don't get neat and final answers. We get pieces of the stories. We don't know how it will all end. We don't know what exactly we are rooting for all the time. Just like...uh...life.
This movie is not like say, "The Family Stone" where three people and three other people have one weekend where everyone's lives fall completely into place and stay that way for good. This movie is a lot about process, imperfect relationships, unspoken feelings, and ambiguities.
And Frances McDormand was great. She sort of vibrated. She was sort of scary.
I really respect what the filmmaker was trying to do here--at least what I think she was trying to do. |
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