archiehyde-27714

I really enjoyed this film though I am glad not to have watched it any nearer to my father's and best friend's passing. Tom Hanks is amazing as always and the other actors are great too. It is a sensitive exposition of loss and connection with charming funny moments that lighten it and make it emotionally tolerable.

I loved the setting and the way place formed so much of the literal and figurative backdrop to the story; the street is a delight.

My only gripe is small and a product of the year the film was made. The irresistability to film makers to wedge Critical Social Justice into stories that do not need it is a distraction. A trans character with an instructional was an incongruous cringe moment.

Every so often, a film comes along that feels like it's been cobbled together from bits and pieces of other movies you've seen. Familiar Touch is exactly that kind of film: a tedious, uninspired, and ultimately forgettable cinematic experience. It's a movie that tries to pass off well-worn tropes and lazy storytelling as something meaningful, but what we're left with is a film that drags from start to finish. Though there are moments of decent acting, they are undermined by a woefully predictable script and direction that feels more like an afterthought. A major flaw of Familiar Touch lies in its direction, which is as lifeless as the script. The pacing is uneven at best and downright agonizing at worst. Scenes that should be brief and punchy are unnecessarily drawn out, while more significant moments are rushed, leaving no room for emotional impact or character development. It's clear the director is unsure of how to create a compelling scene. Attempts at building emotional resonance often result in awkward silences and overlong shots that add nothing but time to an already dragging runtime.

Furthermore, the camera work is flat and uninspired. There's a sense that the director was going through the motions without a clear vision or understanding of cinematic language. Close-up shots, meant to capture intimate or intense moments, feel overused and invasive, while wide shots of supposedly scenic backdrops lack any visual flair or symbolic depth. Even scenes that are intended to create tension-whether through dramatic confrontations or quiet moments of introspection-feel stale and without energy. Ultimately, Familiar Touch is a forgettable film that fails in almost every way. The direction is uninspired, the script is derivative, and the pacing is excruciatingly slow. While the cast does its best to salvage something from the wreckage, their performances are not enough to overcome the film's many shortcomings. It's one of those movies that leaves you wondering how it was made in the first place-why no one along the production line noticed the glaring problems and took steps to fix them.

I do not understand why there are any reviewers who claim that this covers the usual ground. Apart from the fact their are millions of stories of suffering during the Holocaust, this particular family had a very unique experience and the series gives insight into the less common fates from Polish Jews during WW2.. More than ever now, we should be reminding ourselves of the uniquely terrible experience of Jews and other victims of Nazism & Facists during the war.

I agree the accents could be a bit distracting, but the acting was very good. The series does take a couple episodes to find its rhythm but it quickly becomes compelling and I binged the whole thing over the weekend.

I would definitely reccommend this. My only complaint is that the rviwe has to be so long.

I would also reccommend visting the Shoah Foundation Youtube channel for first person accounts of survivors of the Holocaust; each story truly extraordinary and important.