User reviews

Although not as powerful as the (actually unrelated) short stories in the book, Rose Troche has adapted A.M Homes admirably to the big screen... which I was positive couldn't be done. The excellent performances of the entire cast are what hold some of the more thin connections together and although I was personally disappointed by some of the changes Troche made, I understand the necessity to a cohesive narrative. Had I not read the book, I think I would have enjoyed the movie more so I highly recommend viewers and readers who crave great stories about dysfunctional suburbia to check out any and all of my favorite female authors work... beginning with The Safety Of Objects and The End Of Alice.

Rose Troche wrote the screenplay and directed "The Safety of Objects (2001)". I've got to hand it to her. She certainly did a fine job of linking social alienation and the commodification of human relations.

Rose poses these questions : Can one feel emotionally alone amongst people living in the heart of "upper middle class" suburbia? With real, sensuous subjects largely gone missing (i.e. human beings with genuine feelings of solidarity and love for each other) does one seek solace in the company of objects? The answer I give is, "Yes". My impression is that Ms. Troche thinks so too, but she has another take on the possibility of transcending this misery.

Granted, some of the objects, which/who are NOT subjects (well, only in our 'Barbie-est' of imaginations) are purchased. And some, (in a brief flash of subjectivity) have sold themselves into particularly alienating forms of wage-slavery. I say "particularly alienating" because these forms of wage-slavery appear to leave the human being in a state of having parts of their humanity hacked off. Granted, wage-slavery is a numbing experience for all of us. Such a cost we pay for selling ourselves in to it.

What's the choice though? Nothing or organizing to rid ourselves of the wages system. 99% of us choose the former and thereby suffer and continue to chafe under this system. But! What a playground it makes for artists like Troche. She romps around our collective misery and tell us what phonies we are and still, she gets paid for it! Wow! You go, Rose!

Enough with the hyperbole. The film is well acted, though the acting isn't perfect. So much the better in some ways. At least, one doesn't recognize say a, Bruce Willis or a Nicole Kidman AGAIN! More power to Bruce and Nicole, but for my money, I prefer an unknown who can do the part. And why not? There is good to fine acting in this film.

Do we ALL have to grovel and to worship the STARS? Hell no.

"The Safety of Objects" is NOT about how everyone discovers that they should have paid more attention to things which matter. No. What you've got here is a depiction of situations in our everyday lives which actually MIGHT occur. Okay, so you haven't heard of EXACTLY these situations developing. Hah! Dig this: the son of Gold goes from being a subject to an object. Talk about symbolism! Remember that. It'll be essential for understanding the story weave. Another thing to remember is Naturalism. Naturalism is the philosophical drive behind explaining how God is (I can't resist) essentially capricious with HIS power.

See this movie. Beware, there are pieces which you will see earlier on, which will only become apparent to you later, as the film rolls or digitizes through your viewing mechanism. No worries. With "Safety of Objects" you'll see something about your post-modern, industrialized, computer age selves. In other words, the film conveys a bit of, "the condition, your own condition is in."

Plastic people? Well, maybe so. If the shoe fits...

Rose Troche certainly can't be accused to sticking to the same sort of film. This one is a complete contrast to `Bedrooms and Hallways', which was a pleasant gay romantic comedy and `Go Fish', which had a gay theme but was truly weird. The multiple storylines and cross-cutting are rather Altman-esq but the stories are tied together as in `What's Cooking'. In fact, it's a drama on the same template. We have four households (and one other guy) all tied together by the hands of fate.

Although there are some good lines, it's rather a dour film with a jaundiced view of American suburban society (though filmed mostly in Toronto). People are obsessed with their work or their children and seem to receive little happiness from either. In the case of Glenn Close's character Esther Gold she has an uphill battle since her once lively teenage musician son is now in a coma. She cares for him meticulously, constantly talking to him, convinced he will return to consciousness. The children are also dissatisfied with life, or have escaped into their own fantasies (one pre-pubescent lad is conducting an affair with a barbie doll), despite the affluence and parental attention. There is a resonance here with `American Beauty', but not the same lyrical camerawork.

Glenn Close, as the coma boy's mother who enters an endurance contest to appease her aggrieved daughter, is as good as she has ever been, with a kind of understated desperation that expresses perfectly her character's feelings. Patricia Clarkson is also a stand-out as Annette, a recently divorced woman, traded in by her air-head husband for a newer model, who battles on to look after her children, while trying to find some comfort for herself in the bar scene. Jessica Campbell as the daughter gives us a good picture of an angry teenage brat. The men, on the other hand, don't stand out, except perhaps Randy the pool guy (Timothy Olyphant), whose good looks take on a sinister aspect when he becomes involved with Sam, Annette's tomboyish daughter. Dermot Mulroney as Jim Train, a work–obsessed lawyer is curiously flat, though Moira Kelly curls her lips nicely as his aggrieved wife.

This could have been a gothic tale, but Troche keeps the story to a fairly mundane level, as befits the suburban landscape. I think American suburbia will hate it – far too drab, commonplace and close to the bone. `American Beauty' got away with it because it was so pretty, and Lester and his family really were a bit odd. There's nothing odd about these people – they are just as colourless and inadequate as the rest of us. I notice Roger Ebert thought them unlikeable. No, they're just ordinary.

I think the movie as a whole is pretty much a feminine point of view of what family life can be. The movie shows us the lives of average people who get involved in hard situations at an specific moment of their lives. I suppose if the same movie had been made by a man it would be absolutely different.

PS: It was quite interesting the idea of the kids living in their own world and also involved in the whole argument, it really loose me at times.

Attracted by the strange title I decided to watch the movie for an explanation. Having watched the film I was none the wiser and somewhat confused with the interweaving of four short stories There were lots of characters in these four families (too many for me) and what might have been an interesting expose of their lives turned out to be very ordinary.

I have to say the actors did well in their individual roles but as characters they failed to get me involved in their every day lives. I thought Glenn Close did quite a remarkable interpretation of a mother grieving over her first born son. The plastic bag scene was the high light of the film. It was done with such emotional intensity. Very little of the remainder of the film reached this high standard.

It is not a cheerful film. Very few of the characters seemed to be really happy. All had their problems. Perhaps it was all too much like real life. And if you cannot find solace in other human beings you must look beyond for other objects.

Isn't it true that during our lives we surround ourselves with familiar objects that give us a sense of security? You know the feeling that one gets after arriving home after a very long journey. A certain warm glow pervades your being because this is home, this is security, so much is familiar and you find at last the desired safety of objects.

Worth being seen. Well paced. A soap opera style mingling of plots. Reassuring - if you live with children - to see that it's not just yours that would drive a normal person nuts. You come away with the impression that even the unemployed are rich in America. Nobody seems to have a job in suburbia! The only job seen is awful. You get the feeling that this is a movie made by women: women don't work, jobs leave you no free time, husbands don't have sex and ignore their children. Then there is the soap opera plot format - which however is much faster paced, at times swirling through the stories one shot each, faster and faster. I don't think there is much of a conclusion to the movie. Nothing goes too wrong. Life looks great in American suburbia.

The first time I saw this movie, I didn't like it. I decided to give it a second watch because it was such a good cast, and it left a creepy, haunting feeling with me, I thought: what was that? The movie is difficult to watch, its not entertaining and I can't say that it's very good. The philosophical underpinning is revealed titularly, and there is nothing very interesting about it, its like, yeah we know... I gave the movie 7 out of 10 only because Glenn Close is ridiculously good. Its really one of the most interesting female performances of late. The barbie doll thing was a bit disturbing, but the director deserves a break for taking chances that are not commercial. Worth looking at. Good Cast. Is the movie supposed to be weird, or did someone make a mistake? Glenn's great.

This film directed by Rose Troche must have been forgotten by the studio who decided to bring it to the screen and suddenly released it without much fanfare. Granted, it is a small film. It is the kind of movie we don't get to see much because with a lot of independent films, if there are no big names, they don't get a chance to find an audience.

Glen Close, as Esther Gold, the suffering mother of a bed ridden young man in a coma gives an honest performance. She is one actress that is always interesting to watch. She makes us believe she is this woman living a nightmare because of the son's accident. Esther's marriage seems to be a loveless one. Her husband is in a different wave length. At the same time, her relationship with her daughter is strained because of the guilt of the young woman carries inside her and doesn't come out until the end.

Patricia Clarkson keeps getting better all the time. She is the town's joke because she is the victim of a husband that has fled the home because he has found a younger, more attractive woman . Ms Clarkson is another natural actress no matter where and what vehicle she appears in. I'll just mention two other roles besides this just to show her versatility: True Art and Far from Heaven. Her range is enormous. What a talented lady!

Dermot Mulroney is excellent as the young neighbor married to Moira Kelly. Mr. Mulroney is also very effective in the film. Mary Kay Place's Helen is on target. We don't get to see her a lot and she deserves to be seen. The younger actors playing the various children are very good. Praise should be given to Kristen Stewart, who is incredible as the young Sam. She is a true winner.

Director Troche has achieved something unique in bringing all this talent together. She has given us a slice of life with a detailed account on the lives of these characters that seem as though we have known them for many years.

This 2001 indie film starts with the premise of characters and stories that are supposed to intertwine with each other. This is something similar to Magnolia and more recently Crash. However this does not play out quite as well. The acting is first and foremost the best thing about this film. Three excellent actresses in Mary Kay Place, Glenn Close,and especially Patricia Clarkson make the film better than it ought to be. Dermont Mulroney also does a good job.If only the writing and pace of the film was better. This film meanders and uses flashbacks throughout without finding its footing. It never quite captures the audience or even gives a firm resolution the questions the film raises. Its somewhat interesting and therefore I would recommend it to rent simply for the acting turned in by the cast.

Grade:C+

The Safety of Objects was Altman-like in its intertwining of stories but without the messy overlay of voices and sound. The connections among the families in a suburban neighborhood created an interesting tension, as crucial information and backstory emerged. Watch how short stories from a collection are woven to make a quilt about life in the burbs (and the secret life of kids, as well as couples)

What I especially found provocative in this film was how some dangerous situations turned out as one would expect, but others teetered on the edge of 'Oh, no,' yet were resolved without harm.

This film, which is supposed to be adapted from a collection of short stories written by A. M. Homes, is extremely painful to watch. The film follows four different neighborhood families with intertwining lives, while the book is simply stories about unrelated individuals and is, in fact, much more powerful. In the film each individual from the short stories becomes a member of a troubled family, making it so that the some of stories are barely touched on, while others are elaborated. Though the elaborate ones may be fairly easy to understand, the tales that are brushed over seem to have little relevance to the film and make the viewer feel confused and empty. The book may stand alone, but if you have not read it, you will not understand the film which is so muddled and filled with material that at two hours long is easily two hours too much. I continued watching until the end, hoping that there would some conclusion to make the intertwining families' lives have a significant meaning, and felt so exasperated that I finally stopped the film with five minutes left, feeling unable to watch a second longer.

There has been much talk of how the film represents (or apparently misrepresents) the American psyche but you don't have to be an American to empathise, or indeed sympathise, with these characters. Like it or not, all families are dysfunctional; we are all damaged in some way and that is the beauty of this film. I may not be a manic depressive, masturbate comatosed boys or have had a questionable relationship with my Barbies but life can be 'distasteful', 'brooding', 'pervy', 'joyless' and 'selfish' just as much as it can be wonderful, uplifting and compassionate. No, not every American suburban family are as impaired as these, nor as a Brit do I see a mirror of myself watching Eastenders or Coronation Street. It's just one point of view and I think Rose Troche has handled such social nuances sensitively and with care. I'm not saying the film is perfect. However, complaining because it makes disturbing or uncomfortable viewing smacks of it hitting a nerve.... If you're seeking a no-brainer, go and see the latest Seann William Scott flick. But if you want an alternative slice of American pie - and a more realistic and universal one at that - feast on this.

I just watched this film for the first time today, and i can't believe, that I missed this the first time around. It was truly a well acted, and controversial motion picture, much in the tradition of CRASH. The four families whose lives are impacted by a series of events, tell the story. Glenn Close, and Dermott Mulrooney are basically the top names in this movie, but the rest of the cast carries it superbly. How this film did not receive rave notices for both it's direction and screenplay is something that i can not explain. This is a motion picture that will draw you in from the first scene. It is certainly one worth watching over and over again, and I will be looking to purchase my own copy.

I saw The Safety Of Objects at a cinema club in San Francisco in 2002. It was then released for one week at theaters, but I was not able to see it again. I am anxiously awaiting its DVD release in October.

I absolutely loved this film. I liked the tone, the pacing, and of course, the actors. The film had just the right mix of comedy and drama, and I enjoyed every minute of it.

Minimally savvy students of film know to not be dogmatic about the rules with which you evaluate a new film, since a new film may break the old rules and break them well, causing you to expand your notion of what's possible in a good film. To say that I tried to stretch my appreciation for what's possible when evaluating The Safety of Objects is to entirely miss the point. In other words, this movie was not attempting to break new ground. No re-thinking of ones aesthetic assumptions is necessary. In fact, they're reaffirmed--great films inspire a sense of the possible; bad films inspire the sense of what should not be possible.

It's a movie of cloying Hallmark Card life lessons, built upon a script so weak I'm honestly astonished it got within a studio light beam's distance of production. Loose story ends abound. The film is desperately cluttered with too many characters and mini-plots in a failed attempt to remain true to the book. The characters' stories fail to elicit either viewer sympathy or comprehension, and shortly into it I found my patience severely tried. Some strong acting performances are not able to salvage this embarrassing work.

The writer/director did a likable job with "Go Fish." Let's hope this is a bump in the road.

The Safety of Objects tells the story of four suburban families of neighbors and how they are impacted by a tragic car accident. Glenn Close is perfectly cast as a grieving mother. The cast of this film is so wonderful that The Safety of Objects has a type of Robert Altman feel to it. If you get the chance to see it I would very much recommend overlooking the silly title and watching this engaging film.

The film feels like a mix of Happiness, American Beauty, The Ice Storm, and Short Cuts, but it isn't as good as any of them. There is of course a sense of black comedy (at least in the first half) which works quite nicely, but the drama bits never pay off. There is at least one family too many to spend time with (the Christiansons don't really have anything to do with the other stories), and the script is at times too vague for its own good. Moreover, the ending doesn't really ties things together as it should.

Of the actors, I liked Mulroney's inept family man the best, but Glenn Close, and Patricia Clarkson were also good. All in all, the film spread itself too thin and there was a sense of aloofness, and lack of focus that dragged it down. I think it would have worked better if they had emphazised the comedy bits more and trimmed it down a bit as well.

I watched this movie in pain. I kept waiting for something good to come out of it. When things wouldn't normally fit together, the writers arranged whatever was necessary to make it "work", anyway. That takes me out of the usual mode of getting into a story (suspension of disbelief), and makes me say, "Oh, I'm just watching a story. This isn't real." That kind of writing ruins a movie for me. If it wasn't for the acting, this wouldn't be worth filming. Glenn Close gets the best line. Even though I don't agree with the point she makes, she delivers the line with her usual excellence.

I like seeing movies that have a good solid story line. This movie doesn't have one. The stories are disjointed, set-up and pretentious. The acting is excellent. It's just too bad that such great performances were wasted on a movie like this. If you have a choice, pick something else to watch. You'll feel better for it.

It's just what material objects do. They give us the security and tranquility to go on in life, when all other things appear to be crumbling. Rose Troche's "The Safety Of Objects" is one of the most interesting and poetic depictions of everyday life in a suburban "paradise" in the USA. Being from Mexico, is just another thing that allowed me appreciate it even more: I saw it like a foreigner, like a witness, without wanting to be part of the world Troche describes. But its message is so powerful, that I ended as part of this society that I already knew, but was afraid to accept. Based on the novel by A.M. Homes, "The Safety Of Objects" tells different stories, that reminded me of movies such as "Happiness" or "Grand Canyon", but in a really different tone.

We are presented early on to Esther Gold (a formidable, as usual, Glenn Close), a woman that has to deal with his sick son in a coma, and with her daughter who is unable to express what he feels about the situation of his beloved brother. We also are introduced to the Trains, a really nice couple that has come to a dead point in which the father, Jim (Dermot Mulroney in a really great performance) is dealing with a job crisis, and with the notion that maybe he doesn't have any goal in his life. His wife, Susan (Moira Kelly) tries to understand him but is unable to do so and starts to blame his husband for his usefulness around the house. Their kids seem like normal kids, but Jake, their son, has a strange obsession with a doll from his sister´s room. Also, we met the Jennings and the Christianson, two more families living near by, and with their own secrets. And there's this strange guy, portrayed by Timothy Olyphant, that seems out of place, until we realize what is his part in this story.

It may be difficult to explain the different stories that Rose Troche carry on without seeing the film, but one detail is certain: it almost seems that in the center of all things is Paul Gold (Joshua Jackson), the comatose son of Glenn Close's character. And as we are seeing this people living their lives, we are also committed to think about our lives. These characters have lots of problems to handle, their own insecurity and all their fears, their unfulfilled lives, their need of attention and support, but in their hearts, they only need safety: the safety to know that tomorrow everything is going to be fine, but only if they allow themselves to breath, and go on.

This film is just a beautiful essay of how everyone in this world tries to feel safe. Jessica Campbell, Joshua Jackson's character's sister, feels safe with the guitar of his brother in his arms. Dermot Mulroney's character starts to feel safe when he goes from goal to goal, trying to find something to feel fine with himself and his own life. It is only when they start to realize what they are doing, and start to accept the things that surround them, that they become aware of the vacuity of the safety that objects bring. And their problems then become real, and manageable.

"The Safety Of Objects" is an excellent motion picture, really. The work of Rose Troche as writer and director are really supreme, and the cast is really great too. Glenn Close shines as the always depressed and distant Esther, and Dermot Mulroney gives maybe the best performance of his life. Joshua Jackson's performance is credible, and Jessica Campbell is just great, along with Alex House, the kid with this "Barbie obsession". Maybe in other countries outside USA, "The Safety Of Objects" could be just another film about life in the 2000. But for Americans, and for seekers of good films around the world, this is a beautiful essay of the triviality of material objects, and the real assumption of our place in the world, our goals in life, and above all, the knowledge that the way to solve our problems is facing our fears and our responsibilities. Life is made of these powerful ideas, it would be a crime to let life pass us by without knowing that we are breathing... and that we have to walk ahead, farther along the way.

The plot of this movie had absolutely no redeeming value--filled with irresponsible, pervy, over-sexed kids, selfish, insensitive to anyone but themselves. (Yeah, I know that's what some kids are like, but this movie validates their self-absorption.) When the daughter says Glenn "owes" her, I would've smacked that daughter if I were Glenn Close! Too many martyred parents hoping their kids will like them. Let's bring back real parents who know who the adult is. These were lost people all searching for values. Ugh! Many, many distasteful scenes: looking at a comatose man's privates? Masturbating naked in the backyard? The whole subplot about the boy with a doll? Who ARE these people? This is the kind of movie that rightfully elicits the criticism that Hollywood is out of touch with America's values. What a waste of good actors. Would Jimmy Stewart, Henry Fonda, Spencer Tracey, Humphrey Bogart even watch this movie let alone agree to act in it? Hardly. Trash parading as deep and profound.

I don't know what it was about this movie, but it was very powerful and moving for me. The cinematography execution was just excellent. I wasn't tainted by having read the book, and it's really unusual that a movie makes me want to go read the book it was based on. This movie really just makes you want to surrender to the good in humanity. I highly recommend it. The character relationships in it are more dynamic than you would see in a cable series, and although it's very dramatic; doesn't really feel over-done or sappy to me. like Garden State and many other independent films , this is on the top of the list for movies about dysfunctional lives and the strength we find in difficult moments.