cliffs_of_fall
Joined Jan 2001
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Reviews15
cliffs_of_fall's rating
The other reviews here do a fine job of encapsulating this movie's plot line and its charms. But this is not just a low-budget film, it is a VERY low-budget film, so expect horrible lighting and sound; once or twice over the course of the movie, the characters are not even audible. The soundtrack is intrusive; the director ought to have had more faith in his material and just let certain scenes play out without tinny musical embellishments. I also found myself puzzling over the exact nature of the financial shenanigans that are a key part of the drama. Still, the movie has its moments and Jane Curtin gives an especially fine, and almost self-effacing, performance.
This is an enjoyable movie, a great big hug of a movie, but one wishes more risks had been taken in the service of art and believability.
Amy Adams is a delightful person, pert and perky with a sweet speaking voice -- and she was completely miscast. You can't imagine her swearing like a sailor or being the least bit bitchy — and yet the script maintains that she was that way. But we don't see it on the screen. She's so fey and childlike that when she has her little "meltdowns" when the cooking goes awry, all you want to do is dust her off and give her a lollipop. The movie clips her talons in the service of . . . what I wonder? Oh, yeah, to give the mass market audience what it wants, a cute Meg-Ryan-like persona. Verisimilitude is sacrificed to the god of the box office. Meanwhile, a couple of Julie's woman friends ARE portrayed as bitches in small roles that, as written, are little more than caricatures.
I did appreciate the Queens setting, though. Hollywood usually depicts apartments that are far too glamorous for young working people to afford; the art direction in this movie is spot on. And may I also praise the couple's wonderful little red tabby cat who just owns that role!
The Tucci-Streep dynamic! One hardly ever sees unbeautiful people on screen who enjoy sex and a loving marriage the way they do. That seems pretty evolved! Then again, it's such a perfect marriage that the script must have been very much prettified. There are also some delightful scenes in a subplot involving Child's sister; the two are portrayed as paragons of sisterhood. Those scenes delighted me with their benignity but seem very much idealized in retrospect. I like movies that allow me to chew them over afterward for meaning and nuance and this foodie movie gives one very little to chew on.
The Ephron touch is what got the movie made and what made the movie sugary — and in a movie about cuisine one also wants a touch of the sour, the bitter, the spiced.
Overall, though, here is a movie about the grownup pursuit of happiness and few movies have dealt with this core piece of the American ethos. Despite my reservations, I can't imagine anyone not enjoying this flick.
Amy Adams is a delightful person, pert and perky with a sweet speaking voice -- and she was completely miscast. You can't imagine her swearing like a sailor or being the least bit bitchy — and yet the script maintains that she was that way. But we don't see it on the screen. She's so fey and childlike that when she has her little "meltdowns" when the cooking goes awry, all you want to do is dust her off and give her a lollipop. The movie clips her talons in the service of . . . what I wonder? Oh, yeah, to give the mass market audience what it wants, a cute Meg-Ryan-like persona. Verisimilitude is sacrificed to the god of the box office. Meanwhile, a couple of Julie's woman friends ARE portrayed as bitches in small roles that, as written, are little more than caricatures.
I did appreciate the Queens setting, though. Hollywood usually depicts apartments that are far too glamorous for young working people to afford; the art direction in this movie is spot on. And may I also praise the couple's wonderful little red tabby cat who just owns that role!
The Tucci-Streep dynamic! One hardly ever sees unbeautiful people on screen who enjoy sex and a loving marriage the way they do. That seems pretty evolved! Then again, it's such a perfect marriage that the script must have been very much prettified. There are also some delightful scenes in a subplot involving Child's sister; the two are portrayed as paragons of sisterhood. Those scenes delighted me with their benignity but seem very much idealized in retrospect. I like movies that allow me to chew them over afterward for meaning and nuance and this foodie movie gives one very little to chew on.
The Ephron touch is what got the movie made and what made the movie sugary — and in a movie about cuisine one also wants a touch of the sour, the bitter, the spiced.
Overall, though, here is a movie about the grownup pursuit of happiness and few movies have dealt with this core piece of the American ethos. Despite my reservations, I can't imagine anyone not enjoying this flick.