Princeton89

topline, this is a movie that reminds you that good storytelling and good screen writing can still exist outside the all too cynical Hollywood system.

other comments on this movie describe plot, and failings, more than I have time to write, but if you want to see something that will refresh your view of the resilience of the human spirit and make you smile, you should watch this movie.

nb - you don't have to live in a small town to appreciate the context, but it certainly helps. the movie captures the sense of community that is unique to small towns where everyone knows everyone else's business. I was impressed by how the writer links an ensemble of characters through a deft delineation of complex, rich relationships established in quick strokes of understood history.

in writing terms, the lack of exposition is great, and refreshing for its avoidance of painting characters in black and white only. and for anyone who has left their small-town life for the bright lights of the big city, it is a reminder of some of the best parts of what we left behind.

pacing was good, dialogue mediocre to fair, but the visuals had me on holiday on the French Riveria (out of season)

at first, the chemistry seems a little off as the genre of French mob movies has been infiltrated by the American sense of darkness and Tarantino admirers. yet, given the violent subtext, very little actual bloodshed, which works for me.

Bellucci as the femme fatale owns the screen (and I'm watching on a PowerBook) - a luminous grace that you can't help but stare as an oncoming car runs over you in the street sort of look.

plot is basic and resolves without loose ends, and the character development of the patsie picks up the last few minutes. you almost want the arc sooner, but you're paying too much attention to the idiosyncratic "bad guys" crowd that it almost doesn't matter.

watch this on a Sunday afternoon when you should be doing errands or stay in on a rainy night. a good Seattle, weeknight movie.