4 reviews
- michaelRokeefe
- Jan 8, 2010
- Permalink
This drama features solid acting all around, but Sigourney Weaver carries the emotional load and shines as the central character, Julia.
As the film begins, Julia has a singing career. She and her husband live in New York and have two children, Chris and Maggie. One day while in the park, Julia turns her back for only a moment and her daughter is gone. It's a visceral scene. A parent's nightmare.
The story fast forwards to sixteen years later. One can imagine some of what transpired during those years: the guilt, the disruption, the agony, the grief. Julia is now divorced and living alone. Her previously happy demeanor is replaced with profound sadness. She has recently moved back to the city, which might offer challenges. Though she has an office job, she is socially dysfunctional. Then a young woman comes into her life and shakes it up.
This is a story about hope and the loss of hope. I found it to be very engaging. My only complaint is about an echo in the sound quality that is distracting in many scenes.
As the film begins, Julia has a singing career. She and her husband live in New York and have two children, Chris and Maggie. One day while in the park, Julia turns her back for only a moment and her daughter is gone. It's a visceral scene. A parent's nightmare.
The story fast forwards to sixteen years later. One can imagine some of what transpired during those years: the guilt, the disruption, the agony, the grief. Julia is now divorced and living alone. Her previously happy demeanor is replaced with profound sadness. She has recently moved back to the city, which might offer challenges. Though she has an office job, she is socially dysfunctional. Then a young woman comes into her life and shakes it up.
This is a story about hope and the loss of hope. I found it to be very engaging. My only complaint is about an echo in the sound quality that is distracting in many scenes.
Haunted by the disappearance of her 3 year old daughter 15 years ago, Julia Sandburg (Sigourney Weaver) can't find any joy even with his son Chris (Alessandro Nivola) and his fiancé Celeste (Keri Russell) being pregnant. She helps Louise (Kate Bosworth) when she steals a pair of sunglasses and gives her some money later on. Louise awakens something in Julia, but it is obvious that Louise can't be trusted. Julia feels a connection to Louise and it soon becomes a question of whether Julia is actually her child Maggie.
It's a slow moving indie. Sigourney Weaver brings her A game. Her performance keeps the attention in a tense understated manner. Kate Bosworth is well cast in this. She has a blend of innocence and vulnerability as well as something darker underneath. It's not certain what her true motives are most of the time. One can really see the pain on Weaver while not being able to pinpoint Bosworth's character. There is this uneasy tension throughout as Julia adopts the mother role to Louise. There are some missing scenes in this movie. My logic mind kept asking the movie to do a paternity test ala Maury.
It's a slow moving indie. Sigourney Weaver brings her A game. Her performance keeps the attention in a tense understated manner. Kate Bosworth is well cast in this. She has a blend of innocence and vulnerability as well as something darker underneath. It's not certain what her true motives are most of the time. One can really see the pain on Weaver while not being able to pinpoint Bosworth's character. There is this uneasy tension throughout as Julia adopts the mother role to Louise. There are some missing scenes in this movie. My logic mind kept asking the movie to do a paternity test ala Maury.
- SnoopyStyle
- Jun 8, 2014
- Permalink