The Yellow Handkerchief

THE YELLOW HANDKERCHIEF – CATCH IT ( B ) The best thing I loved about this movie was the Odd Characterization; William Hurt as Ex-Convict, Kristen Stewart as 15yrs old Confused Teen, Eddie Redmayne as the weird psycho nerdy dirty teen and Maria Bello as any other woman who gets tired of her life. A good attempt by the director and he made most out of the script. It keeps you intriguing and wondering what happened between Maria and William plus a weird relationship between Kristen and Eddie keeps you stuck with the story. Though I have felt at times it gets little slow but then again it paces up. Kristen Stewart looks damn gorgeous and acted well. Eddie Redmayne as a psychotic weird teen did a good job, another Britain import to look out for. William Hurt and Maria Bello are seasoned actors so obviously they were great. Overall a good movie about redemption & love.

This film rewards you....it is worth every moment of your watching time. The beauty of its title, the sweetness and affirming image of a yellow handkerchief...like a yellow ribbon is about waiting,welcome and coming home. The Yellow Handkerchief is a road trip movie. It is a quiet, quirky ride around the roads of Louisiana. It plays like real people who make real reconciliations and whose lives keep us captured and moving and flowing forward. William Hurt gives a performance of a supreme subtlety and beauty. Kristen Stewart, Eddie Redmayne and Maria Bello breath life into their characters. It is so rare to find such a sensitive cast that really click...a great ensemble piece ...all with a quiet nobility. Watch it.

There are movies, such as this and many others, that sometimes don't appeal to people do to the slowness of it all. Nonetheless, I was surprised to see the low rating that it received. The Yellow Handkerchief tells the touching story of three broken individuals, each with their own troubled past and lingering issues; who share one thing in common: the need to escape. The entire plot is centred around a long car journey, in which Martine (Kristen Stewart) and Gordy (Eddie Redmayne)slowly unravvel the mystery of Brett Hanson (Willian Hurt) an unhappy man, recently released from his sentence in prison. The movie is an Indie movie, and it does appear to be rather slow. The script isn't as chatty or invasive as the blockbuster movies we're used to, and there is a lot of scenery. But regardless, the theme of the movie is easy for people to relate to. You don't have to be a convict, or an abandoned child to understand it- the entire story, is about making mistakes. And eventually, the message becomes clearer: that the people who forgive you, and offer you a second chance, are those who love you the most. There are so many different ways to see this movie, that I will point out that that's only my interpretation. I highly recommend this movie, but only if you're in the mood for a more symbolic movie rather than fast paced; action packed thrillers..

A perfect crescendo. During an admittedly slow first half of the film, the audience is drawn in to the actors and the cajun background, its lush greenery and its languid place in Americana.

The actors hold up brilliantly at this pace -- William Hurt is a standout and a more-than-worthwhile Oscar candidate as the sullen, "ghost"-like ex-con and Eddie Redmayne jumps to the fore as a bizarre, overgrown child. The scenery and the pull of post-Katrina New Orleans is powerful, forcing personal choices and sticking in the back of our minds.

Then, when the action turns, and the plot suddenly speeds forward for the latter half of the movie, the viewer has already been drawn so deep inside these rich, pained characters and the twisted swampland that its emotional force, punctuated by minute changes in Hurt's eyes, knowingly elicits empathy and sympathy.

The force of the movie is the slowness, the languid pace that draws the viewer in, and the acting, as good an ensemble as anything that I've viewed this year. It is slow, but slow can be good, good as a cajun conversation.

What starts out as what appears as just another road movie turns out to be three tales of inter generational angst. Brett Hanson is an ex convict that is on a mission to find his lost love. Martine is a 15 year old girl who is just discovering life,and Gordo is a 16 year old boy,who is kind of geeky,gawky & awkward around girls,but wants a girl friend in the worst way. When their lives intersect at a rest stop,the three hit the road,looking for their own adventures. Along the way, truths are revealed,tears are shed & (potential)friend ships are forged. William Hurt ('Kiss Of The Spider Woman','The Big Chill',and most recently,'End Game')is Brett,a man who tries to get by with few words as necessary,who carries a dark secret & has a mission in life. Maria Bello is his ex wife,May. Kristin Stewart (previously seen in 'Twilight',and 'New Moon',and soon to be seen as Joan Jett in 'The Runaways')is Martine,a girl who is looking for something better in life than what she's being offered,presently. Eddie Redmayne is Gordo, who first comes off as something of a jerk at first,but matures a little, (for his own good). India's own Udayan Prasad directs from a screenplay written by Erin Dignam,from a story by Pete Hamill. This is a slow moving film that has to work it's way into your system,but is worth the test of patients in the end. Rated PG-13 by the MPAA,this film contains brief sexual content,some rough language & brief outbursts of violence (but nothing bloody or gory)