And While We Were Here

i often wondered how a lousy and deadbeat screenplay would be realized and okay-ed by the production people(the investors) to go ahead, and this film is right on the money and a living example of what i've just said. from the very beginning of the brain-dead film. the man and the woman both did a horrible acting, holding books in their hands, but their eyes never moved between lines. they were just holding the books without any believable acting. then the incident when they were wrongly brought to an address and the woman found her wallet was missing. well, if it was the man who's paying the taxi fee, she got no reason to roam in her purse. then the unreasonable response of the taxi driver was also over re-acted. and when she found that she lost her purse, again, she didn't react as the average people who just found out that they had lost their credit cards, their cash and whatsoever. it's just like either it happened very often or she couldn't care less, there was no normal anxiety, agitation, upset emotions showed in her body language, facial expressions and her voice. she was so calm and so unbelievably cool. her stupid acting was never corrected by the stupid and blind director. then scene after scene, every sentence of the stupid dialog just kept floating up one after another, and the poor acting of the female main character and everybody involved in this stupid and bore-to-death film simply never improved and never corrected. i was like watching a bunch of dead fish in a fish tank all afloat on top of the water, no nothing, just a big Nada!

I was tempted to give this a 10, because it does what it does very well, and ... I loved it. I'm giving it a 9, mainly because it's not just about me, and (judging from the other reviews it's gotten) it takes a certain kind of person--and definitely a certain mood--to appreciate what this movie has to offer. On a different night, I wouldn't have had the patience to sit through it, and that's partly because I can't slow myself down often enough, but it's also partly because the movie doesn't do quite as much as it could to draw the viewer in. You need to be in a relaxed, introspective state of mind, I think, but if/when you are, you might find this as rewarding as I did.

I don't want to say a whole lot about the plot, the characters, or the issues that they try to deal with. Part of what I like most about this movie is the way it reveals these things, so I think it's best to not know many details going in. But I will say that there seem to be some important lessons about life and relationships that could be taken away from this, and the messages come across in a natural, unforced way. This is pretty rare.

Reviewers have pointed out that Bosworth does a fine job here, and I completely agree, but the rest of the cast also deserves plenty of praise. Most of what's going on in this movie is pretty subtle, and lesser actors/actresses would have tried to overdo things--and a lesser director would've let them. Even minor missteps in acting or directing can be quite a turn-off for me, but I don't recall any such thing in this case. The locations and camera work didn't hurt either. I was immersed from start to finish.

I also loved the dialogue. Here, too, what I appreciated was that it wasn't overdone, nor was it too subtle. The people on screen talked pretty much like you'd expect them to. (I never found myself thinking, "That character would never put things that way.") Nothing seemed artificial.

So, I guess I could sum things up by saying this is a patient, enjoyable, and flawlessly executed study of certain issues many of us are going to run up against at some point in our lives. I honestly think that many reviewers just don't get it.

I just finished watching this movie, having watched it because I was intrigued by the title -- sometimes titles just hook me right off the bat and make me want to see if the movie lives up to the expectations the title created -- and I enjoy watching Kate Bosworth ever since the Young Americans TV series in the Summer of 2000.

Also, having been to Ischia many years ago, I hoped it would remind me of my sojourn.

From the trailer, I was expecting a gentle romance in a faraway picturesque island between two people who have found each other.

Wrong.

Instead we have a travelogue featuring a woman looking for fun who finds it by having a fling with with a bored college kid. Granted, he is good-looking but she could have picked just about any other kid off the street considering how little chemistry there is between the two. We're not even entirely certain what prompts her to do this considering how much her husband -- in his own way -- loves her, and she must him. I don't think the movie can even be considered romantic fluff because there isn't any fluff. Romantic or otherwise. Or sensuality. We aren't even made to care what happens.

During the movie I wondered to myself what Woody Allen would have done with this.

I was disappointed with the waste of such a good title.

I loved this movie. And although it put me in a very melancholy mood, which I didn't want on a sunny Sunday afternoon, I loved every minute of it. The score is so incredibly beautiful yet rather simple (my favorite type of score). The other music and the end credit song created such a special vibe.

And, of course, the setting was stunning. The script, the actors, the story - i loved it all.

I don't understand while other reviews are so negative. Maybe people are looking for an idiotic typical romantic flick? If so, this is definitely not what they will get with this one.

This film had so much potential but went nowhere with an emotionless lead and shallow supporting cast.

There is little to appreciate in this tale of a self-centered married woman taking selfish decisions and doing nothing to make anyone's life any better, including her own.

Overall makes for a very unlikeable film and a couple of hours of my own life I have lost looking at it.