And While We Were Here

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.

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.

I am not going to comment on this movie beyond asking why on earth did the director choose two actors who mumbled their way through much of their lines. And then direct the third actor who wasn't a mumbler at least to whisper a key line. Can anyone tell me what he said to her when they were hiding behind the car? Can anybody tell me what she said to him in another whispered speech when he sat down at their table the next day, not to mention why she would whisper something to him like that in front of her husband. This is not the only movie where I have experienced this problem which seems to be increasing due to the "hand- held" camera plague which is a parallel phenomenon to this mumbling plague, but this one was so egregious at key moments. Sorry, I didn't get any further . . couldn't bear it . . . Annoying!! I was dying to have Claire Bloom make a physical rather than just verbal appearance and bring some maturity to both the movie and the characters. Nice scenery.

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 expected something else from the trailer, true.

But I still love this movie. It's so brutally honest. So simple. It's a movie about life and love. The kind ones that actually happen, not some Hollywood bullshit. How lines between people are messy and you can't see where they start and where they end. How some people have a huge influence on us. It's a movie about a woman finding herself. It's raw, but it's real. You have to find beauty in simplicity to really appreciate it. Some people are here just to show us that there is more of this world than what we have. Everything we thought we knew so well and sure about, now we doubt. The things you never thought you needed a second thought, yet you will. Nothing, ever, is sure. We do not see the lines between us, other people and things and that's why it's so hard to break from society and do something else. To have strength to leave something that meant so much to us, to have the strength to admmit that it doesn't no more.

I enjoyed it very much.