Rialto

Many on here have stated how depressing this film is and I suppose they have a point, but I saw it differently despite its sadness. I saw this as the story of a man wanting himself and others around him to live lives without deceit and with honesty. He is coming to this point in his middle aged life after his father has just died, his lifetime job is ending and he finds himself slowly pursuing a young male prostitute. The film never gets into details about the past regarding his sexuality, but he is clearly new to this facet in his life and one has to suspect that he's been secretly dealing and not acting upon these desires. The lead performance is wonderful. Tom Vaughan-Lawlor is an actor I am completely unfamiliar with and he is just simply perfection in this role. Ultimately, it's a fairly simple story about a man wanting to live honestly despite what may be. The ending was a bit of a surprise, but it's an interesting way to leave us.

I thought this would be an interesting look at how 2 worlds collide and would have something fun to take away. WRONG. It was extremely slow and boring. I get what the other reviewers said about each man escaping from the pressures of being a man, but seriously? There are no happy moments at all in this film and an ending that leaves you wondering why on earth you just wasted the time to watch this. I was really wanting .... something out of this, but ... you just leave with nothing. Sadly, this was a waste of time, imo.

Totally gripping from start to finish. Vaughn-Lawlor is nothing short of stunning in complete immersion in this role. There is not a second in which I did not believe I was watching a real person with many layers of suffering and confusion about many different issues.

His character does some despicable things but I completely understood where those actions came from, and that he had done all he could do over many years to avoid their manifestation. His humanity and good heart and desire to do the right thing was never in question, even as he staggers through scene after scene showing a man falling apart yet not yet willing to end it all.

Loved this film. Love Vaughn-Lawlor in it. Hollywood would never even get close to making a film like this, which is why I've almost completely given up on watching them. Thank god for Asian, British, European, Scandinavian and Australian films. So much richer, deeper, human and willing to tackle earthier subject matter than milquetoast Hollywood.

Very touching and human ..the way his life fallin apart and he keeps saying idk and am sorry..I found it very real life like..though the ending left the story unfinished to me🙁...wish that was like a sequel or something..

I enjoyed this film very much. "Rialto" is a powerful, impeccably directed drama about a middle-aged married man who becomes infatuated with a street hustler and continues to pursue him while his life falls apart. He's also grieving the recent loss of his father and lives with a family he's become increasingly estranged from. The performances in the film are all excellent, notably Tom Vaughan-Lawlor who is in almost every scene of the film.

"Rialto" reminded me a lot of the "angry young man" dramas the UK produced so well in the 60's. There's a slow, almost melancholy mood to the film, but it's never boring. The ending took me by surprise, but at the same time it felt strangely liberating.

This is another example of how the European film industry remains light years ahead of the U.S. Hollywood just isn't bold or brave enough to produce works like this. The film is bleak, but it never stops being intriguing.