My wife and I went to the Spectrum Theater in Albany tonight to see this film starring Patricia Clarkson and Ben Kingsley.
It is not often we run to the theater to see a newly-released film. But she saw a trailer on TV for this particular film and thought it looked to be right in her wheelhouse.
Boy, were we disappointed.
The writing was the most egregious part of the experience. The dialogue was wooden and the plots were rather predictable. Kingsley and his character ruled the day while Clarkson and her half of the story were trite and pointless.
After the film, my wife commented that she wanted more of his story and what he and his relatives were dealing with. But we both agreed that most everything to do with her storyline felt contrived and forced and most of that had to do with the way it was written.
Grace Gummer did her best young Meryl Streep impression as Clarkson's daughter in a small role that didn't really advance the plot all that much.
The metaphorical subtext of Clarkson learning to drive while embarking on her freedom couldn't have been more obvious--to the point of making the viewer think "am I missing something bigger/better?"
I will NOT be adding this to my disc collection when it gets released.
It is not often we run to the theater to see a newly-released film. But she saw a trailer on TV for this particular film and thought it looked to be right in her wheelhouse.
Boy, were we disappointed.
The writing was the most egregious part of the experience. The dialogue was wooden and the plots were rather predictable. Kingsley and his character ruled the day while Clarkson and her half of the story were trite and pointless.
After the film, my wife commented that she wanted more of his story and what he and his relatives were dealing with. But we both agreed that most everything to do with her storyline felt contrived and forced and most of that had to do with the way it was written.
Grace Gummer did her best young Meryl Streep impression as Clarkson's daughter in a small role that didn't really advance the plot all that much.
The metaphorical subtext of Clarkson learning to drive while embarking on her freedom couldn't have been more obvious--to the point of making the viewer think "am I missing something bigger/better?"
I will NOT be adding this to my disc collection when it gets released.
