Showing posts with label movie review. Show all posts
Showing posts with label movie review. Show all posts

The Visitor (2007)

Posted by The Citizen Review | Posted in , , , | Posted on 1:42 PM

Average grade: A-
Jack says: A-


Thomas McCarthy's 'The Visitor' is about a man who is basically emotionally shut down and very few people in his life. He has his students, some colleagues and piano teacher (who he abrubtly cuts off lessons with in the first act of the film). This is a story about a man in need of something new and fresh in his life.

Let me just say that Richard Jenkins plays the stolid professor unerringly. Every move he makes as Walter Vale is perfect, and he truly creates a memorable hero.

Walter's colleague, Charles tell him that he needs to fill in for someone at a conference in New York. At the conference, Walter would demonstrate an essay he co-wrote. Walter tells Charles that he really only co-signed the essay with his colleague as a nice gesture, but he sends Walter to New York anyhow.

When Walter arrives at his New York appartment, he finds that is occupied by a young married couple, with mysterious alabis. I won't give away the secret but let's just say that the couple re-introduce Walter to his life, enriching him in thier culture and music and food. When the young man's mother visits, things progress even further.

'The Visitor' is testament to life, love and culture. It shows the importance of not letting your life pass before you and that it's never too late to start again. Also, that you may find inspiration in the craziest of places.

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The Savages (2007)

Posted by The Citizen Review | Posted in , , , , | Posted on 8:04 PM

Average Rating:
A

Jack says: A


'The Savages' is such a satisfying film all around. When I watched it, I thought of it as the love child of 'Juno' and 'Away From Her' (both great films) The screenplay by Tamara Jenkins is dazzling. It is filled to the brim with quick wit, hilarious monolouges and touchingly poignant moments. I particularly loved the speech given by Hoffman about fancy nursing homes just being a lure to guilty sons and daughters of the elderly, it is a touching a hilarious moment.


The actors on the bill with this film, the fabulous Laura Linney and always-great Philip Seymour Hoffman) are so wonderful they could read the phone book and enthrall us (luckily they have that script I was talking about). The characters they portray are not your everyday middle-aged film characters. What with Wendy, the constantly-lying, pill-popping unsuccessful playwright and Jon, the rough and emotionally mixed theater professor. The picture they paint along with Philip Bosco is truely touching and is not just a movie about old age. It's a movie about deeply cut family wounds that need healing and how they still resonate years later.



Matthew says: A


"The Savages' opens up with a montage displaying the glossy fantastical look at nursing homes, and how society treats the elderly. But, as the movie unfolds, it shows how society really treats the elderly. The screenplay (written by Tamara Jenkins) is excellent. It has everything you could possibly want. It's witty, poignant, topical and features wonderful characters.


The acting is also excellent. Wendy Savage is played particulary well by Laura Linney. She is so meticulous in creating her character. Her character is a middle-aged women who is confused about finding the right guy and sticking to him (she's having an affair with a married man in his fifties.) She is trying to write a play, she is nearly addicted to pills. She feels guilty about not spending enough time with her father, and lies constantly to get her way. Philip Seymour Hoffman is also great in this movie. His character is a professor at a university in Buffalo, and is writing a book. He is sad that his girlfriend is moving to Poland, and a little envious of her sister. This movie is exhuberantly made, with a witty and poignant screenplay, and wonderful actors. It left me with a smile on my face.
Sincerely,
Jack and Matthew, The Citizen Review




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