Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One

Remember when I blogged on Megamind about there being seven films in 3d coming out in the last two months of the year? Well, this one would’ve been the eighth. But rather than risk conjuring up yet another crummy 3d conversion, Warner Bros. flattened Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part One for all theaters.

Gimmicks aside, this half of the last Harry Potter story is just that, half a film. But it’s also a good film on its own that’ll satisfy its fans in time for the next installment.

In the last film, good ol’ Dumbledore (Michael Gambon) was struck dead by Snape (Alan Rickman) while Harry (Daniel Radcliffe) watched. Now, he and his best chums Ron (Rupert Grint) and Hermione (Emma Watson) are on the run from the evil Death Eaters, who have taken over the Wizarding World.

The evil Voldemort (Ralph Fiennes) is immortal, but he can be killed if the objects carrying the fragments of his soul, the Horcruxes are destroyed. Naturally, it’s up to our three heroes to get rid of them. That is, if they don’t end up cracking and get rid of each other.

Even at two and a half hours, director David Yates keeps the action going. So much so, in fact, one’ll be surprised that it is two and a half hours. There’s plenty of action here, and the main three go well together.

But then again, the worst part is that at the end, one can’t help but want the next installment sooner than later. Or, maybe it’s a good thing? I don’t know. The next installment comes in July, supposedly in the 3d this film lacks, and I’ll be there to review it.

Unstoppable

Once the train at the center of Unstoppable gets moving, so does the film itself. It’s quite a thrilling late year summer blockbuster and one of the best of this year.

In his fifth collaboration with director Tony Scott, Denzel Washington is Frank Barnes, a Train Engineer about to go into retirement. Today, he’s sent to teach newcomer Will Colson (Chris Pine) the ropes, with neither man liking the situation.

Meanwhile, thanks to a rather stupid engineer (Ethan Suplee), an unmanned train packed with molten phenol is sent barreling down the tracks. It’s “a missile the size of the Chrysler Building” on wheels, and nothing that corporate head Galvin (Kevin Dunn) comes up with can stop it. It eventually falls to our two heroes to stop the train.

As a late year blockbuster, the top priority is action, and on that, it delivers. Whatever slow moments it has are brief, and whatever plot holes it has are surely unnoticeable. Instead, the focus is on the train and stopping it from making a mess of things. Much credit is due to the editors here, including Chris Lebenzon (Top Gun), for the film’s constant speed.

There are also plenty of funny bits here, and the actors have good chemistry here. In fact, the only time the film really slows down is once the train stops. Fortunately, the mood afterward is of satisfaction for having gone through a nice ride.

For Colored Girls

For director, writer and producer Tyler Perry’s latest, he chose someone else’s stuff as the basis. Here, it’s Ntzoke Shange’s seventies stage play, For Colored Girls Who Have Considered Suicide/When The Rainbow Is Enuf.

Described as a “choreopoem,” the stage play dealt with seven women identified by a color (red, blue, yellow, etc.) who explained the hardships of being women of color. This film gives them all names and new characters, many of whom alluded to only in the text, to interact with on-screen.

Jo is an icy magazine editor whose assistant Crystal suffers at the hands of her boyfriend. Sisters Tangie and Nyla are at odds with each other, and the former especially with their mother Alice. Meanwhile, Nyla’s dance instructor Yasmine is raped, Juanita struggles with a wandering boyfriend and Kelly deals with her infertility.

The choreopoem aspect is not just figurative; the text is actually many poems as one. Much of the text is preserved on-screen and it’s quite noticeable when the actresses break into verse. But while that may have been a problem for a few other critics, it was a minimal distraction for me.

The cast gives some fine performances. A few highlights include Kimberly Elise as Crystal and Janet Jackson as Jo. Phylicia Rashad, as a new character named Gilda, also gives a memorable character life.

On screen, the film actually succeeds as a melodrama. One strong point, for instance, is the scene where Crystal’s boyfriend’s paranoia turns really nasty. It’s disturbing, yes, but it’s quite effectively so.

However, as a proper version of Shange’s play, I don’t know if it’s an accurate enough transfer from stage to screen. But for its fine cast, the film is quite a worthwhile one.

Fair Game

Jethro's Note: In between two reviews, I made an "experimental entry." Unfortunately, I found out too late I can't delete it. (Grrr). So, I'm putting this film I saw after them since it was released at the same time.

In 2008, a film called Nothing but the Truth came out just as its production company went belly up. It was the fictionalization of the scandal involving the outing of a certain CIA agent. Now, two years later, a film about the real people involved, Fair Game, has arrived.

In 2003, CIA Agent Valerie Plame (Naomi Watts) lived a quiet life with her husband, U.S. Ambassador Joe Wilson (Sean Penn). Against his advice, the U.S. Government went to war with Iraq over alleged stockpiles of nuclear weapons. He wrote an op-ed criticizing the Government for that decision, and a few days later, the words “CIA” and “Valerie Plame” are in the same sentence of another news article.

After this, Plame is demoted to a desk job, leaving her contacts for a big assignment in jeopardy. Her boss treats her like nothing, while she gets threats from anonymous creeps. Wilson, meanwhile, is slandered by the right-wing media. In short, their world has gone to hell.

The film’s screenplay, by Jez and John Butterworth, is a composite of Plame and Wilsons’ individual memoirs. The former, which provides the film its title, has rows of blacked out words on every page (due to CIA censorship). Fortunately, the film does not leave the audience in the dark too often, resulting in a concise storyline.

As Wilson and Plame, Penn and Watts are the stars of the show. They’re quite believable to the point that one can’t help but feel angry at the creeps harassing them at every turn. Sure enough, the audience will understand the betrayals they’ve encountered.

Its director and cinematographer is Doug Liman, who also did The Bourne Identity and Mr. and Mrs. Smith. Unlike those two spy thrillers, this one is more down to earth. If this wasn’t down to earth, it wouldn’t be the compelling film that it is.

Conviction

The court shall now begin its assessment of the case "Jethro T. Cat V. Conviction." Jethro T. Cat shall act as all legal functions except executioner. You may precede, Jethro.

(OK, I admit, that was a silly way to start a review.)

The latest true life drama designed solely for Oscar credit is Conviction, which overall, has some good actors with a script that needs improving.

In 1983, Boston Housewife Betty Ann Waters' (Hillary Swank) brother Kenny (Sam Rockwell) was convicted of robbing and killing local woman Katharina Brow. Betty Ann's gut instinct tells her that he's innocent, and she decides to prove it. First, she'll get her GED, and then go to college to be a lawyer. And then, with help, she'll find the smoking gun that'll clear her brother.

The script that needs improving is by Pamela Gray, who wrote the Meryl Streep vehicle Music of the Heart. The script, for example, presents Betty Ann as too much a stock determined type with little motivation. Minnie Driver, as Betty Ann’s sidekick Abra, is much like many other sidekicks in this type of film. And then the only thing that seems to properly indicate the passage of years is how much older Kenny gets throughout the film (the makeup for which is actually a strong-point).

Rockwell, as Kenny, actually makes for a good character. In his earlier years, he’s quite a likable wild guy. And then, as the legal system decides to mess with him further, he’s quite convincingly despondent. And Juliette Lewis, as a key witness in the trial, is also quite memorable even if the film forgets about her until the end. In fact, they’re probably the best characters the film has to offer.

Its director is Tony Goldwyn, who’s had far more of a career on-screen than off (such as the villain of Ghost). My verdict on the final result is that if Goldwyn, because much of the film rests on the director, spent the time getting to the inevitable result, a bit more compelling, than the film would definitely feel less like stock Oscar material.

The Defense and Prosecution both rest!

Megamind

In the next two months, there'll be seven big 3d films on the big screen. The first one out the gate is Dreamworks's Megamind, which 3d or not, is still worth the time.

Megamind (Will Ferrell) and Metroman (Brad Pitt) are Metro City's equivalent of Lex Luthor and Superman, respectively. In fact, like Supes, both were rocketed to Earth from doomed planets. It just happened that Metroman landed in a nice mansion while Megamind landed in prison. During one routine clash between the two, Megamind decides to introduce Metroman to his new death ray.

Except that this time, it actually works. Metroman is gone.

Without Metroman, Megamind is blue in every sense of the word. So he decides to actually empower some random bloke into a superhero who'd give him his reason for living back. Except that he empowers Hal (Jonah Hill), cameraman of ace reporter Roxanne (Tina Fey), who as Titan, is not just super, but a truer villain than Megamind. Oops...

The use of 3d here is quite super. Whether it involves characters or buildings flying at the screen, or Megamind's flying Brain-Bot mascots, the 3d here has many ways to show itself.

Without the 3d, the film is also super. The voice actors help a lot, including Ferrell as the likable "bad guy" or Hill as the dorky nice guy turned sour. And David Cross, as Megamind's "Minion" (that's his name), also made a nice character come alive. In live-action, the acting here probably won't work well, but animation is a different story.

In terms of this year's animated films, its better than Shrek, but Toy Story and Despicable Me are probably (slightly) better. But still, this is quite the film to start the holidays with.

JETHRO'S NOTE: The other 3d films coming out this year are Tangled, The Nutcracker, The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of The Dawn Treader, Tron Legacy, Yogi Bear, and Gulliver's Travels.

Hereafter

George (Matt Damon) sees dead people wherever he goes. He was once a legitimate psychic, but he gave that up to be a forklift operator because, as his brother Billy (Jay Mohr) said, “he couldn’t cope.”

George is the central piece of Clint Eastwood’s latest film, Hereafter, which is about death and what comes after. Sure, Eastwood as Dirty Harry killed some bad guys, but they didn’t show up to haunt him.

Before we get to George, we get to French Journalist Marie (Cecile de France). She survives what is meant to be the 2004 Tsunami (though no year is given, the implications are there), but not before she sees an eerie world of light and shadows.

And also, there are twin brothers Jason and Marcus (twins George and Frankie McLaren). They live with their careless mother in London until Jason is killed by a truck while evading some hoodlums. After that, all Marcus wants to do is to get in touch with Jason.

Eastwood, and his writer, Peter Morgan, have crafted what is admittedly a slow-moving work. One needs a lot of patience to get through the film’s development of its characters and their relationships. It doesn’t help that, despite what the trailer may imply, the convergence of the three leads only happens in the very end.

But if one has the patience, the film won’t be so bad. Eastwood’s depiction of disaster, working on a decent budget of $50 million, is frightening without being elaborate. And it helps that of the main three, McLaren’s debut performance is the best.

The film may be dark, but its ultimately an optimistic film. This is reflected by the cinematography of Tom Stern, and music by Eastwood himself. Once one can get through the long haul, then that message will be clear.

Secretariat

Why do I keep wanting to say Seabiscuit every time I want to say Secretariat instead?

Let’s see: they’re both real life champion horses and both have had movies about them. It’s just that Seabiscuit, both on-screen and in real life came first. So, the memories of Seabiscuit are quite there.

The titular horse of Secretariat, it happened, won the Triple Crown of Horse Racing back in 1973. There, I spoiled the ending of the movie.

Before then, Secretariat was won by housewife Penny Chenery (Diane Lane) in a coin toss. With the aid of eccentric trainer Lucien Laurin (John Malkovich), Chenery raised Secretariat as the last hope of her ailing father’s Ranch. In doing so, Chenery not only pitted her horse against many more, but also herself against the chauvinists running the show.

Its director is Randall Wallace, best known as the writer of Braveheart, and its writer is Mike Rich, who did another Disney sports film, The Rookie. Here, the two have crafted a film that relies on getting there, and not the end result. Sure, Penny wins and saves the Ranch, but will she loose her family’s love in the process?

Lane and Malkovich are both great in their roles, with Malkovich once again a fine scene stealer. Their performances, and some fine effort by the crew, help make Secretariat a nice ride all the way through.

RED

Is this the year of CIA agents vs. Corrupt System movies?

Already, there was The Losers, Knight and Day, Salt, and the yet-to-be released Fair Game. And now this film, which like the first listed, is taken from a DC published comic book.

As Ernest Borgnine explains in his cameo role as Henry the Records Keeper, RED, the film’s title stands for “Retired, Extremely Dangerous.” And that’s what Frank Moses (Bruce Willis), former CIA agent, happens to be.

Which means that the wetsuit hit squad sent after him in his home should’ve known better. A LOT BETTER.

Realizing that bad guys want to silence him over what he knows about a shady Military Operation back in the ‘80s, Moses goes on the run with his only friend, Sarah (Mary Louise Parker). He then assembles his old CIA buddies Joe (Morgan Freeman), Boggs (John Malkovich), Victoria (Helen Mirren) and Ivan (Brian Cox) for a mission against the enemy.

And the enemy is a shady man named Alexander Dunning (Richard Dreyfus), given away a bit too early by his smug body language. Cooper (Karl Urban), the CIA agent sent after the heroes, is much better at portraying the film’s Javert type. And Malkovich steals every scene as the Looney Boggs.

At heart, this is an action comedy, unlike the gravely serious graphic novel. Director Robert Schwentke and his crew get the action right, and the actors, by playing off each other, get the comedy to come out fine. Now, the only thing that could improve it is a polishing of the script to clarify some confusion.

Let Me In

Not even the glowing vampires of Twilight can illuminate the atmosphere of Let Me In. It’s just that dark and a bit more mature and quite better than those vampire movies that are all the rage.

Its protagonist, Owen (Kodi Smit-McPhee) is living a not so nice existence. His parents are bitterly divorcing and the school bully and his posse has taken special interest in him. So, Owen expresses his frustrations by doing serial killer role playing.

And then the new girl Abby (Chloe Grace Moretz) and her nameless guardian (Richard Jenkins) move into Owen’s apartment complex. After a while, the two kids “go steady;” but then, Owen finds that Abby likes blood…

This is actually a remake of a VERY recent Swedish film Let The Right One In (itself based off a novel by John Ajvide Lindqvist). And it’s quite similar to it except for it being in English and the addition of a policeman character (Elias Koteas). But even without seeing the original, this film for me didn’t seem some lifeless imitator.

And much of the credit goes to director and writer Matt Reeves (Cloverfield) for getting great efforts from everyone involved. From the young actors, to composer Michael Giacchino, to cinematographer Greg Fraser, all help create the film’s dark mood. On screen, the suspense, and impact of violence is quite there, and so is the blood, even if it’s not to the extent of something like Saw.

This film knows what it’s doing. If all remakes, especially those of Horror films, took cues from this, then they might become respectable again.

The Social Network

JETHRO'S NOTE: The review here is in the form of a conversation with an animal buddy named Vance (a bull).

VANCE: Why are we talking about Facebook?

ME: Because the film we’re reviewing, The Social Network, is about Facebook!

VANCE: Who’d wanna watch that?

ME: Who’d watch a film called The Accidental Billionaires, the book that the writer, Aaron Sorkin used to make this film along with the director, David Fincher? Huh?

VANCE: Ok, fair enough.

ME: So, Facebook was started by an egomaniac named Mark Zuckerberg (Jessie Eisenberg), miffed that his girlfriend Erica (Rooney Mara) broke up with him. Anyway, after his prototype Facebook, Facemash, crashed Harvard’s servers, these dudes named Winklevoss (Armie Hammer) ask him to help them make a social networking site for Harvard “creatively” called Harvard Connection.

VANCE: I saw this film, too. You don’t need to tell me.

ME: I’m telling them…Anyway, Zuckerberg and his buddy Eduardo (Andrew Garfield) take the Harvard Connection idea, make it their own, and call it THE Facebook. And then…

VANCE: AND THEN, they make it into a global empire with the help of Sean Parker (Justin Timberlake), the creator of Napster, as their financial adviser. And with no help from the Winklevoss guys, and their buddy Narendra (Max Minghella), who decide to sue them for stealing their idea.

ME: What works with this film? Quite a lot. Eisenberg makes quite an effective egomaniac forcibly brought down to Earth. Timberlake is quite the scene stealer as Parker, and Garfield is also great too. This cast should win the SAG Award.

VANCE: Wait…why’d you list Armie Hammer as both Winklevoss brothers?

ME: Because he is both Winklevoss guys. With stand-in Josh Pence and the same effects that David Fincher used with Benjamin Button, Hammer is in the scene twice over and you don’t notice it until someone tells you.

VANCE: ….

ME: I know. That just helps makes The Social Network cement itself as one of the best films of this fall’s Oscar season. I don’t know about the year, I’m still in the liking for Scott Pilgrim.

VANCE: Don't know why you invited me to co-review if you're hogging it all. Grr...

Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps

Some twenty years back, Michael Douglas won his second Oscar for staring as sinister stock trader Gordon Gekko in Oliver Stone’s film Wall Street. Now, director and star have comeback to make the sequel, Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps.

In the last film, Gekko was sent to jail thanks in large part to his former protégé, Bud Fox (Charlie Sheen, who cameos here). Some seven years after he is let out, it’s now 2008, when good ol’ greed throws Wall Street down for the count.

A new potential protégé named Jake Moore (Shia LaBeouf) comes to Gekko after sleazy trader Bretton James (Josh Brolin) sends his Wall Street firm down the tubes. Also, Jake is dating Gekko’s daughter, Winnie (Carey Mulligan), who hates her dad. So, it’s a revenge story and family reconciliation story all in one.

Gordon Gekko here is supposed to be the star here, so he gets his own paragraph. Apparently, Stone and Douglas try to make him a more sympathetic character here as opposed to the sly dog from last time. But the trouble here is that he abruptly goes back to his old ways in a spectacularly sinister way about ¾ in.

Josh Brolin, meanwhile, made for a so-so villain. Not so nice, not so mean, just apathetic middle ground. Eli Wallach, who’s only in for a few scenes here, makes a memorable impression as an eccentric member of James’s think-tank. In fact, he’s probably the best thing about this movie.

The performances from LaBeouf and Susan Sarandon as Jake’s mother help make this film watchable too. Still, there’s the fact that the film drags quite a bit. With a few tweaks in length and script, this film could’ve been better.

JETHRO'S NOTE: In case you're interested, Michael Douglas won his first Oscar as Co-Producer of Best Picture Winner One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest.

Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole

In a world of 3d conversions with no foresight, Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole, is the latest of them to come to cinemas. Actually, the filmmakers, including director Zack Snyder (300, Watchmen) put much thought into the visual imagery here. In fact, this works very well on 3d screens; it’s the story here that should’ve been worked on.

Our titular heroes, who don’t show up in the film for some time, are a league of warrior owls. Long ago, they defeated a bad owl, now called Metalbeak (Joel Edgerton). Like good ol’ Voldemort, beakie decides to raise an army of warriors to make a comeback. His scheme involves something called Flex, brainwashing weak owls with the moon and, oh yeah, the army.

Before we get to the owls, we get to Soren (Jim Sturgess) and Kludd (Ryan Kwanten), who are owl brothers (no, duh?). They’re snatched by Metalbeak’s goons and taken to his lair; Kludd willingly joins the army, while Soren and his new friend Gylfie (Emily Barclay) breakout when they hear that the Guardians are real…and stuff.

The film is taken from three novels (out of fifteen) by Kathryn Lasky, and it shows. Especially with the flex, the story is quite confusing, especially to anyone not familiar with the source material. It certainly soared over my head, and I wouldn’t be surprised if it soared over anyone else’s heads.

But visually, it’s done quite well. Its 3d effects are quite noticeable, and they are amazing. If you’re looking for a visual experience, it’s quite worth it either on 3d or flat screen.

But if you’re looking for a better written film, look elsewhere.

And you know what’s frustrating? The Wily Coyote cartoon at the start of the film was much better!

The Town

JETHRO'S NOTE: Yes, I'm back. Settled in Modesto, California.

JETHRO'S NOTE TWO: Now, on to the review.

Let's go to town on The Town. Before you ask yourselves "what kind of title is that," ask yourselves what kind of title is Prince of Thieves, the Chuck Hogan novel that is the source for this film.

The town is Charlestown, a suburb of Boston. According to the film, it's the crime capitol of the world. Doug MacRay (Ben Affleck, also director and co-writer) and his friends, "Jem" Coughlin (Jeremy Renner), "Gloansy" Magloan (Slaine), and "Dez" Elden (Owen Burke) just so happen to have this as their profession.

On one such job, they take bank manager Claire (Rebecca Hall) as a hostage. Because they were wearing masks, their identities should be safe. But Doug decides to follow her to make sure. That's when they begin a relationship...

Compared to, let’s say, The Expendables, there’s not much action here. There are only three robbery sequences, which include car chases, and a few other acts of violence in this film. But when the violent scenes happen, they make the moment as tense as it needs to be. That’s what makes it work as an action film in the end.

Amongst the cast, the only performance I had issue with was Jon Hamm. As the obligatory FBI agent sent to bust Doug and his gang, he was far too one-dimensional as a character. The rest of the cast, including Pete Postlethwaite as Doug’s employer “Fergie the Florist,” did much better in their roles. While “Fergie” went from nice man to total snake, the FBI guy was a tough barking dog and nothing else.

But in the end, with Affleck on front, he proves himself capable as a director and an actor. This makes The Town quite a good visit.

The American

Perhaps because the late Martin Booth’s novel “A Very Private Gentleman” wouldn’t sell well as a film title, the film version of said novel is now “The American.”

In it, our “hero” is Jack (George Clooney), an assassin who, in his first scene, kills two other assassins and his own female companion in Sweden. His boss, Pavel (Johan Leysen) sends him to Rome to hideout from any potential repercussions. There, he meets Mathilde (Thekla Reuten), who wants him to build her a highly-efficient gun. He also meets a prostitute (Violante Placido), and a priest (Paolo Bonacelli). Thanks to the latter two, Jack, aka Edward, decides he wants out of his dangerous profession.

Yup, that’s pretty much it for the story. There is no major shootouts ala the Bond movies, or a clear-cut sense of plot. It’s just a character study of an assassin, perhaps like if it was James Bond considering retirement one movie after he killed all the real bad guys. On that level, thanks to Clooney, it succeeds.

Its director, Anton Corbijn, has mainly done music videos. To his credit, it doesn’t resemble a full length music video. His cinematographer, Martin Ruhe, and Editor Andrew Hulme, have aided him in constructing a nicely-shot, properly edited story. Thanks to the latter, the film is effectively suspenseful when it needs to be.

It does move incredibly slowly at times. But one should remember that it’s about a character’s life unraveling on-screen. Otherwise, one’ll get lost and confused at times in the plot.

Get Low

Although the advertisements of Get Low give top-billing to Robert Duvall and Bill Murray, it’s pretty much the former who’s the star of the show. And thanks to Duvall, it is quite a memorable show indeed.

Duvall is Felix Bush, a real-life Tennessee hermit whom his fellow citizens regard with superstition. His only companion is his mule, whom he tells would-be trespassers to beware of. Hearing one day that an old friend has passed on, Bush decides to plan for his own funeral…and have it while he’s still alive to hear the townsfolk talk about him!

This is a godsend for opportunistic undertaker Frank Quinn (Bill Murray). He has his protégée, Buddy (Lucas Black), make the arrangements for the funeral, including the hiring of Felix’s favorite preacher (Bill Cobbs). The plans for the big day get disrupted when Mattie Darrow (Sissy Spacek), an old acquaintance of Felix, comes in. With her, comes the tragic secret that prompted Felix’s hermit ways in the first place.

As I said, this is Robert Duvall’s show all the way. He makes such a performance as this old coot that one is easily drawn into the story. That’s not to say that the other actors are just not worth it. Among them, Bill Murray as Frank is quite an amusing character.

Its director and editor, Aaron Schneider previously won the Oscar for his short film Two Soldiers. This is his first feature film as Director, and if this is any indication, should be the first of many fine ones.

The Kids Are All Right

An issue I had with Lisa Cholodenko’s otherwise all-right The Kids are All Right was how abrupt the ending was. I’ll get to the ending a little bit later, and instead, spend some time to dictate what this film is about.

Joni (Mia Wasikowska) and her brother Laser (Josh Hutcherson) were both conceived due to artificial insemination from the same donor. Their household is headed by their Lesbian mothers Nic (Annette Bening), the physician and Jules (Julianne Moore), the stay-at-home mom with dreams of landscaping.

Thanks to Joni, the kids’ father, restaurateur Paul (Mark Ruffalo) finally enters the picture. Despite admitting he only did his part just for cash and for the hell-of-it, he gets along quite well with the kids. He especially gets along with Jules, with whom he carries on an adulterous affair.

Naturally, the aforementioned ending is triggered once the affair is finally discovered. I won’t say further, but let’s say some of the plot isn’t clearly resolved on-screen. I think the idea was to have its audience discuss and think about the ending amongst them. I know I am as I’m writing this; it makes a little more sense.

As for the actors, they are quite all-right to say the least. As Paul, Mark Ruffalo makes a likeable guy, perhaps too likeable as a third-wheel in a relationship. Julianne Moore and Annette Bening, as Jules and Nic, make for an excellent couple in love. These are the highlights of such a nice cast.

Much of the credit for the actors’ performances goes to Cholodenko and her co-writer, Stuart Blumberg. They’ve avoided potentially overused dramatic clichés in their depiction of relationships. They thus act like real people, and not actors clearly begging for the Academy’s attention. I’m quite positive it’ll get the Academy’s attention anyway because it’s one of the best films of the summer.