I had no idea what to expect from this movie – I’d even forgotten it was written by Michael Cunningham (who wrote The Hours). All I remembered from what I’d heard about the movie was that it starred Colin Farrell and was apparently pretty good.

I was instantly hooked from the start – both younger versions of Farrell are amazingly cast, not only in appearance but also talent (especially the teenage version) – and the opening segments, leading up to the introduction of Farrell, are what I can only describe as some incredible storytelling, encompassing the simple moments you expect from childhood memory sequences, one of the most awful screen-deaths I’ve seen in a while (in the way it makes death seem so random, pathetic, instant and embarrassing), and always pulling you forward into the main story of the movie.

It’s not just Farrell and his younger doppelgangers that turn in great performances: in fact, the stand-out for me until one brief moment with Farrell towards the end (it’s as they’re scattering the ashes: Farrell conveys so much that’s going on in the character’s head without saying a word, it totally moved me to tears) was Robin Wright Penn, who in places is practically unrecognisable. Her character goes through so many changes, and there’s one scene in particular which is probably the best in the film, when she reveals to Bobby and Jonathan that she’s pregnant. Sissy Spacek, too, lights up the screen in the short time she’s on.

Like Michael Cunningham’s The Hours, this movie is about the little things (it’s put at a couple of points in the movie as, “The big, beautiful noisy world… everything that can happen,” a beautiful line), but it’s completely sweeping in the number of life issues it touches; as Ed Harris’ character in The Hours says, he wants to write about everything; that’s surely Cunningham talking (I’m pretty sure he says something similar on the commentary of The Hours DVD), and he does it again here. Definitely one of the best films of 2004.

This entry was posted on Monday, November 29th, 2004 at 5:06 pm in 5 hearts, Movie Reviews. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.