Evening
I hate to say it, ‘cos this movie’s so vaginal it’s stifling (you can practically smell the perfume in some scenes) and I’m sure someone out there will decide my response is thus because I haven’t got one – but though it’s beautifully photographed (the very first shot got me very excited; it was either that or Michael Cunningham’s name in the credits) and scored, this is like The Notebook with all semblance of a story plain sucked out.
The most notable thing about it is the casting – Meryl Streep’s own daughter Mamie Gummer as her younger self passes at least half an hour for the audience wondering, is that nose plastic, is the whole thing some new kind of CG … or does she really look like her mum?? lol. And though not so visually startling, the casting of Natasha Richardson as Vanessa Redgrave’s daughter is a nice touch too. In the context of such an empty 2 hours, though, it resembles too much nothing but a gimmick. One of the posters kinda says it all – the cast names dwarf the movie’s title and even mask the beautiful backdrop art. Definitely see The Notebook instead. After this and Away From Her, I might have to dig it out again myself. This one’s only saving grace is that it is, I’ll admit, nice to find another movie that’s so much slower and quieter than much that’s been released this year. That alone, though – though many will try to convince you otherwise, not to mention all the men’s men who’ll try to like it to get some sex – is not enough to make a movie worth watching.