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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 6,986
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Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 6,986 |
While the scenery and the music in this film are beautiful, I strongly recommend that any current BS with an active wayward (especially BHs) NOT go see it unless you want to be triggered big time. I wanted to yell at the screen to George Clooney (tell her! tell her!) at one point in the movie where he had the perfect opportunity to expose but didn't, at least not enough. Clooney did lay a big fat kiss on the lips on the BW just after he met her and was leaving that probably got her to thinking but he could have done so much more in that moment. It is a sad movie and showed how a family deconstructs and the end results. The children were the products of their absentee parents and the parents failed in every way, especially the mom. In the end, Clooney's character "gets it" but at an extreme cost.
Widowed 11/10/12 after 35 years of marriage
*********************
“In a sense now, I am homeless. For the home, the place of refuge, solitude, love-where my husband lived-no longer exists.” Joyce Carolyn Oates, A Widow's Story
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996
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Joined: Oct 2000
Posts: 35,996 |
I loved many things about this movie. Clooney's performance is stellar. The writing is stellar. SPOILER ALERTReading the following may ruin some surprise elements in the movie. The emerging crisis-upon-crisis-upon-crisis story line is very realistic.
However, the pacing is very deliberate & never rushed.
My favorite scene is the last one.
The family, not speaking, watching TV together.
Body language acting is my favorite.
I also appreciated the handling of the secondary characters.
The FIL in particular.
He was so dislikable. Then, you meet his wife. Suddenly, there is empathy. I still found him unlikable, but, like Clooney, I respected that his 'plate was full' and adding another 'terrible horrible' to his plate would only serve up pain, not healing.
I appreciated the goofy teenage boy.
Also unlikable.
Less so than the FIL because we tend to 'cut a break' to young people who are still developing their character.
Then, suddenly, there is empathy and understanding 'why' he is there.
We were led to believe he was there to assist Clooney's troubled daughter. Turns out, it's the other way around.
A 'father figure' reluctantly emerges.
Grief is shown in a very realistic light. Multi-layered. Confusing.
Clooney on his knees in his front yard after all his guests have departed.
Anger/outrage is there, but what to do with those feelings?
Clooney at his dying wife's bedside, telling her "Good-bye". My Pain. My Joy.
Love and loss are intricately entwined. Such is life.
I appreciated the set decoration.
Their house and their pool were as messy as their lives. Unkempt. An accurate representation of their lives. Weeds everywhere. The seams of the family were unraveling. 'Falling apart' is the word that comes to mind. Not drifting, falling.
The extended family is also coming apart.
The land sale will not bring them together, but sever family bonds.
The land/legacy is an extension of the family legacy.
In the end, respect and reverence is shown. I loved that!
I could go on.
But, I'll stop here for now.
It's not a perfect movie. But, I loved every minute of it and I did not sense any false Hollywood-Happy-Sappy notes.
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Joined: May 2009
Posts: 550
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Joined: May 2009
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I liked the film a lot, but I see why it might be a trigger. The daughters, especially the older one had an admirable backbone, she was very courageous and supportive to her family. Unusual choice of movie to play by Clooney, I think.
Me, FWW: 43
Mr_Recon6mo, FWH: 44
DD20 and DS23
3 cats
Married 23 years, together 24
Divorcing
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Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 5,123 Likes: 1
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He does a fair share of indy films.
Honestly, I wouldn't see this one as any worse than Up in the Air - that one was like a punch in the gut out of nowhere.
"An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field." - Niels Bohr
"Smart people believe weird things because they are skilled at defending beliefs they arrived at for non-smart reasons." - Michael Shermer
"Fair speech may hide a foul heart." - Samwise Gamgee LOTR
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