Me and You and Everyone We Know

 

 

Create your own review

Sometimes the most we can hope for is someone to love, cherish, and to know that we are loved in return.

Performance artist/writer/director/actress Miranda July made an instant name for herself with "Me And You And Everyone We Know." This writing/directorial debut is full of characters who seem startlingly realistic, but in a way that makes the world seem just a little kinder than it was before.

Christine (July) is a shy performance artist who works as an senior-cab driver. Richard (John Hawkes) is a lonely shoe salesman who has just been dumped by his wife, and is bewildered by his loneliness. His younger son is having a cyberaffair with a fortysomething woman, and his elder son is getting a bit too close with the local girls.

A chance encounter in a store, and on the street, brings Richard and Christine together for a few minutes, and convinces Christine that they may have a future together. The two dance awkwardly around each other -- Christine wants to be with Richard, but Richard's divorce wounds are still too fresh. Will these awkward soulmates connect at last?

Early in the movie, Richard announces that, "I want to be swept off my feet, you know? I am prepared for amazing things to happen. I can handle it!" Well, he gets an amazing thing: Christine. "Me and You..." doesn't have Hollywood-pretty actors having Big Dramatic Moments. Instead, the beauty of this quirky love story is that it could happen to any of us -- a chance encounter bringing us together with a true soulmate.

The simple plot moves with surprising speed, as the characters learn to pursue their happiness. July fills it with delicate, moving scenes, such as a scene where Christine and her friend Michael try to save a goldfish on a moving car. When the bag falls, your heart will break.

But "Me and You..." is also incredibly funny. The movie is full of cheerful seniors, funny art videos, and even a little girl who is stocking up appliances and towels so she can be a good housewife. The cyberaffair and teen sex play would seem creepy in most movies, but to July's credit, she manages to make it seem strangely innocent.

And as Christine, July is a lovable character. She has boundless love, energy and friendship, but until she meets Richard, she has no one to give it to. Hawkes gives an excellent performance opposite her. He seems kind of weird at first, until we realize that Richard is still in shock from the divorce.

"Me and You And Everyone We Know" was one of the most beautiful, heartfelt movies to come out in 2005, and will leave you with a feeling that the world might be kind after all. A magical, funny, bittersweet experience.

Great characters, great dialogue, moments of pure magic. This is a must see movie.

Right from the start this flick lost me. I listened to the lead actress narrate some New Agey type stuff while gazing at some pic on the wall of two people on a beach. Then it goes to an incredibly sketchy-looking scrawny dude in the midst of his soon-to-be-ex-wife packing up and leaving...he walks outside, knocks on his kids' window and proceeds to light his hand on fire.

I thus started hitting the fast forward button to see if this thing goes anywhere. It doesn't seem to.

Don't believe the awards or hype, this is sheer painful slow death to sit through and, trust me, I'm saving you the pain. The pace is far too glacial. Sorry, but at my age I no longer have the patience to sit through art films hoping something will happen or looking for the meaning in a stone on a sidewalk.

I get it. The director is young. She wants to say something profound and create something magical. Sorry, but sometimes you need a bit more experience in life to stop navel gazing and learn that narrative has to have pace. People mainly go to the movies to escape and also see people onscreen they either can relate to or can sit and gawk at for their looks. If this works for you, fine, but you still need to reach beyond the audience who will sit through stuff like this to actually make yourself heard beyond your circle of enablers.

It's an art fillum, folks, and it isn't Truffaut. If you dig this sort of thing, you might like it. Those days are long over for me ever since I was stuck in a grubby downtown theater with a bunch of First Nations folks watching Eraserhead and wishing someone would put me out of this pain. I have better things to do with an hour and a half of my time as I hit Hawaii 5-0 years than watch performance art onscreen. At least if this performance art was on the street my boos and heckling could be heard and comedy might ensue.

Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review

› See all 3 customer reviews on Amazon.ca

 

Search Customer Reviews
Only search this product's reviews

Search Listmania!