Customer Reviews

Flesh and Bone (Widescreen)

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

What I like so much about "Flesh and Bone" is that it's so unlike most other Thomas Newman scores but it also predates the movies we have came to love like "The Green Mile", "Shawshank Redemption", "American Beauty". Up to that point Thomas had not quite formed a style that we could distiguish him with, that would indentify him with the movies he scores. He beautifully captures the mood and atmosphere with melancholy and sadness and at the same time disturbing and haunting. Not a typical Hollywood score when instruments such as autoharp, bowls, bells, mandolin, marxaphone, bowed string, processed dulcimer, steel guitar, rod and plate assembles, birds, insects and vehicles along with the orchestration are heard. There is a ambience within the music that blends so well with the setting of the movie, the wheat fields of Texas.

This is perhaps Meg Ryan's best role as she delivers a truly emotionally scarred and self-forgotten Kay. Ryan's portrait of her character is so real it's scary.

Dennis Quaid is also on one of his best performances, though at the end seems a little off, but not by far. Excellent work.

Gwyneth Paltrow is memorable as she blends into the story so naturally and sharply that eventhough her character is vague in the storytelling, she shines like a true star.

James Caan is scary. He acts so naturally that you wonder if the guy is really like that. He is a solid good artist.

Bottom line: everything comes together (acting, story, photography, pauses) to produce a unique and rare jewel of a movie. If you like movies that make you think and reach deep into the soul, you gotta see it (and probably own it, I know I do).

This is perhaps Meg Ryan's best role as she delivers a truly emotionally scarred and self-forgotten Kay. Ryan's portrait of her character is so real it's scary.

Dennis Quaid is also on one of his best performances, though at the end seems a little off, but not by far. Excellent work.

Gwyneth Paltrow is memorable as she blends into the story so naturally and sharply that eventhough her character is vague in the storytelling, she shines like a true star.

James Caan is scary. He acts so naturally that you wonder if the guy is really like that. He is a solid good artist.

Bottom line: everything comes together (acting, story, photography, pauses) to produce a unique and rare jewel of a movie. If you like movies that make you think and reach deep into the soul, you gotta see it (and probably own it, I know I do).

This tale of murder and mayhem sat in the backwoods of texas isnt always easy to follow,. For starters, the two lead characters played by then lovers ryan and quaid, seem oddly mis-matched, he like he isnt really into the role at all, and she is just plain not gritty and hardened enough for this film.

James Caan is deliciously evil in this film, and viewers might get a kick out of a younger Gwyneth Paltrow as Caans young girl friend and companion. She has a small semi- nude part as well.

There is a nice shot of her and Mey Ryan out in a wheat field towards the end of the movie with their blone hair waving in the breeze.

But for all it could have been the film just never comes together fully. Still, thats just my opinion you may like it.

Why are people saying this movie is a thriller? It was so boring and pointless I had to make myself stay and watch it to the end. I'm not going to waste my time and write a detailed account of the movie. I'll just say that it was VERY dissapointing and Gwenyth Paltrow (or however you spell it) is UGLY and OVERRATED!

This film is one of my favorites. The story is suspenseful and well plotted. The theme is universal, but if you're not from small-town western Oklahoma or western Texas, or have not spent extended time there, you may not fully appreciate what a fabulous job Kloves (a native of Austin TX) has done in this film -- and how underappreciated the film is. It is a true sleeper. Culturally, this movie is the Southwestern equivalent of a film about Native Americans written and directed by a Native American. Speaking as a native of the Southwest, it was so refreshing to see a movie set in the rural Southwest that broke from the stale stereotype of the typical "western" law & order, yahoo, or save the ranch movies --one that tells a compelling and suspenseful personal story in a culturally authentic manner, without a single sheriff in sight. "Blood" or family ties are sacrosanct in this region of the country, so the theme is very appropriate to the cultural context while remaining of interest to most viewers. Ryan's, & Cann's performances are respectable, but not exceptionally authentic culturally. I agree with the earlier critique of Ryan's portrayal, but she nevertheless does a pretty good job for a girl from Connecticut-- one that is more regionally authentic than Cann's! This was the first film I saw Paltrow in, and she played her jaded character so convincingly (Paltrow's character is a wandering con artist from parts unknown -- obviously not from the Southwest) that it took time to view her differently in later films. However, if your only exposure to "cowboys" is from western movies, country-western music videos, or city-born "drugstore" cowboys, and you haven't spent time around feed lots, and cattle auctions in Texas or Oklahoma, then you've never seen real "born and bred" country cowboys from the Southwest and you probably won't realize how remarkable and true Quaid's performance is. When I first saw this film years ago, Quaid's performance was so good -- so nuanced -- that I was sure he had to have grown up in the country of west Texas. Quaid captured the body language and subtle mannerisms perfectly. My husband and I love watching this movie and we never fail to marvel anew at Quaid's performance each time we see it. It is so rare to see a captivating film of this quality and authenticity set in the rural Southwest.

"Flesh and Bone" earns two stars only because of the acting brilliance of Gwyneth Paltrow. She is thoroughly believable as Ginnie, a poorly educated girl-woman who even steals from corpses awaiting burial. Ginnie has a serious alcohol dependency problem, and seeks love and companionship from the much older Roy Sweeney (James Cann). Unfortunately, Paltrow has only has a supporting role in this mess of a movie. The other marquee named cast members include both Dennis Quaid and Meg Ryan. Why did they involve themselves in "Flesh and Bone?" Paltrow at least had an excuse because her career was in its early stages eight years ago. One can only assume that Cann wanted the challenge to portray someone totally manipulative and despicable. Cann's intentions may have been noble, but in the future he needn't be so lackadaisical and careless in his actual choices.

The story line revolves around the peculiar family values embraced by Roy and his son Arlis (Quaid). At the very beginning, we witness Roy wiping out a family so as not to leave behind any witnesses and "loose ends." A very young boy is even deliberately slaughtered by the father. Arlis is exhorted to always remain loyal to his immediate family regardless of their violent misdeeds. Blood is supposedly more important than adhering to the standard moral norms of compassion and honesty. Quaid's character is far too normal and decent. In real life, it is far likelier that an Arlis would be just as psychopathic as his primary parental role model. Meg Ryan as Kay is also never for a moment convincing as an adult woman of a proverbial white trash background. She fails completely to hide her upper middle class diction. The Director Steven Kloves apparently thought that Ryan's authenticity would be unquestioned if she merely left her hair uncombed. He was egregiously wrong, and the audience had to suffer the consequences. Kloves had so much talent to work with, and yet accomplished so little. The movie's pace slowed to the point where personal self discipline was required to sit through "Flesh and Bone" until its banal conclusion.

Gwyneth Paltrow fans should make sure "Flesh and Bone" is in their collection. All others, however, should not waste their precious time watching this far less than successful attempt at serious film making.

The ending of this fine film is hardly "senseless." The film is a refutation of biological determinism, although it could also be used to refute environmental determinism. After having been told by his evil father (James Caan) that they have the same bloodline--implying that this must make his son Arlis (Dennis Quaid) evil, just like his father--Arlis buys into this claptrap. "If you're born to it" and "It's not in your blood" are two of Arlis' typical comments. But at the end, when he says, "It's NOTHING--only BLOOD," he has finally realized that we all have free will and that we make our own decisions, bloodline or no bloodline. This film is truly Dostoevskian, PARTICULARLY the ending, which is as good a compliment as you can pay to any film. The great Russian novelist also saw the horrible danger in the determinist credo. Give this film 5 stars and send "A Viewer from Texas" back to school.

I'll just be short and to the point. Watch it. Second to "Hot Dog" in The Right Stuff, I'd say this is Quaid's quintessential role, and Ryan's best roll ever. Paltrow is perfect, Caan - well, no arguments here - and the cinematogrophy is just beautiful. Makes me want to move to Texas. Too bad that Texan didn't like it. I'm afraid your'e outnumbered Tex!

With such heavy-hitting box office names like Meg Ryan, Gwyneth Paltrow, James Caan, and Dennis Quaid, you would think this would be a winner, right? Wrong! This movie is all about unbearably exaggerated southern accents, dysfunction with a capital "D", and murder. It has no real direction or point, and the ending is senseless. What a waste!