|
|
|
Évaluation du client type
Partagez votre opinion avec les autres clients
|
|
|
› Voir les points de vue les plus utiles
|
|
Interesting Little Movie, Juil 5 2007
Lovely and Amazing is a feminine picture (albeit still watchable for a man) and it is also a deeply depressing story that briefly peaks into the lives of two women and their mother. It is slow and somewhat awkward but it retains it's positive side at the end with notably almost no resolution whatsoever. The film paces itself very slowly, yet somehow works well because it is written and handled with a refreshing eye. Nicole Hilofcenter (Sex and the City) directs.
Catherine Keener plays one of the daughters, Michelle, a 36 year old unemployed mother of one young daughter. Her husband is easy to relate to for a man and his patience as a character is exceptional because Keener's character has a highly volatile temper and she is for what it's worth completely unreasonable, yet somehow likeable at the same time. She sees herself as an artist and we watch her fail at that and then become a clerk at a one hour photo. There she has an affair with her 17 year old boss played by Jake Gyllenhaul. Things unfold for her as expected and I for one feel she gets what she deserves.
Her insecure younger sister Elizabeth, played by Emily Mortimer, on the other hand is originally dealt a fair hand and ironically gets it taken away as her insecurities are realized. She sleeps with an actor who is boorish enough to be honest about whether she is sexy or pretty enough to be an actress. You see, her being self-centered is seen as a requirement and that actually made it more fun for me to watch her fail. She is finished with her one night stand with this actor, and asks that he critique her body. She stands naked in front of him in a surprising, awkward and daring (for Mortimer) sequence. Mortimer is certainly attractive enough to watch her fully nude for this long but it's such a cold and bleak scene that really comes out of nowhere, it is certainly not meant to be sensual. She comes as who she is, vulnerable and probably not ready to enter the world of acting. The film is loaded with moments like this that go against the grain and ultimately help the characters get used to themselves as much as they may resist.
Their mother is in the midst of getting liposuction and the risks of surgery do indeed show themselves. She has adopted a young African American girl which makes for some interesting comments regarding race as well as she is enrolled in a "Big Sister" kind of program to get exposure to another black person. It's unfortunate that so little is said about their mother's past because she really ought to be the center of the film. Her story and her adopted daughter's story may have been intended to be delved into further...perhaps some was left on the cutting room floor.
All of the characters' fits of selfish vanity are always answered. That seems to be the running theme and it gives you a different outlook on these things despite these characters being fundamentally good people. Is it really so wrong to ignore or displace blame for your own vanity so easily? If so, isn't it society that is doing it to us or should we be accountable for it? Do we create our surrounding culture enough to pay the price for being ingrained within it's sins? Is there anything we can do about it? I know one thing, my latest job interview may go a hell of a lot better if I comb my hair and where a really nice suit then if I don't. Then again just like anything, vanity has it's excesses. Just as Lovely and Amazing finishes it's value in helping us ask interesting questions, it ends as unconventionally as it unfolds. It's no classic, but it is films like this that if other filmmakers take note it can certainly provide different avenues for expression.
Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles
Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?
 
|
|
|
|
|
|
"Lovely and Amazing" shows an interesting view into a family of women, Jui 28 2007
This is the second film that writer/director Nicole Holofcener has made, and I think that she has succeeded very well in making a highly original film with very interesting characters. Some people feel that the dialog is very good, although on occasion it felt a bit off to me. The story doesn't really go much of anywhere, but that's not really the point of a film like this. The acting in this movie was uniformly very good among the women.
"Lovely and Amazing" documents several days in the life of a mother and her three daughters. The mother, Jane (Brenda Blethyn), is in the midst of a mid-life crisis and decides to service herself through a liposuction treatment. As she is going through with the procedure, she asks her daughter Michelle (Catherine Keener) to take care of her younger, adopted sister Annie (Raven Goodwin). Michelle is a house-wife/artist who becomes so enthralled in her work of home-made miniature chairs that she asks ridiculous prices for them before storming out of stores at their disapproval. The third sister, Elizabeth (Emily Mortimer), is rescuing homeless dogs in between visits to her agent. Having just completed her roll in a Hollywood film, Elizabeth does her best to stay a humanitarian en route to what she wants to be success.
Eventually, all four women's problems are projected in full effect. Jake Gyllenhaal reprises his role as the adolescent roué who somehow ends up bedding Catherine Keener (just like Jennifer Aniston in "The Good Girl"). He is perfectly cast with his dark, sultry looks, and wild puppy eyes. Raven Goodwin played her part naturally well and shined on every scene. She is clearly a very talented actress and I've notice recently a lot of child actors on screen are really getting better in their roles. Finally we have Aunjanue Ellis who I believe is one of the most underrated African-American females on the screen today who has dramatize her role just as well as the rest of the cast, she seriously needs to have bigger parts to show off her full abilities. The men in the film have smaller roles because this is a film about (but not exclusively for) women. They include Jane's cosmetic surgeon, Michelle's husband, Elizabeth's boyfriend, Kevin McCabe (a star who Elizabeth reads for a part with, played by Dermot Mulroney).
"Lovely & Amazing" is a crazy entertaining movie. It has everything, liposuction, statutory rape, fast food, show business, and possibly rabies. Director Nicole Holefcener apparently had a lot to say and I quite enjoyed it. If you're a fan of any of these actors, then I would recommend this movie to you.
Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles
Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Film that's full of humor, but no resolution, Jui 9 2004
Par Un client
There are good performances in this film and interesting subjects that are brought up, but there is a serious flaw here and that's the fact that it doesn't face up to the issues much and just presents them. The ultimate presentation of this is the mother who gets lyposuction, there are certain things in her life which she simply doesn't remedy and movie seems OK to let her not deal with them. In a way this is true to life, but if you wanted to broach certain subjects in film about people's crossroads in life than the film should have a definitive view on them. This film's view on the characters was that it liked them and so it was non-judgmental. It just doesn't seem to have a point for existing even though that existence is funny, sad,and presented with a very matter of fact, frankness, that is rare nowadays. One thing that wasn't dealt with that I liked was Dermot Mulroney's character in relationship to Emily Mortimer's character. He's completely using her and he's completely honest about that, but we don't know if she'll have another liason with him in the future, or not. I liked that particular open end.
Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles
Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Insightful, Mai 27 2004
Lovely & Amazing surprised me at the sheer content of sociological examination. Nearly every scene exposes a glimpse at unspoken, or rather rarely-spoken, idiosyncracies in everyday interaction.For example, the adopted girl, Annie, shows white viewers that even at her young age she must confront such topics as: straightening her hair, being told her "mother" (older black woman who is a mentor) must wear a swimming cap in the pool while the white swimmers do not; being told she doesn't need sunscreen because her "skin is already brown"; understanding why her adopted mother needs liposuction to look better (Annie must wonder if she needs to look better also). These are but a breach in the bundle of issues this movie examines. Each character raises a multitude of motifs that could serve as meaningful topics for lengthy essays. If I were a sociology professor, this movie would be required viewing in my classes.
Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles
Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lacked coherence., Déc 4 2003
Lovely and Amazing (Nicole Holofcener, 2001)Nicole Holofcener (Sex and the City, Gilmore Girls, Six Feet Under) delivers her second feature film in which a lot of people do a lot of talking and no one actually does much of anything. This one centers around a mother (Brenda Blethyn, recently seen in Little Voice) who's about to go into the hospital for liposuction, and her three daughters, Elizabeth (Emily Mortimer of The Ghost and the Darkness fame), Michelle (Catherine Keener from being John Malkovich), and adopted daughter Annie (Raven Goodwin, last seen in The Station Agent). The mother and the three daughters are all variously dysfunctional. Elizabeth, an actress, has a minor part in a movie that's about to open and no other forthcoming prospects. Michelle is an artists trying to consign her handicrafts to various art stores and failing repeatedly, while her husband is off knocking boots with her best friend. Annie, transracially adopted, is just trying to fit in however she can. Let's face it, it's an Oprah Movie Club pick waiting to happen, if Oprah ever starts a movie club. Still, it's got its good points. I rented it solely for the Jake Gyllenhaal factor, truth be told. While Gyllenhaal's entrance into the movie comes late, the boy is never less than a pleasure to watch onscreen, and he does a great deal to redeem the movie (his character is the catalyst that drives many of the few events that actually occur in the film). Dermot Mulroney, as a possible new relationship for Elizabeth, does some of his best work here since Young Guns (one wonders if, between this and The Safety of Objects, Mr. Mulroney isn't beginning to vault himself up onto the A list). The four main actresses are all very good in their roles, if not actually given much to do. Even the normally loathsome Brenda Blethyn is watchable (i.e., a bit less loathsome than usual), though she just doesn't sound right with an American accent. The strength of the movie, however, lies in Raven Goodwin. Annie's search for some way to fit in to the mess that is this family provides most of the movie's truly absorbing moments (the relationship between Keener and Gyllenhaal providing the rest of them). The rest of the movie seems to be made with an eye towards exciting a kind of embarrassed, nervous laughter from the viewer (and it succeeds well), but most of the scenes containing Annie aim for the heart, and without the usual emotional manipulation one is apt to find in most Hollywood fare. It's a refreshing change. If you want movies where lots of things happen, you can probably dismiss this. If you don't mind a slow pace and a lot of dysfunction, give it a look. **
Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles
Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
Lovely and Amazing is truely Lovely and Amazing, Oct. 25 2003
This is a movie of long dialogue scenes, don't expect action, it may seem slow for some people, but in fact it's a heart-warming drama.To understand this film, keep focusing on the dialogue, it will take you deeper inside the character, which will take you even much deeper inside the story, by that time you won't feel the minutes passing by, and you'll beg if it was much longer than that. The performance is amazing, the script is very well-written, there were no gaps, very logic, the twists and turns break the heart. Emily Mortimer plays the role of an actress with very weak self-confidence, or weak character, she excelled in this role, her face was so innocent. Catherine Keener is the eldest sister, a loser unemployed married woman, desperately tries to sell the things she makes. Things always go against her well. Brenda Blethyn is the mother who's trying to live her past despite being old. Despite being simple, this film is one of my favourites. I really recommend it.
Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles
Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
POIGNANT & WELL MADE, BUT ULTIMATELY DEPRESSING.., Oct. 10 2003
The good things about the movie: it is very real, and captures the idiosynchrasies of the women remarkably well (a mother and her two daughters through a period of change.) The bad things about the movie: although the movie is well made, the narrative is more than a bit lacking dragging the pace beyond any trickle of entertainment (and I recognize this is subjective.) That it is so real is also the movie's weakness. One daughter stands naked before her new lover and begs a frank assessment, good and bad, of her body. Another takes a job at the one hour photo after failing to sell her home made wrapping paper. Mommie dear thinks maybe her liposuction doctor is flirting with her. All you are left with is the feeling of having looked through a neighbor's window. The lives of these women occupy the space between tragic and heroic, in sight of both but touching neither. Somewhat depressing to watch but if you like "reality" this is as real as it gets.
Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles
Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
a series of well-acted vignettes, Juil 19 2003
While I didn't think this film cohered well, there were a number of interesting scenes featuring a gifted cast -- Brenda Blethyn, Catherine Keener, Dermot Mulroney, Emily Mortimer and Raven Goodwin. Blethyn plays the mother of Keener, Mortimer and Goodwin. Each one has "issues" -- poor body image, eating disorders, self-destructive behavior, etc. and the film's action takes place after Blethyn has had complications from a liposuction procedure.Subtitles are available in English or Spanish. Extras include a trailer and several short interviews with the director and stars Mortimer, Mulroney and Keener. There is no commentary track.
Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles
Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
A smart, responsible take on dysfunctional women., Avril 17 2003
"Lovely and Amazing" is much of what "Divine Secrets of the Ya-Ya Sisterhood" never was. It's about real women, women who make their own beds and lie in them, instead of having one disaster after another thrust upon to make their life miserable. It's about choices; a movie is usually far more exciting when a character makes decisions, instead of having the obvious thrown in their face. Eepecially good is Catherine Keener as a housewife entirely of bereft of ambition outside of erecting her worthless wooden crafts, which she insists on trying to sell for outrageous sums to unsmiling art dealers. Keener -- by choice, I suppose -- has shoehorned herself into playing the square peg in the round hole -- a sardonic, mouthy type who knows and thinks more than her position in life would indicate. There are two other sisters; One a shallow, insecure actress (Emily Mortimer) with a soft spot for stray animals, and the other an adopted 10-year-old black girl who's eaten too much fast food, has anger issues, and can hold her breath underwater a dangerously long time. Their mother is a fading beauty in her late fifties (Brenda Belthyn) heading in for plastic surgery. Visually, "Lovely and Amazing" is a little flat, which is fine for a talky, ruminating movie. Writer/director Nicole Hofencofer does a nice spoof on Hollywood agents and television hunks; one in particular, played by Dermot Mulroney, is more than interested in Mortimer's character outside of the audition room, even if they look like groping, suckfaced fools on the casting couch. Running through the two older sisters is a streak of self-torture -- Keener seems to like brawling with snobbish store owners, while Mortimer relishes the opportunity to have a man point out her physical flaws -- while the young girl is just beginning to learn, in possibly unhealthy ways, how to negotiate her own demons. The movie seems to hint, in fact, that troubled years are ahead for all of them, especially for Keener, who finally gets a job at a photolab only to start an affair with the 17-year-old manager. Mortimer, on the other hand, get the sadistic wish of temporary disfigurement through canine intervention. Blethyn spends much of the movie in the hospital enduring complications from her surgery, so she isn't left much to do. And yet she uses the inflections in her voice in more than one interaction with her daughters to suggest her disappointment, even as she describes them as the movie's title, "lovely and amazing." It's a cute term of endearment, empty given the circumstances, although, given a better roll of the dice, we can see where these women might have been more.
Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles
Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
the title describes the film!!!, Avril 13 2003
The four females in "Lovely & Amazing" look at themselves through a self-cracked mirror. Jane (Brenda Blethyn) is a well-off woman in her 50s who cares enough about others to adopt Annie (Raven Goodwin), an 8-year-old African-American girl whose birth mother is a crack addict. Jane also cares enough about herself to sign up for cosmetic surgery ($10,000 a pop and no insurance) to remove 10 pounds from her midriff.Along with Annie, Jane has two adult daughters. The older one, Michelle (Catherine Keener), is a former homecoming queen who has turned into a childish, self-centered neurotic. Though Michelle's husband constantly prods her to get a job, she fancies herself an artist. She makes miniature chairs to sell to knickknack shops, but no one's buying. Michelle's younger sister, Elizabeth (Emily Mortimer), is a beautiful aspiring actress who's already landing some small movie roles. But she has such a distorted self-image that she thinks of herself as unattractive -- even as she's posing for a photo spread in Vogue. Asked to do a "chemistry" audition with a big star named Kevin McCabe (Dermot Mulroney), she's forced to listen while casting agents casually appraise her sexuality -- or lack thereof. Both sisters are stuck in unfulfilling relationships. Elizabeth's overcritical live-in boyfriend is tired of hearing her obsess about her auditions, her resume photos, her agent, etc. Meanwhile, Michelle's sullen self-absorption and testy attitude have worn down her husband to the point that he's not especially interested in sleeping with her. To spite him, she takes a menial job at a one-hour photo shop, where her teenage boss (Jake Gyllenhaal) takes a Mrs. Robinson-like interest in her. As she proved in her fine 1996 film, "Walking and Talking," director Holofcener has an uncanny understanding of people as well as a gift for sharp, funny dialogue. Yes, "Lovely & Amazing" will probably spawn noxiously shallow lifestyle pieces on why women have poor self-esteem. But the film is much subtler and more complex than that. The entire cast is terrific, from Goodwin to Mulroney. But you have to focus on Keener, perhaps best known for her role as the merciless co-worker of John Cusack in "Being John Malkovich," who's become the Queen of Late Summer. She's creating her own type -- the acerbic smarts and ironic world-view of wisecracking dames like Rosalind Russell or "Frasier's" Peri Gilpin, with a twist of simmering anger and a drop of self-loathing. As vulnerable as she is venomous, she doesn't want to be the way she is, but she can't quite give it up, either. Deftly directed, winningly acted and shrewdly written, "Lovely & Amazing" is as softhearted as it is ruthless, as amusing as it is poignant, but it does have its faults. Mostly, it doesn't offer a lovely and amazing final resolution, one reason why I wish it went on longer. It's an engrossing and emotional film that every woman (and gay man) should see.
Aidez d'autres clients à trouver les commentaires les plus utiles
Ce commentaire vous a-t-il été utile ?
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Ce produit
|
|
CDN$ 15.78 CDN$ 13.99
En stock
| |
|
|
|
Accueil Amazon
