In a quiet suburb, Paul Gold (Joshua Jackson) lies in a coma. His mother, Esther (Glenn Close), dutifully cares for him, growing ever distant from her husband and her teenage daughter, Julie (Jessica Campbell). Julie enters Esther in a contest of endurance as a means of bringing them closer together. Unbeknownst to his wife, .. Read more
| Starring | Glenn Close, Dermot Mulroney, Moira Kelly, Jessica Campbell |
|---|---|
| Director | Rose Troche |
| Genres | Drama |
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In a quiet suburb, Paul Gold (Joshua Jackson) lies in a coma. His mother, Esther (Glenn Close), dutifully cares for him, growing ever distant from her husband and her teenage daughter, Julie (Jessica Campbell). Julie enters Esther in a contest of endurance as a means of bringing them closer together. Unbeknownst to his wife, the Gold's neighbour, Jim Train (Dermot Mulroney), has quit his job without telling his wife. Needing a purpose, he becomes Esther's cheerleader. Meanwhile, the Trains' neighbour, Helen (Mary Kay Place), tries various products in hopes that they will keep her youthful while her friend Annette (Patricia Clarkson)--who was involved with Paul--weathers a messy divorce and raises two kids. At the same time, Paul's bandmate, handyman Randy (Timothy Olyphant), deals with personal loss in his own self-destructive way.
Director Rose Troche has skillfully taken the characters from several stories by A.M. Homes (from the book of the same title) and condensed them into one universe, allowing them to interact with each other. Taking a detour from the usual independent film route of ridiculing suburbia, Troche treats the characters with respect, even when their behaviour is reprehensible or their actions take the film into the realm of the darkly comic. Universally solid performances, especially from Close and Mulroney, emphasise the point that, contrary to popular belief, suburbia is not always lacking heart and soul.
| Starring | Glenn Close, Dermot Mulroney, Moira Kelly, Jessica Campbell, Alex House, Patricia Clarkson, Joshua Jackson, Timothy Olyphant, Robert Klein, Ma |
|---|---|
| Director | Rose Troche |
| Studio | ENTERTAINMENT IN VIDEO |
| Run time | DVD: 1 hr 55 mins |
| Certificate |  |
| Genres | Drama |
| Language | DVD: English |
| Released | Production year: 2001 To Rent: DVD: 09 Feb 2004 |
Based on AM Homes' short stories, this is a left-field, Short Cuts-style collage of suburban America. It's an incident... read more on Time Out
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The new Ice storm or American Beauty?
A powerful story intertwining the lives of four neighboring families as they struggle to understand each other and, ultimately, themselves.
Maybe ... read more »
[Highly rated reviewer]
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Engaging film indeed and thought provoking...
A brief review really just saying that I think that this IS a good film.
It is a harder watch if you don't like slower, slightly convoluted films... read more »
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The Safety of Objects
I was a little puzzled at first to what this film actually was about, or if it had any direction at all. It turned out to be a great little movie, that I would ... read more »
[Highly rated reviewer]
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A Slog
Admire Glenn Close very much, the reason for the rent of this DVD. However, I must have a trash film streak in me because I could'nt get to grips with this... read more »
Twilight star Kristen Stewart landed her talent agent after impressing him with a "serious dreidel song" during a "forced" school performance when she was eight years old. The actress, now 21, admits she did not want to take part in the variety show and ended up having to sing a mundane tune about the traditional Jewish spinning top most associated with the Hanukkah holiday - but it was enough to grab the attention of a talent scout watching from the audience. She tells W magazine, "It's weird, Read more
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