ltlrags-1
I almost turned this off after the first 15 minutes. There was some truly horrible acting, primarily from bit parts, but the story soon focuses on the Nanny (Eleanor, played by Leighton Meester) and the boy (Reggie, played by Julian Shatkin), and things begin to improve. It also took a while for young Julian Shatkin to grow on me, but eventually his nearly emotionless portrayal opens up with more facial expression and age appropriate gestures. He seems to take on more personality as the chemistry between him and Ms. Meester grows. The acting continues to be unbalanced, mostly when Reggie is acting so precocious, which is when lines are delivered with the least emotion.My biggest complaint about the movie is that the cello scenes weren't staged better. Mr. Shatkin shouldn't bear the weight of portraying a "cello prodigy" in those scenes since he doesn't play the cello. The music is described as "beautiful" in the dialogue, but I don't see it. In one scene the camera stays on Eleanor as she ascends a flight of stairs with music in the soundtrack, but there is no shot of Reggie playing. For all we know, she's just exploring the house, not following the "beautiful" sound of the boy playing. How about some close ups of a cello being played well, by a real cello player with young hands?
nastaranshafiinoori
Like Sunday, Like Rain. The title, like the movie, has a ring to it, a tone, a rhythm, a perfect note. From beginning to the end a love song was sung, a string thumbed, and instruments, also known as actors, played themselves like symphony violins.Why do we watch movies? To be inspired. To feel. To relate. This movie, this beautiful story, the thought provoking writing, involved everyone in the human race. The rich, the poor, the servant, the queen, the angry, the sad, those struggling to get by, and those struggling with the illusions of life. Within the short time span that a movie must involve a characters life, his plight, his history, this movie was whole and complete. My wife and I are avid movie watchers, and you could say students of the game. With the magic wand known as "movies on the internet" we are now quick on the draw, giving a movie 10 minutes to prove itself, {directors and writers listen up}, before we move on. That being said we know when an actor is "acting" as opposed to investing herself completely, actually being there in the moment. From the moment Miss Leighton Meester stepped into view we knew she was real. Not recognizing this actress, I did not fully trust her, its hard these days to invest your feelings with a pretty faced actor. But as the movie danced along we trusted her fully, fell in love with not only the TREMENDOUS moment to moment acting, but the woman herself as her amazing radiance, her openness, her sensitivity took over the screen. Julian Shatkin. Remember the name. Screen debut? I call it the budding of a giant oak tree. This young man took hold of an extremely difficult character for any age to handle, and towered over it, owned every single chord. In truth, by the end of the movie I wondered if he really is this brilliant, subtly charming, genius character. Of course he is, the proof is in the movie. Bravo young man. Please Frank involve him again, you filled the bases in your own unique way, and this giant being hit it out of the park.You won't see an actor make a bigger impact with just a few scenes, like Debra Messing brought to the screen in this movie. My stomach is still upset after eating lunch with her on that set. Still quaking in my boots, still slumped down in my seat against this commander who was lost at sea. Powerful become a coward before this angry mistress. Frank Whaley wrote and directed. Makes perfect sense now, as only this dual authority can capture every little nuance that every great writer would hope makes it to the screen. Took a quick look at the other reviews, once again the public blind and useless towards masterpiece theater, artists, creators..not me. You are on the right path my friend, you brought life back to a dying craft. Don't slow down, push on, and I hope you include this crew again.This movie gave us all a beautiful, thought provoking gift, wrapped up with the perfect bow on top. It takes you deeper than the surface, reminds us that love has no age requirements. And that the greatest gift is in the giving….
Ana_Banana
A movie with intelligent premise and dialog and with restrained acting stands out by itself these days. This one's unusual plot adds to the appeal, but the ending is a bit disappointing regarding the characters' development. Overall, the apparently unlikely emotional connection between the two main characters gets more and more believable over the film, and one wonders what would have become of them if the age gap was smaller and the circumstances were different. Or perhaps despite that, in the end all that counts is pure friendship, no matter our differences.A cynical would say this film had a romantic comedy formula: boy meets girl, boy falls for girl, they separate (and in the end they are back together if it's a comedy). Why did she have to leave? It was so romantic and gave way for intensely emotional scenes, but when you think about it, her leave is somewhat forced and not entirely justified. She could have moved in the city, gotten back into music and maintained their friendship. And in a few years could have gone cougar on him (crude joke alert!). Now seriously, a smart girl like her could have made a better choice, and a smart filmmaker who made this good film could have made a better editing towards the ending.
