Highly Overrated But Still Good

It's fun, it's light, [but] it has a hard time when its tries to get heavy.

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

The movie's neither hopeful in contrived ways, nor hopeless in different contrived ways. Somehow it manages to be wonderful

In its home territory of the United States, this movie is called "At Middleton" since it is located at a college called Middleton, but this is a singularly unhelpful title and around the world there have been many variations. In the UK, where I viewed it, it is called "Just One Day" which has the benefit of telling the potential viewer something relevant. So, by now, you'll have worked out that all the film is located in one place and over one day. Although the purpose of the visit is to enable two youngsters to assess whether they wish to study at this particular college, the core of the story is about their parents played by Andy Garcia and Vera Farmiga who soon give up on their kids and the official tour and make their own explorations of both the grounds and their emotions. It's kind of updated version of the classic British film "Brief Encounter" (1945).It's an episodic movie with a lot of humour and some pathos but some scenes work better than others. The cleverest scene is when the two adults find themselves required to participate in an improvisation acting class. The silliest is when they get high on a marijuana bong. What makes the work rather charming is the warmth of the two leads. Garcia never seems to have quite fulfilled the early potential shown as long ago as 1987 in "The Untouchables" and has put on a bit of weight since, but he is still a fine actor. The much younger Vera Farmiga - there is a 17 year age difference between the pair - first came to my attention in "Up In The Air (2009) and to my mind is still not fully appreciated for her talent and rare beauty (those blue eyes). Incidentally this movie is a bit of a family affair with Garcia's daughter playing a minor role and Farmiga's sister filling the role of her daughter.

I do not want to spoil the plot in any way, so I'm just going to tell you my thoughts of the performances. Andy Garcia... gave an amazing performance. Vera Farmiga... I can only say WOW. These two really are amazing together in this film. I know this film isn't flashy in any way, and the story may bother some people, but the acting is simply brilliant. Taissa Farmiga and Spencer Lofranco also put in very good performances. I also thought the work of Danielle Garcia and Stephen Borello were performed very well.What I have noticed is that a movie such as this, isn't just the acting though. The writing and directing of this film are also done very well. It was a complete joy to for me to watch.Bottom Line: If you enjoy well Written Dialog; A film that is very well Acted and Directed, with some Romance. You'll love this movie.

"At Middleton" is a mid-life romance that suffers from a terminal case of the cutes. Edith (Vera Farmiga) and George (Andy Garcia) meet while taking their respective children, Audrey (Taissa Farmiga) and Conrad (Spencer Lofranco), on a tour of a fictional college (their respective spouses are conveniently unable to attend the event). While the kids are going through the official orientation, the two parents break off and conduct a tour of their own, exploring the campus as well as each other.Despite the best of intentions, "At Middleton" feels phony from the get-go. We get the sense that Edith and George are unreasonably antagonistic towards one another at the beginning just so they can become an item by the end. And things don't get any better from there, as the parents proceed to make fun of the tour guide, steal bikes from some unsuspecting students on campus, horn in on an acting class, smooch in a projection booth, get stoned in a dorm room, and in general act superior to everyone they meet, with corn, affectation and heavy-handed life lessons the order of the day.Though the movie tries very hard to achieve moments of "little people" sentimental uplift, virtually every scene in "At Middleton" emerges as hopelessly contrived and calculated, a reflection more on the screenwriters Glenn German and Adam Rogers (who also directed the movie) than on the actors, who do their best under the circumstances. Farigna, so impressive in TV's "Bates Motel," comes across as unnecessarily grating at times, the result of a grown woman behaving in a less mature fashion than her teenaged daughter perhaps, her joie de vivre and truth-telling assertiveness, which might have seemed refreshing in small doses, ultimately falling over the edge into obnoxiousness (though she does well playing opposite her real life daughter). As the buttoned-down heart surgeon who really needs to loosen up and learn how to enjoy life, Garcia is constrained by having to embody a character with no truly interesting or compelling personal traits (the fact that he's supposed to be that way doesn't exactly make him any more interesting).I know we're supposed to be moved and inspired by what's happening between Edith and George, but all I could think about while watching their story unfold is how some parents just can't help making what is supposed to be a special day for their kids really all about themselves.

"At Middleton" is a frustrating film to watch. While there is so much to like in the movie (especially in the first half), by the time the film is over, I was left with lots of mixed feelings.When the film begins, a father (Andy Garcia) is taking his son (Spencer Lofranco) to visit Middleton College. At the same time, a mother (Vera Farmiga) is also bringing her daughter (Taissa Farmiga) to visit the same school. The parents and teens seem extremely different. George is a rather uptight and rigid surgeon. The son, Conrad, on the other hand is a very normal and nice teen and just wishes his father would relax and let him make his college choice himself. Edith is a free-spirited and rather goofy mom--a sharp contrast to her very driven and self- absorbed daughter, Audrey. In many ways, you might expect the teens to belong to the other parent.During the course of a boring tour of the school, Edith looks for an excuse to leave the tour and let her daughter continue without her--and considering how badly Audrey treats her mom, this might be for the best. The fact that George leaves with her is difficult to believe considering his personality--but he somehow does leave the tour as well. George and Edith set off on a series of adventures as they go where the tour doesn't lead. By the end of the tour, Audrey (who insisted she MUST go to Middleton) has an abrupt change of heart and Conrad finds that this small school might just have something to offer. However, the parents are THE main focus of the film and they start to fall in love--something which doesn't make a lot of logical sense--especially considering what sort of a guy George is. His change of attitude and falling for Edith seems more a contrived plot device than something that might really occur. Having them learn from each other alone would have made more sense--especially since this occurred only during the course of part of a single day.Apart from the illogical romance (especially since BOTH were already married--and I wish they'd both been single since this would have made them much more likable) and a marijuana scene that seemed out of place, the film is very nice. But since the illogical romance is THE key to the movie, this is very problematic and a bit amoral. On the plus side, the dialog is often very witty, the actors did a nice job and the soundtrack is among the best I can recall having heard. By the way, interestingly the mother-daughter pair are, in real life, actually sisters--sisters who are 21 years apart--believe it or not.