The Worst Film Ever

Your blood may run cold, but you now find yourself pinioned to the story.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

A terrific literary drama and character piece that shows how the process of creating art can be seen differently by those doing it and those looking at it from the outside.

I read the reviews for Between US before I watched the movie. The reviews were the extremes. All good or all bad. Well I lean to the all bad end of the scale.There was a severe lack of material for this movie so the director tried to stretch 10 minutes of real material to fill a 90 minute movie. There is a blowout argument between people who were friends\coexistors from college where they air things they think about each other. The depth of the conversations was amazing considering they were not life long friends. They were just college friends\coexistors. But they get really personal with their attacks on each other.I also had a hard time believing the couples were really couples. The couples savage each other as well. What?The distracting back and forth changes in time were very confusing. They show our characters sad then happy then sad again without showing us why we needed to know that? OK. Things were bad at one time then good at others in their lives. We all know that.This movie is a 100% pass.

"Between Us" is a relationship drama. Two thirty-something couples, all friends, have ended up in slightly different places in life, but they are all determined to get through their relationships together. Except, they really don't care. The first weekend, Grace (Julia Stiles) and Carlo (Taye Diggs) visit the more successful Joel (David Harbour) and Sharyl (Melissa George). What is obvious to everyone else is that Joel and Sharyl are putting up a fake façade to hide their unhappiness.Grace and Carlo are both, simultaneously, unaware of their best friends' unhappiness and uncaring so much that they don't care to do anything about it. Except complain. They're not being perfect enough hosts for their liking.In the future, making it clear that there has been a falling out between these friends, Joel and Sharyl visit Grace and Carlo in their small New York apartment. Joel and Sharyl are still putting up a fake façade, but this time about pretending to like their former friends. Grace doesn't care."Between Us" has been compared to Carnage. Both films are driven by dialogue between two couples, but that is where the similarity ends. "Between Us" has no comedy and the characters are so ridiculously boring, that I don't care about them. And I shouldn't, they don't care about themselves or anybody else.There is supposed to be a thriller element, keeping us in an air of suspense as to why these two couples, and best friends, have had a falling out. But this fails for many reasons: there is nothing interesting about this falling out, and they don't really act like friends in the first place, so there is no suspense.Boring people in uncaring friendships and relationships make "Between Us" a very boring and pointless film.Who Might Like This: People who like slow-paced relationship dramas; people who don't mind script-less dialogue-driven films; adults who want to see unhappy relationships evolve/de-evolve.

Incredibly hard to make a play feel like a movie but Dan Mirvish has succeeded and then some. Stellar cast who bring it, stylish, and an outstanding Behind The Scenes extra that tells it like it is.The film is shot beautifully by Nancy Schreiber (one of my favorite DPs), edited in a really interesting, non-linear fashion and is a showcase for Taye Diggs, Julia Styles and David Harbour. And while Melissa George has the sort of thankless role, she comes through when it's her moment to shine at the climax.In the end, all of it comes together under the skillful direction of Mirvish.

BETWEEN US is about two sets of grad school friends, now married for years and living in different regions of the country, reunited for a weekend.  Sharyl and Joel, the Midwesterners, had "made it" financially.  They showed off their wealth and what it bought, but Carlo and Grace quickly learned that money didn't buy them everything...happiness was most definitely missing.  The wine was endlessly poured and the acerbic words spilled effortlessly from Joel and Sharyl's mouths. The anger, frustration, resentment, jealousy and even hatred were evident.  As the evening progressed, Sharyl and Joel revealed secrets about each other in hateful, spiteful ways.  Secrets that should have remained just between the two of them came charging to the uncomfortable forefront. We jump forward in time to two years after this negative night to see how Grace and Carlo's relationship has evolved. Through the use of flashing back to various interactions between the couple over that fateful night, we learn more about what actually occurred.   "Between Us" reminded me in many ways of "Who's Afraid of Virginia Wolf"  with its sarcasm and verbal punches one after another directed to a "loved one." It  was a tense and powerful film portraying many marriages and relationships.  The reactions and emotions each actor demonstrated were riveting and ultimately believable.  The fast paced, overlapping conversational style was realistic as were the topics. The reality of this film, the skilled performances, and the tight script and dialogue made this film gripping. Marriage can be a rough road full of pot holes, loose edges, and an occasional boulder placed in the middle. It's how you work together to find a smoother path that determines the success of your marriage. "Between Us" showed us the road these two couples traveled.