Excellent, smart action film.

A Brilliant Conflict

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

This movie was on my watch-list only because Johnny Depp was in it. It turned out that his character, although whole story rotates about him, shows up for just a few minutes, but instead I was pleasantly surprised with excellent cast. I never saw Toni Collette before, but she was awesome carrying her role and basically whole movie. And if I knew that Ryan Eggold is one of main actors this movie would be on my watch- list even if there was no Johnny Depp.This is slow and easy emotional drama about rock reporter whose career withers away and who gets assignment to write article about popular musician who went missing decade ago, leaving behind his career and her, his long-term girlfriend. While it was generally accepted that he committed suicide, his body was never found and she has several reasons to believe he is still somewhere out there. Accompanied by another ex-boyfriend, who wants to shot documentary about whole thing, she begins the quest to find him. While searching for answers for her article, in process she explores her own past, her emotions and meaning of own life. At the end she finds not exactly what she was searching for, but what she needed to take back control over her own life and future. This is not cinematographic masterpiece, but it is warm human story in which we can all find parts of ourselves, cause every one of us at least once in our lives had some part of our past dragged along for too long.7,5/10

This movie is an easy movie to watch with a good heart. The writing is rather basic but the core plot is intriguing enough to keep watching. This film offers nice emotion without demanding deep concentration from its audience. It utilizes nice cinematography, but it's darkly lit reflecting the pacific north west and the main characters emotions so if you're sensitive to low light films, this will bug the crap out of you; there is zero sun and a lot of dark bar scenes. As for acting Tony Collette is a joy to watch as she makes the story seem real, and Thomas Haden Church takes some getting used to at first but then you'll see he's exactly what the film needs with his quirky yet sincere humor. A good balance of characters and a cool plot makes this movie a decent experience, one where if you invest yourself enough you may find a tear or two at its resolution.7/10

Better than I thought it would be. But then, I've never seen anything that features Toni Collette that I didn't enjoy. There's a very, very small handful of screen actors that can breathe real life into any character and she is among them.Set in Seattle and actually filmed in Seattle rather than Vancouver, B.C. (how refreshing is that?), it's the story of a rock journalist who sleeps with every musician she covers, while still pining for the one she met and fell in love with in high school who mysteriously disappeared (or killed himself?) at the height of his success 10 years earlier, leaving her bereft and crushed. When she screws up again on her latest piece, her editor assigns her a "this is your last chance or I'm going to have to let you go" story, which is to be about tracking down what happened to the mysterious, missing legendary rocker, her former lover.As she reluctantly begins the quest she bumps into a man she very briefly "dated" previously (Haden Church), a tech bazillionaire who now aspires to be a documentary film maker. Through a mishap they become unlikely partners in her search, with him filming the progress.The story is about their journey into the past and her finally letting go of the relationship that's still messing up her life 10 years on.

Toni Collette truly has a thousand faces. She can be the insecure divorcée or the frumpy mum in A LONG WAY DOWN. And now she is this character of the hip music critic who is still gorgeous at 40-something and can shag a twenty-something with a just a flash of her smile as bait. I'm not sure who has had more fun in the roles she has had recently: Toni Collette or Julianne Moore. Ms. Moore starred in THE KIDS ARE ALL RIGHT with Mark Ruffalo and in DON JON with Joseph Gordon-Levitt. Whew! Let's hear it for women my age snagging awesome, fun, and sexy roles that are still emotionally intelligent with depth of character.Collette's character, Ellie, is a music critic who has been in the business for a lifetime. As a youngster, she met and fell in love with an up and coming rock star, Matthew Smith, who made a significant impact upon the music scene. Unfortunately, he disappeared; an apparent suicide, but never found. Ellie, a good decade later, still trying to find the next upcoming star, is floundering in her job. She is assigned to investigate and find Matthew Smith who has been "spotted" performing not far from her location. Reluctantly, and under the "promise" of getting fired if she didn't conform, Ellie takes on this assignment with the a little help from her friends.Ellie is a very complex character who wants nothing more than to be loved and to give love in return, but she has been burned too badly by Matthew. In her bar hopping search, she happens upon someone with promise, but her want of love supersedes her intellectual side. She begins a relationship with the unplugged guitar hero Lucas. But Ellie is Ellie: older, not necessarily wiser. And we watch as she makes one decision after another that are not necessarily good ones. With an old acquaintance who has more time and money on his hands than the Elton John, Ellie receives a bit of help with strings attached: Charlie is allowed to begin his documentary filmmaking career with the search for Matthew Smith. As Ellie is at her rope's end, she agrees. The story follows Ellie along this path of discovery with interesting side stories of love for herself as well as Charles' eccentricities.This is a very entertaining film with such depth and creativity that I was captivated from the very beginning. Collette is wonderful. She is rock-solid gorgeous and believable as the hip music critic who has been jaded by love. Thomas Haden Church is a character I've not seen before. He is a pretentious, rich nerd who is rather desperate in the love department. In fact, he is rather blinded by love, but so innocent about it that his pretentiousness becomes endearing. Throw into the mix, Oliver Platt as the ever-loving editor and the film is perfectly set. With the self- discovery of our two main characters this film is completely satisfying. The film, co-written by Huck Botko and Emily Wachtel with the original idea by Caroline Sherman, is directed by Megan Griffiths. It's a bit of a quirky film, tackling a familiar story in a unique and interesting way. Collette is an extremely versatile actress who continues to show her range of abilities and I'm guessing, is having a lot of fun doing so! The music is enticing and even enchanting at times to match the mood and fluctuations of the movie perfectly.LUCKY THEM is a movie that will appeal to music lovers and film lovers alike. It's a strong cast with an equally powerful story. This film is recommended for over 20′s as I don't think the teen population would understand or relate to the topics. And if you're my age (40's) and female, you are going to love it! Cheers to Toni Collette!