hyped garbage

Better Late Then Never

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

Although it has its amusing moments, in eneral the plot does not convince.

Sure it was suspenseful. It was fascinating for about 90 minutes until the anthropologist (Defoe) grilled our protagonist (Keitel) about his childhood and his relationship with his brother and father. Then I knew that I had been had! The writer and directors had adopted a staple of the soap operas and TV movies, but instead of just a little dream sequence, the whole thing was a dream sequence. The whole story came crashing down when I realized that the only mystery in the movie was choosing between Keitel imagining this as he lay on the night club floor or laying in the hospital bed. I hate dream sequences. One can do anything with them. People fascinated with this movie after seeing the distasteful ending are deluding themselves. Shame on the director. Go back to the soaps.

I was hoping the story line would pick up, but scenes were thrown in that didn't make sense, or didn't provide answers. True, no chemistry between Mira Sorvina and Harvey Keitel. I figured having heavyweights like Vanessa Redgrave, Willem Defoe, Gina Gershon, and Mandy Pantikin would add some depth, but their talents were wasted on a very abstract story. Overall, I was very disappointed. I expected more of this movie, because Vanessa Redgrave, Willem Defoe, and Gia Gershon are very good at doing independent and unusual movies. Anytime I see the name Vanessa Redgrave, I figure I'm in for a good movie. But I was let down completely by the story and cast!

I got in one hour after it had started. It starred Harvey Keitel, whom I especially like and wanted to watch it because of him. Then Wilem DaFoe was there also, second reason to continue watching. Then, again, Mandy Patikin, number three great actor. I liked the character Harvey was playing, a soft spoken, quiet man, much different than many of his other characters. It was more like his character in 'The Piano'. I was pulled in and couldn't stop watching. I didn't know what had come before, so couldn't completely understand it, but just had to keep watching. As in a mystery, I thought I knew what was going on and I knew I had to see the entire movie at that point. It's more like a play than a movie, and excellently done. Great cinematography. Great suspense. Stunning finish. Really made me think and feel deeply.

I just love this movie. Well parts of it. The entire movie, up until Izzy get's kidnapped, is great. I, believe it or not, did feel the connection between Izzy and Celia. I love Willem Defoe, however it just dragged after that point. I bought the book, have the soundtrack, just love love love it. I especially love the restaurant scene where Izzy loses his temper. Funny.