Fantastic!

Blending excellent reporting and strong storytelling, this is a disturbing film truly stranger than fiction

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

It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

This is an uneven, unfocused film that can not decide whether it is an intense drama of guilt and redemption, or a family film about...a girl who races horses...or ponies...or..?What I find incredible about this movie is that it included an all-star cast and still managed to create something very mediocre. Dennis Quaid, as always, is excellent. Kyra Sedgewick can not help but be great in any film she is in. Robert Duval, though rough-hewn in this film, is characteristically intense and impressive.This is not Julia Roberts' strongest role, but it is not her fault that her character was written as weak and confused.I'll have to admit that I am not very familiar with Gena Rowlands' work, but after seeing her in this picture, I would like to see more of her. The title of this movie is just downright stupid: In no part of the movie is anyone "talking" about anyone else.The scenes vaccilate from intense and heart-wrenching, straight into spritely and fun, and this would be considered emotional manipulation and desensitization if it were not so thoughtless: The movie just has no focus, bouncing from Peyton Place to Walt Disney and back.If Something To Talk About had been a serious drama about infidelity, I'm sure it would have been all-the-better, centering on Quaid's and Roberts' characters and relationship. The film is so unwieldy it actually managed to turn Robert Duval's character into a vile distraction. Because of the calibre and sheer volume of talent squandered on this film, director Lars Holstrom never should have been allowed to have worked in Hollywood again. He redeemed himself in 1999 with Ciderhouse Rules, though.Likewise, musicians Graham Preskett and Hans Zimmer should have been run out of Hollywood for their incongruous, distracting inclusions.I am trying to forget about this film.

This movie had all the essential elements at hand, but somehow it doesn't come together. The main reason is the poor direction by Lasse Hallström. He has done solid movies before, I'm a big fan of Chocolat, but unfortunately he comes off as an amateur here. The viewer never gets a feel for the "geography" of the setting. Important little interactions are barely visible -- for example, when Jamie offers Grace another drink, and she grabs his, it is a potentially comical and telling moment that isn't even on screen. (I couldn't figure it out until watching carefully during the second viewing -- did she grab the bottle? did she take her empty glass? Eventually it appears she has a glass in hand with liquor still in it.) The little girl's acting seemed to be left to chance, and chance didn't do a good job for her. There is frequently a lack of realistic presentation in the sequence of action. One minute Eddie can't breathe after being kicked in the balls, 10 seconds later he is walking normally into the kitchen. The potentially hilarious scene at the women's "cookbook" meeting, when Grace demands to know who else has slept with her husband, was almost ruined by Hallstrom's failure to coordinate line-response. The audience gasps before Grace finishes speaking the essential words in her question. In fact, that whole scene, with its unrealistic, one-dimensional characters, ultimately comes across as condescending toward women.Another fundamental problem with this movie is the plot. Callie Khouri is nothing less than a brilliant screenwriter, but I think she handicapped herself here with post-T and L fears of accusations of "man-hating". Understandable, given the public platform given to all the scary men loudly objecting to the depiction of a woman shooting a rapist ["dear God!"] Callie Khouri's strength is her honest, cut-the-gloss depictions of painful male-female relationships, along with the comedy she brings forth through allowing women an instinctual response to abuse. In this script, however, those moments of comedic and tragic honesty are kept in cages, so that there are little gems scattered throughout, but the movie as a whole does not reflect her native talents.

Sterling cast featuring not only Julia Roberts and Dennis Quaid, but also Robert Duvall, Gena Rowlands and Kyra Sedgwick, is a handsomely-made but rather ordinary, women's TV-type light drama (with barbed language added). Roberts plays harried working mom down South who discovers husband Quaid has been unfaithful; they fight, discuss divorce, fight some more, while Roberts gets advice from her well-to-do parents (they ponder the situation when the answers should be obvious). Pleasant cast nearly masks the fact this is completely rote material (with Sedgwick as Roberts' p.o.'ed sister who gets in the proverbial crotch kick). Pokey, overly-familiar, overlong film with too few laughs and too much inane banter. Photographed by the famous Sven Nykvist, who indeed gives the picture a rich, glossy look. ** from ****

SOMETHING TO TALK ABOUT, in my opinion, is one of the best comedy/drama/romances I have ever seen. One thing about this movie that made me feel good was when Grace (Julia Roberts) confronted Eddie (Dennis Quaid) for being unfaithful to her. There was only one person I couldn't stand at times, and that was Emma Rae (Kyra Sedgwick). This was because she kicked Eddie in the groin. Plus, she said some things about him that were not very nice. If I caught my husband red-handed with another woman the way Grace did, I would probably get a divorce, especially if my daughter had seen what was going on. I thought the scenery was beautiful, taking place on a farm with horses and whatnot. In conclusion, I highly recommend this film to all you Julia Roberts or Dennis Quaid fans who have not seen it.