If you don't like this, we can't be friends.

I'll tell you why so serious

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.

This is a coming of age storyline that you've seen in one form or another for decades. It takes a truly unique voice to make yet another one worth watching.

I'll keep it short.It's been a long time since I've been moved like that by a movie.Maybe because I identified a lot with Chris, but still the story is compelling, true to the heart. The relationship between Chris and Jenny doesn't seem fake, every time I was expecting a cliché it sidestepped a little. The ending may be obvious to some, but it's not what makes a good drama. Jessica Blake's a real treat, and I hope to see more of her in the future. I quite liked the director's work too. Lingering frames, gorgeous photography. A well recommended movie.

This story was well acted, it was just not a story worth acting. The people you should be sympathetic toward end up making so many stupid choices that it's difficult to have sympathy for them. This could be called a modern day Romeo and Juliet, but there were no families involved, just two people from different walks of life that come together and fall in love, if you can call their brief time together love. Their relationship was sweet to watch come together, but you don't get involved with someone and let them know so little about you that they can't locate you and think that you have abandoned them along with other poor assumptions. The only person I felt sorry for was Barry. He seemed like a person with his heart in the right place that had turned his life around and was thankful for it. This movie dragged things out for too long and made the boy seem like a complete moron that acted before he thought anything through. Love does odd things to us, but this boy apparently lost all logic and reason over not being able to find someone. I found this movie disappointing. I did not think it was heartwarming and came away more irritated than anything else.

I enjoyed it. Certainly more than a great many studio films that made big bucks in the box office. Three out of five stars from me on Netflix (can't do fractions). I recall giving only two stars to some Oscar winners. Pros: The opening scene was beautiful, and the integration of the soundtrack was outstanding throughout. I loved, loved, loved the close-ups of the leading couple. They really tested the actors, who only rarely betrayed their inexperience. I'd buy stock in Jessica Blake if she were selling -- and not just because she's a pretty face. The costumes and design elements were excellent as well.Cons: The flashbacks. I don't know enough about movie-making to put my finger on anything in particular, but they just seemed like TV kitsch to me. I don't have a problem with using them as a plot device. I just didn't like the way these were shot/edited. They compare poorly with similar ones from another adaptation, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Mixed: The script. I'm not sure how faithful the screenplay was to the book because I haven't read it, but the dialogue was awkward sometimes (although the actors covered well for the most part) and the ending wasn't as inspired as the introduction. Show me humanity to close, not a landscape. This one reminded me of the ending to the theatrical cut of Blade Runner.

From: http://culturewitch.wordpress.com/ - The witch rarely gets to go to premieres of any kind, so the UK premiere of The Butterfly Tattoo made a welcome change. It was on last night at Cornerhouse in Manchester, as part of a short film festival, and whereas it wasn't full, it was very busy. They moved the screening to cinema one, which I assume was to accommodate more people.The film? It was good. Very good. I'd heard it was very good, and then I read a review somewhere which claimed it wasn't, particularly. So we went with open minds, and Daughter was warned that it wouldn't end happily. The script follows Philip Pullman's book pretty closely, so you do get the bad end at the beginning, so to speak.It's Romeo and Juliet, really. Some very intense love when boy meets girl, and then lots of confusion as they lose touch. Lots of searching, to a backdrop of someone else's criminal behaviour, which eventually comes to have a bearing on the lives of Chris and Jenny as well.You can tell that the film was filmed on a budget, but I wish more films were, if this is the result. There is nothing that would have been better for more money. I was particularly struck by one of the love scenes, which was blissfully quiet. In a more commercial film the couple would have found they were accompanied in the bedroom by a large orchestra. Here, there was nothing. No sound at all. Just as it should be.The screening was followed by a Q&A with the director Phil Hawkins and some of the cast and crew, with more crew members in the audience. I was going to say that they tried to save on money by having many of them be both cast and crew, but that's silly, as nobody got paid. I suppose it just shows how versatile they are. Who'd have thought that the drunk was actually the director himself?The questions were along the lines of, well I don't remember, because they were so technically knowledgeable that I didn't even understand the questions, let alone the answers. I did get that they could only afford one camera, though. And it rained for the ball scene, and they had to hurry before the extras all died of hypothermia.It was all done in five weeks, and I hope that cinemas all over the world will see the light and buy The Butterfly Tattoo. Philip Pullman was right to let someone young buy the rights to his book for peanuts. Sometimes enthusiasm will do more than years of experience and loads of finance. And perhaps I'm just put out that I didn't act fast enough to buy a share or two in the film.