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

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Grad student Omar Razaghi wants to write an authorized biography on his favorite writer, the late Jules Gund, but his estate refuses. It consists of his older brother Adam (Anthony Hopkins), mistress Arden Langdon (Charlotte Gainsbourg), and wife Caroline (Laura Linney) who all live in a remote settlement in Uruguay. Omar's girlfriend pushes him to travel to Uruguay to change their minds. Arden takes a liking to him. Caroline insists on withholding approval. The settlement is facing a large land tax and Adam agrees to approve if Omar helps him secretly sell some family jewels. Pete (Hiroyuki Sanada) is also part of the group who ages used furniture to sell as antiques.James Ivory is continuing on without Ismail Merchant. Omar Metwally delivers a very flat performance that keeps this interesting group static. Ivory seems intend on a slow, flat mood. It takes much too long to get to the fireworks and there is plenty of potential. It's obvious from the start but the movie insists on dragging it out for too long.

***SPOILERS***Beautifuly photographed-in living color- but confusing movie about a young graduate student Omar Ragazhi, Omar Matwally,from the University of Colorado being forced by his nagging girlfriend Deirdre Rothemund, Alexandra Maria Lara, to travel down to to Uruguay and get permission from the family of the late writer Jules Gund to write his biography. It turns out that Omar is at a dead end in his life and needs to write the biography of Jules Gund to get his PHD as well as life back together again.Off to Uruguay Omar learns that the Gund family especially his widowed wife Caroline, Laura Linney, want nothing at all to do with him much less give him permission to write or authorize him write Gund's biography. He does get involved with Gund's older brother Adam, Anthony Hopkins, in a smuggling scheme to smuggle out of the country the family jewels that never seems to go anywhere and is later dropped altogether. Instead Omar falls in love with Arden Langdon, Charlotte Gainsbourg, the late Jules Gund's girlfriend who let him in on why he killed himself in that he couldn't come up with a final end his last novel.Allowed to stay at the Gund residence Omar becomes part of the family and even strikes up a friendship with Adam lover as well as 40 year old houseboy Pete, Hiroyuki Sanada, who later saves his life after he was attacked by a swam of killer bees. Hospitalized and near death Omar's girlfriend from the states Deirdre shows up and finds out that he's no longer in love or even interested in her! In that he's found better things in life then her to hook up with. It all comes together in the end when Caroline agrees to let Omar write her husbands Jules' biography only to burns the unfinished manuscript of his last novel which was critical in Omar writing it! P.S The film seem to be going nowhere and ended up on a high note with all involved, who were still around, at some concert at what looked like New York's Carnegie Hall taking in the music and trying to forget what they've been through in the movie and just have a good night out!

The City of Your Final Destination is an excellent, intelligent, adult movie about believable people. The behavior and motivations of the characters are brilliantly presented; totally real people with real emotions and mature concerns. These days we could die waiting for this kind of great movie to come along! The meaning of the word "adult" with reference to movies should be changed to describe this kind of movie rather than the pornography genre that now carries that appellation. What the industry calls "adult" should be changed to "adolescent," a more appropriate term for pornography, so the word "adult" could be freed up to describe movies of this maturity and quality. At least 90% of Hollywood's output is banal commercial junk. But in this movie there are no car chases, barroom brawls, drug addicts, topless bars, shooting and killing, corrupt cops, liars, cheats, con men, muscle men, superheroes, martial arts, gratuitous sex, pretty-faced vapid ingenues trying to pass for professional people such as doctors and scientists, and so on. They even kept the cigarette-smoking to a minimum! But don't mistake my objection to Hollywood as moralistic. I'm talking about intelligence, taste and maturity.

Greetings again from the darkness. Most everyone is familiar with the peak of Merchant-Ivory genius which included: A Room With a View, Remains of the Day, and Howerd's End to name a few. Ismail Merchant died a few years ago, but director James Ivory returns with a powerful, yet odd film based on Peter Cameron's novel.The film boasts a very nice cast: Anthony Hopkins as the aging, gay man who is the brother of a famous (now dead) novelist; Laura Linney as the widow of the writer; and Charlotte Gainsbourg as the writer's former mistress. Oh yeah, these three all live together in a compound in Uruguay on land the writer left behind after his suicide.The story gets interesting when Omar (played by Omar Metwally) shows up unannounced after receiving a declination of his offer to write a biography on the novelist. Hopkins supports the idea as he expects it will generate book sales and revenue for the group. Linney is flat against it thinking it will spill too many secrets. Gainsbourg initially sides with Linney, but changes her vote when she falls for Omar.On the surface, the story is about Omar's attempt to win Linney's bitter character to change her mind. The much more interesting story is Omar's awakening in this oddball community now that he is out of the grasp of his domineering type A girlfriend and co-worker played superbly by Alexandra Maria Lara. Talk about a personality that makes you want to turn and walk away! She almost makes Linney's character seem humane.Mr. Ivory excels in subtlety and he is in fine form here. So many "little" moments make this story really click. Not to mention it is beautifully photographed. This is a really good film that will probably get lost in the mass confusion of summer giants like Twilight and Toy Story 3. If you get the chance, make the time to see this one.