Best movie of this year hands down!

What a waste of my time!!!

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

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Brilliant performances, Maria Bello is stand out. Her portrayal of Marcia shows how good of an actress she really is. Bello has the ability to play strong and viscous along side damaged and vulnerable without breaking a sweat. Her performance alone is worth the watch. The film brilliantly intense and is like watching a play on screen. The script and acting are strong enough to allow this to happen. You can fully relate and believe in the character's and the back story. Overall this is a great film about a dysfunctional family trying to get to grips with change and its a great version of Chekhov's play. It is refreshing to watch a clever and complex film with real dialog and real actors.

An adaptation of Chekhov's "The three sisters" which is a wordy and depressing play, "The Sisters" is a film that packs a powerful punch into its short 113 minutes. The script is verbose and dialogue heavy, allowing for wonderful interaction between the characters. The characters themselves are well fleshed out, allowing us insight to their strengths and flaws. As an ensemble cast the acting is simply outstanding, Maria Bello giving a searingly honest performance as a self-obsessed, self-hating, unhappy woman stuck in a loveless marriage. Mary Stuart Masterson matches her scene for scene and the interaction between these two characters are some of the most powerful in the movie. Erika Christensen, however, seems miscast in the role of a meth addict, being too baby-faced and plump for the part, but its a minor quibble. Eric McKormack from TV's Will & Grace comes out of nowhere with a performance that simply dazzles with intensity and passion. Rip Torn rounds out the cast with a more mannered performance than usual and his character is simply there to observe and be our eyes to this family drama. Not a very happy film and the ending leaves one feeling slightly unsatisfied, it is nevertheless a wonderful example of independent film making.

When the former assistant to a deceased eminent academic comes to pay his respects to the great man's family, the visit stirs old, half hidden conflicts and triggers an avalanche of emotions in this overheated, theatrical drawing room drama based on Anton Chekhov's play, "The Three Sisters." (Richard Alfieri wrote the screenplay, which he adapted from his own updating of Chekhov's play.) Maria Bello, Mary Stuart Masterson and Erika Christensen play, respectively, Marcia, Olga and Irene, the three Prior daughters.Ms. Bello holds center stage most of the time, hurling one angry speech after another at just about anyone in shouting distance (though they're all in one room). She is angry primarily because her father systematically abused her sexually as a child, second because Harry Glass (Steven Culp), the psychologist she married, has not been able to heal her deeply wounded personality, and, finally and most recently, because Vincent Antonelli (Tony Goldwyn), the visitor, a man she become instantly infatuated with, turns down her overtures and leaves.Baby sister Irene turns her hostility inward, and galvanizes everyone's attention by taking a large drug overdose. Andrew Prior (Alessandro Nivola), their brother, is angry too, but in sneakier fashion. He's mad because his sisters bully him and dislike his fiancée/bride Nancy (Elizabath Banks), who's also a nasty sort, someone deserving of the sisters' contempt. Then there's the incendiary social science professor, Gary Sokol (Eric McCormack), whose explosive behavior never ceases. Sokol's mad because Irene prefers another suitor, Sokol's erstwhile buddy, philosophy professor David Turzin (Chris O'Donnell), who doesn't seem to be mad at anyone. Olga, a bleak, unfulfilled Lesbian, at least keeps her unhappiness contained. She is the most dignified member of the family.Somehow the veteran actor Rip Torn got himself inserted into this literal madhouse as old Professor Chebrin. And while Mr. Torn has been memorably hostile in some of his films (he's played gangsters, tough soldiers, tougher cops, Richard Nixon and even Judas Iscariot among 165 roles spanning a 50 year career), he's quite the good humored, sanguine fellow here, almost alone as a source of equanimity in these proceedings.The screenplay is freighted with long, formalized verbal oratorios: these people don't talk like people talk. Such verbiage works on stage but is nearly always poison on the screen. The director, Mr. Seidelman, has made nearly 70 films, but almost all for television. This may explain the overacted, soap operatic tone of this movie. You've got to shout it out to be heard above the din of family life on the boob-tube. But the clamor of this film is ratcheted up way too much for pleasurable viewing on the big screen. (The IMDb says this film is 113 minutes long, so somewhere along the line 28 minutes got cut to create the version I viewed. Probably a good thing.) My Grade: 5/10 C

I had the privilege of meeting the Director, Arthur Allan Siedelman at the screening of this film. This is probably the first "dialogue-heavy" movie that I really liked. This film is based on Chekov's "The Three Sisters" which is a great story to begin with. The acting is in one word stunning. Script is like I said very rich in dialogue. Allan Siedelman's direction is very enticing and inviting. I'll root for Maria Bello for an Oscar nomination for her brilliant performance. Scoring is beautiful but subtle. When released, this movie should draw rave reviews and can only be more successful as more people get to watch it.