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I Love You, I Love You Not More at IMDbPro »
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| Index | 41 reviews in total |
13 out of 19 people found the following review useful:
My So-Called Holocaust Life, 11 February 2006
Author:
Andy (film-critic) from Bookseller of the Blue Ridge
I am so angry at this film that it will be very difficult for me to
contain the harsh words that are ready to spew from my mouth. This will
not be a review for young readers. I Love You, I Love You Not was an
atrocity from beginning to end. From both the disgustingly poor
editing, to the sloppy acting, all the way to the horrendous themes
that seemed to plot two random events together this film screamed
"After School Special". In fact, now that I think about it, "After
School Special" would be too delicate of a summary, it instead felt
like a eager undergraduate film student attempting to be smart by
attempting to poorly summarize the Holocaust with the turmoil of being
a high school student. Hopefully the professor of this assignment saw
the project and properly gave it the "F" it deserved. Hollywood
completely outdid itself on this doozy of a film. I am surprised that
the Jewish community didn't find this film offensive in the way that it
trivialized the events of the Holocaust and compared them to the social
troubles of a High School girl. I was upset by this occurrence, and I
am not even Jewish. After this short film viewing, I felt dirty, upset
by the Hollywood community, and ready to shout obscenities at everyone
involved with this project. I Love You, I Love You Not was just another
Hollywood attempt to monopolize on Claire Danes' My So-Called Life
popularity while trying to be overly symbolic by involving the
Holocaust.
Is anyone else as sick as I am about this disgraceful marriage? I do
not understand at all what director Billy Hopkins was attempting to
convey with this film. The themes were muddled in a slew of choppy
editing and horrid flashbacks that left my mind in a confused knot. In
one instance we had Danes unwilling to spend time with her grandmother,
while in the next instance she was opening up everything in her life to
her, while in the next she was making out with the mirror, and suddenly
in the next she was asking Moreau to tell her a nightmarish bedtime
story involving Robert Sean Leonard. Wouldn't that give anyone
nightmares? It did give everyone nightmares and preempts our next step
into the randomly anti-Semitic High School in which Danes attends.
Unlike other films that use the Holocaust to show the injustices of the
world, like in School Ties, this film randomly interjects the
anti-Semitic moments near the end as if only to help strengthen already
dead climax. Like nearly every scene in this film, the supposed
"high-points" come and go nearly as quickly as modern fashion, leaving
the viewer with nothing at all. I walked away of this film with an
embarrassed look. While there may have been some attempt at meaning
behind Billy Hopkins' camera, what eventually was released was a
childish attempt to combine the trivial life of a High School girl to
that of the monumental disaster known as the Holocaust. Could you put
these two together? A great director probably could, but Hopkins' could
not. All that it seems that he wants to create are meaningless dramatic
plot-holes coupled with beautiful people.
Which, ultimately, leads me to the acting. While "abhorrent" would be a
light word summarizing the purely absent acting of Danes, Law, and Van
Der Beek, it is the only one that I could think of. Danes, using the
same character structure from My So-Called Life in this film, could not
find her way out of a paper bag if she tried. I could hear Hopkins in
the background saying, "Give me more Angela Chase, I hired you for
Angela, I WANT ANGELA". Her character is all over the place, manic
depressive in one moment, happy the next, chaotic throughout, pitiful
entirely. I loved the fact that she was a "reader", but one of the most
ignorant characters created. You would think that with all the books
she would have learned from them, sputtering quotes throughout the
film, but alas, that never happened. Again, we were left with only
Angela Chase. Award winning Jeanne Moreau bounces of the non-existent
acting of Danes by providing her own character which does not fit into
this film. Obviously disturbed by her time in Auschwitz, Moreau never
develops this. She allows Danes to walk all over her, creating a weak
grandmother and a needy, spoiled granddaughter. Throw in "boy-toy" Jude
Law only for looks (because his character was as transparent as Saran
wrap) and you have the worst cast in cinema. Nobody did any work with
their characters, but instead walked around the set happy to be earning
some, if any, money for their roles. I am surprised that both Danes and
Law were able to pull themselves out of the I Love You, I Love You Not
rut.
Overall, this was a confusing film that was only proved worse by
torrential acting, very ill cinematography, a hasty Hollywood story
(very obviously created by the infamous recycle machine), and by
combining a trivial moment in a teenager's life with the historical
hardships of the Holocaust. That would be similar to me trivializing
the horrible deaths on the beaches of Omaha with me not getting a date
for my Senior Prom. That just is painful to hear and visually see. The
acting was non-existent, but obvious ploys to get a younger audience to
attempt to connect with the story. The direction was nauseating. The
constant flicking between present day and past stories kept me dizzied
for days afterwards. Then, there was the uproarious casting of Robert
Sean Leonard, I couldn't help but laugh when I continually saw him on
screen. The only actor worth mentioning in this film was Julia Stiles,
but that was because she kept her mouth shut. This was a disaster from
the beginning and should be forgotten by all!
Grade: * out of *****
8 out of 10 people found the following review useful:
Messages and mega-stars!, 14 May 2005
Author:
Xapora from Melbourne, Australia
Sad, strange little movie stars Claire Danes as Daisy; a shy, bookish
girl attending an elite private school in New York. When she's not
gushing over the delectable Ethan (Jude Law), she's spending time with
her Nana in the countryside reading books and listening to Nana's tales
of her survival of the holocaust.
The movie tries to intertwine the themes of post and modern day
anti-semitism via Nana's stories and flashback sequences with Daisy's
trials and tribulations at school when knowledge of her Jewish heritage
is made public.
Unfortunately, as hard as this movie tries, it never quite hits the
mark. The performances from Danes and Moreau though are heartfelt, and
the message is there for those who want to see it. This movie means
well and attempts to educate us on one of the all time greatest blights
on mankind - prejudice.
Worth a look for early performances from Jude Law, James Van Der Beek
and Julia Stiles before they hit the big time.
5 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Mixed themes yield a disappointment, 5 December 2000
Author:
Rod-54 from Canberra, Australia
For me this film is unsuccessful in intermingling the issue of antisemitism with the coming of age of a relatively studious young woman. On one level the Jude Law character might be only marginally deeper than his disgustingly callow friends. He is attracted by the young woman's seriousness and relatively shy affection for him but this attraction is offset by her social conservatism. The depth of any antisemitism in him or amongst his silly friends is never explored. In the end the motivation of his character, and the point of the film, elude me. An interpretation that springs to mind is that gentiles do not feel the significance of the holocaust, that they trivialise it. Part of coming of age for jewish girls is therefore that they should (or simply do) experience failed love affairs with gentiles. The fact that these affairs fail for these reasons is somehow constructively educational for the girls. I truly hope this is not intended to be the message.
6 out of 8 people found the following review useful:
Heartfelt..but dissapointing, 21 March 2000
Author:
Erin Kathleen
Essentially, this movie has all the makings for..well, a better one. Claire
Danes plays a quiet girl with sad eyes, and unloving parents who spends most
of her time with her Grandmother. One day in english class, she reads aloud
a poem written about Jude Law's character, "Ethan", who is the stereotypical
jock/playboy on campus. The two get together...blah blah
blah..
I won't tell you anymore except the the ending is VERY dissapointing. It's
as though the movie just, ends. You don't see it coming, you feel like it
should be starting to get good, and the plot holes filled up..well, they
aren't, and it does. It's really quite aggrivating. Jude Law and Claire
Danes performances are great, but not quite enough to push this movie onto
my favourite list. But, don't let me discourage you, it's worth the
rent.
2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Good. Good. Bad. Bad., 22 March 2001
Author:
arcan27
I had to watch this movies twice. The first viewing left me a bit off
kilter, a bit confused - as to how I felt about the film (the performances
etc..) and the story.
What I have decided after watching it over:
This story is unique, nice. I felt the 3 main roles where well
given.
Claire Danes is the classic thoughtful and misunderstood child [My so
called
Life leading the way for teenage 'angst' series; Juliet - in Romeo and
Juliet]. She pulls off the dreamy look. Jude Law, a fitting choice for
Daisy's shy affections as her 'perfect' guy.
The rest of the cast? Gone. Scratch all of them. I felt James Van Der Beek
was totally unconvincing as a taunter/verbal bully (?).
There were definitely angles in the film that needed work - particularly
Ethan's character, and his interaction with his friends. If you try and
come
to some conclusion about them - you draw a blank. An intended one? I don't
know. As well as Daisy's home life needed work. I can't decide whether it
is
left out on purpose or not.
The directing, for me, was what ultimately let the story down rather than
enhancing it. No lingering shots, no closeups where there should have
been,
particularly during Ethan and Daisy's interaction.
It's hard to explain, but the shot's didn't work. Didn't create the
feeling
the movie needed to work.
And this is a story that deserves to work.
2 out of 2 people found the following review useful:
Slow, delivers the message suddenly, 23 August 1999
Author:
d =) from California, USA
Well, this is certainly a fast forward movie to be rented, with many parts
that could be zapped past.
It does explore how one grows up and deals with the pains of youth, and
surprisingly, it does end with a splash that isn't expected, yet makes
sense
in review the movie.
It's certainly worth seeing along with a field trip to the Simon Wiesenthal
Center in Southern California to understand the background of the story and
to get a better grasp of the complexities of emotions that many have to
deal
with even today.
But it isn't a movie that is very deep nor giving. The viewer is left
sitting there with the ending, and yet wondering why bother as the movie
does deliver fully in engrossing the viewer and placing them into another
world. It is a third person movie and you are that 3rd person -- a casual
observer never to really enter.
A first draft, by a child, compared to Schindler's List.
3 out of 4 people found the following review useful:
Not horrible but not really good either, 3 March 2000
Author:
Monika-5 from United States
This movie was 80 minutes long??? It seemed twice that! I Love You, I Love
You Not is certainly not horrible, but it's not a movie I'd really care to
watch again.
I was strolling through Blockbuster searching for a film to watch over the
weekend when this particular one caught my eye. Even though I'm not a Claire
Danes fan (though she did a fine job in Little Women), I saw Jude Law's name
and knew I had to rent it. I was disappointed. This film is contrived,
cliched, and doesn't know whether to be totally serious or humorous. It
fails on all counts (especially the hokey scene at the school
assembly)!
The narrative of this movie is totally choppy, and the Holocaust scenes and
the school scenes don't seem to blend in well together. If they'd focused
solely on the romance of Jewish Daisy and Gentile Ethan the film might have
really gone somewhere. This is not to say that Jeanne Moreau doesn't shine
as Nana, she absolutely radiates.
Claire Danes gives an OK performance, and had the role and the story in
general been better, she could've done a terrific job as Daisy. And what
about Daisy's parents? They are almost never mentioned. What exactly is her
relationship with them?
The true saving grace is Jude Law as Ethan. We can see why he is entranced
by Daisy, as she is not the "typical" cheerleader giggly type who hangs all
over him. We understand how he gives in to the prejudice around him when it
comes to Daisy and his friends. I believe, especially after Mr. Law's
success in The Talented Mr. Ripley, he is going to take Hollywood by storm
and make all sorts of great movies.
Let's just hope they're all better than this one!
4 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
Her so called life, 26 July 2005
Author:
pigletgirlkp from Massachusetts
*** This review may contain spoilers ***
Daisy (Claire Danes) is a young Jewish girl in a private school in New York City. An only child with a strained relationship with her parents she begins a relationship with Ethan (Jude Law) Mr. Perfect jock and scholar. After experiencing Anti-Semitism she finds comfort in her Nana (Jeanne Moreau.) A concentration camp survivor she helps Daisy accept who she is by telling her stories and playing mediator between Daisy and her parents. With a look into Jewish life both during and after the Holocaust, this movie is moving. With young actors like Jude Law, Claire Danes and James Van Der Beek you can't not like this movie. A well written story and good acting makes up for the lack luster ending.
4 out of 6 people found the following review useful:
A sweet story that could be us on it, 9 August 1999
Author:
Gustavo Bastos from Fairfield - California - USA
A girl who loves to stay with her grandmother who was a jew survivor from the "camps" of Hitler, but hides her story, falls in love with an athlete guy in a high-school where the teens have prejudice against her and her way of life. Sweet, but slow movie, although Danes and Moreau are superb.
1 out of 1 people found the following review useful:
Not up to my expectations, 2 August 2002
Author:
ouais81 from United States
I must say, I was unimpressed and confused with "I Love You, I Love You Not." The story, which deals with a young Jewish girl coming to terms with her identity in the world, seems to take confusing and bizarre turns in the whole of the movie. It is mistakenly described as a love story, when in reality it tells more of the hardships of youth. I did like all of the actor's performances, but unfortunately the movie itself was quite confusing. Had it been separated into two different movies, its message would have been stated more clearly.
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