The Girl in the Park (2007)

User Rating:

6.6/10   

Director:

David Auburn

Writer:

David Auburn (writer)

Release Date:

12 September 2008 (Germany)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

Enduringly traumatized by the disappearance of her 3-year-old daughter 15 years ago, Julia Sandburg...

Cast

Sigourney Weaver	...	Julia Sandburg
Kate Bosworth	...	Louise
Alessandro Nivola	...	Chris
Keri Russell	...	Celeste
David Rasche	...	Doug
Elias Koteas	...	Raymond
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Felipe Bonilla	...	Bartender
Alex Burns	...	Guy
Curtiss Cook	...	Actor
Samantha Gallo	...	Girl riding spring animal in park
Mark Gerrard	...	Doctor (as Michael Gerrard)
Maury Ginsberg	...	Marcus Broyard
Joanna Gleason	...	Sarah Graczyk
Seiko Higuma	...	Euro Trash
Jeffrey Joseph	...	Bobby
Patricia Kalember	...	Amanda
Jeremy Kareken	...	Bartender
Stephen Kunken	...	Lee Hall
Ian McWethy	...	Dean
Flaco Navaja	...	Contractor
Elizabeth Newman	...	Colleague
Michael Lee Patterson	...	David Graczyk
Katharine Powell	...	Waitress
Tijuana Ricks	...	Narissa
Rich Rothbell	...	Justice of the Peace
Jack Rovello	...	Young Chris
Kristen Ruhlin	...	The girl mistaken for Louise
Brendan Sexton III	...	Stuart
Bill Sorice	...	Bartender
Andrew Stewart-Jones	...	Louise's Date
Daisy Tahan	...	Maggie
Sarah Megan Thomas	...	Hairdresser
Elisabeth Waterston	...	Alice
Stacey Yen	...	Woman

Also Known As:

Girl in the Park (UK)

MPAA:

Rated R for language.

Runtime:

Canada:109 min (Toronto International Film Festival)

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Certification:

Canada:14A | USA:R | Mexico:B

Filming Locations:

Brooklyn Heights, Brooklyn, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Furst Films

Goofs:

Continuity: When Julia's co-worker brings her a coffee to try out from his new coffee machine, he places it on her desk. The shot changes to him a few seconds later. When back to her, the coffee cup is turned 180 degrees - the handle is on the other side, the computer mouse is moved, and a stack of papers near her planner is moved. She did not move all of these things in those few seconds because she is holding some papers that she was reading when he walked into her office.

Good build up, weak ending...

While Girl in the Park is never great, it manages to be a solid drama about the loss of a young child and its effect on a mother (Sigourney Weaver).

Everything here is well crafted but a little bland and formulaic. We meet tons of characters who have the seeds to provide good drama but many of them (The ex husband, the son, the romantic interest at the office, the daughter in law and her pregnancy) are left with unfinished business by the end of the movie, feeling like little more than plot points. As for Louise, for all the flashiness she offers, she brings very little to the table in the end.

In the end, you will feel you have spent a nice evening. The cast does a nice job. Sigourney Weaver gives some soul to her performance and Kate Bosworth is very well cast and provides some sparks and a nice contrast to Weaver.

It's a good movie, but not a great one. Some more development, some twists and turns in the second half of the movie would have considerably improved the movie. Instead, we're left with a cheap Hollywood ending, the catalyst of which is too dumb to even write down here.

Worth watching as a rental if you like dramas.