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Reviews
I Remember Me (2000)
Can't Recommend This
I watched this hoping the film would inform me about Chronic Fatigue Syndrome. By "inform" I mean provide some of the details of the biological background of the syndrome, introduce me to some of the people who suffer from it and give some idea of how this syndrome will be treated in the future.
I felt like what I got was 90% loosey-goosey soft science. I'm not denying that everyone in this documentary is suffering, but I still don't know from what.
One quote from the movie I found damning was as voice-over stating that many children who suffer from this syndrome have been home-bound for 6 to 7 years. The next scene features a high-school-aged young man who had been home-bound for 6 months. Being ill for six months is very sad. But if this illness causes any child to be ill for 6 to 7 years, his/her story was not told in this film.
After watching this documentary, I am more inclined to think that what is currently labeled "CFS" could be a combination of any of the following: viruses, unknown physical illnesses or mental illness. I'm deeply sorry for all of those who suffer from this syndrome; but I don't think this documentary clarifies what is, for many, a murky topic.
Amber Lake (2011)
Nothing to redeem this horrible film
I am trying to figure out how this really, really bad film has so many positive reviews, both here and elsewhere. I can only guess a savvy marketer is hard at work. There is no way this many actual people 1.) saw this movie and 2.) were motivated to write about marvelous it is.
I won't divulge anything about the plot, except that in a "high concept" way it is interesting. But the devil is in the details, and that's where this thing falls of the axles. It's as if the director said to the main actresses "Act crazy! No, even MORE crazy!!" in every scene they are in. There is no restraint, subtlety or nuance. Every emotion is hammered home with an emotional sledge hammer. Watching these performances is like listening to a singer who thinks she needs to scream every word.
Not that the actors had a lot to work with. The script is laughably bad, full of worn-out stereotypes. The main characters aren't individuals, they are each a clichéd personification of mental illness.
Finally, if you do decide to watch this movie, please don't think that it will get better as it goes along. What you get the first ten minutes is what you will get for the whole tedious hour and twenty minutes.