A film about someone being homeless can be considered street art. And indeed, this movie is just that, which is also to be credited to the compelling acting performance of Richard Gere who normally is not one of my favorite actors.
I especially liked the concept of the omnipresent ambient noise. While we see George tumbling through the streets of New York City, leaning on walls, sitting on curbstones, and lying on benches, we can listen to the conversations of passengers, that have nothing to do with George, because he is not noticed. At most he is mentioned in a degrading manner. This does not only underline George's hopeless situation but also helps to overcome the long cuts on George with almost nothing going on.
At the beginning we hardly know anything about George's story other than the fact that he was thrown out of an untenanted apartment, where he used to sleep in the bathtub. After this starting scene featuring Steve Buscemi (!), by and by we get to know George better as someone, who really loves drinking beer, who has a daughter that is not on good terms with her dad and as someone who refuses to call himself homeless but prefers the term in between homes.
Despite some quite painful formalisms in a homeless shelter, George eventually manages to see his own situation in a more realistic way and there is even a suggestion of a happy end. A nerve-racking fellow shelter-inmate, who speaks some true words among many other things, also has his share in this development.
In my eyes quite a courageous movie that deals with a hard to sell topic without any sentimentality. Without ever having been close to homeless I still have the feeling that the movie at least comes somewhere near to reality. To be recommended for all those who seek more than pure entertainment in the movie theatre.
I especially liked the concept of the omnipresent ambient noise. While we see George tumbling through the streets of New York City, leaning on walls, sitting on curbstones, and lying on benches, we can listen to the conversations of passengers, that have nothing to do with George, because he is not noticed. At most he is mentioned in a degrading manner. This does not only underline George's hopeless situation but also helps to overcome the long cuts on George with almost nothing going on.
At the beginning we hardly know anything about George's story other than the fact that he was thrown out of an untenanted apartment, where he used to sleep in the bathtub. After this starting scene featuring Steve Buscemi (!), by and by we get to know George better as someone, who really loves drinking beer, who has a daughter that is not on good terms with her dad and as someone who refuses to call himself homeless but prefers the term in between homes.
Despite some quite painful formalisms in a homeless shelter, George eventually manages to see his own situation in a more realistic way and there is even a suggestion of a happy end. A nerve-racking fellow shelter-inmate, who speaks some true words among many other things, also has his share in this development.
In my eyes quite a courageous movie that deals with a hard to sell topic without any sentimentality. Without ever having been close to homeless I still have the feeling that the movie at least comes somewhere near to reality. To be recommended for all those who seek more than pure entertainment in the movie theatre.