This movie is a beautiful glimpse into the lives of people who don't express anger and other "big" demonstrative emotions the way we have become conditioned to seeing them on reality tv shows, and the lack of seeing them communicated that way has some viewers feeling they aren't there- but this is a beautifully written, directed and acted movie...and sometimes you just have to sit still long enough to feel a different kind of beauty. I live a crazy busy life, so movies like this that grab me and make me slow down really speak to me, and become the ones I seek out.
The movie opens to find Lila (Talia Balsam) is an even-tempered artist who has assumed she and her husband Edgar (Scott Cohen) are happy, until she finds out he has (again) cheated on her, and now has a new baby with a new girlfriend. She assumes Edgar will (again) choose to stay with her and their daughters, and that she will (again) be able to forgive him, until he leaves. This fills the first 1/3-1/2 of the movie, and proves to be the catalyst for needed change in Lila's life. Even when Lila and Edgar are angry and breaking they still show restraint, affection and even some respect for each other and for keeping a connection within their family. They still both feel the bond of having forged a life together.
This is a slow-paced movie- it's largely devoid of the underscoring of composed music we've grown to expect- there are a lot of nature sounds (fitting since it's set in the Catskill mountains) and a handful of ethereal/haunting pieces of music strewn in. I think this contributes to some people feeling the movie is dull and uninteresting, or that it doesn't GO anywhere. I would argue the opposite is in fact true- that it adds to the loneliness and emptiness that Lila is feeling. It's reflective of the feeling that sometimes life stands still for all the wrong or unwelcome reasons. I love especially the haunting sadness that hovers over both Lila and Edgar as they realize that there will always be something tethering them together, and find a way to move through this new stage of their relationship. Even the ever-present battle of wills between Lila and her youngest daughter has an undercurrent of begrudging respect as the movie closes.
The movie opens to find Lila (Talia Balsam) is an even-tempered artist who has assumed she and her husband Edgar (Scott Cohen) are happy, until she finds out he has (again) cheated on her, and now has a new baby with a new girlfriend. She assumes Edgar will (again) choose to stay with her and their daughters, and that she will (again) be able to forgive him, until he leaves. This fills the first 1/3-1/2 of the movie, and proves to be the catalyst for needed change in Lila's life. Even when Lila and Edgar are angry and breaking they still show restraint, affection and even some respect for each other and for keeping a connection within their family. They still both feel the bond of having forged a life together.
This is a slow-paced movie- it's largely devoid of the underscoring of composed music we've grown to expect- there are a lot of nature sounds (fitting since it's set in the Catskill mountains) and a handful of ethereal/haunting pieces of music strewn in. I think this contributes to some people feeling the movie is dull and uninteresting, or that it doesn't GO anywhere. I would argue the opposite is in fact true- that it adds to the loneliness and emptiness that Lila is feeling. It's reflective of the feeling that sometimes life stands still for all the wrong or unwelcome reasons. I love especially the haunting sadness that hovers over both Lila and Edgar as they realize that there will always be something tethering them together, and find a way to move through this new stage of their relationship. Even the ever-present battle of wills between Lila and her youngest daughter has an undercurrent of begrudging respect as the movie closes.