Buttons

What's bound to be far more interesting than the dreadful Buttons is an article about the making of this movie: Why are Kate Winslet and Robert Redford BOTH narrating? Who snookered the venerable Angela Lansbury and Dick Van Dyke into appearing in such a ramshackle production? How are there no credited writers or producers for this film? How did a movie with such an impressive cast manage to play for one night in US theaters before disappearing to DVD and cable? Why is this film so consistently cheap-looking? Who decided to make this a musical when the songs are consistently rotten? And why does director Tim Janis give himself name-above-the-title placement on both the opening and closing credits? (Is the official title supposed to be TIM JANIS BUTTONS?)

Sheer catastrophe, and not of the so-bad-it's good variety. Don't subject yourself or your unwitting families to this disasterpiece. It's enough to ruin your Christmas.

Made in a very nice way musicaly, but the acting by the cast are extremely amateuristic, somewhat stiff and fumbling, the story jumps from death to death and sorrow to sorrow, and have a mix of fractions from other yulseason classics from the past.

because its a musical, and if it had been made in the 1970's it would have pressed to impress, but its not up to date wether productionwise or technically- what i enjoyed the most where to hear the voice of angela landsbury again, my gawd i envy those who have such great great great grandmother at hand. she is the narrator of the story, and makes it some kind of vivid and entangeling dreamlike.

so if you can accept some broken leg acting and a musical of the past then have a look, its not a strong mobie, but will touch the hearts to those who are mature enough, and are able to read between the lines. the grumpy old man thinks 5 is a maks.

I'd been looking forward to Buttons: A Christmas Tale for such a long time! Dick Van Dyke and Angela Lansbury playing guardian angels, a heartwarming tale about orphan girls, and a festive musical - what else could I ask for? Well. . . I could ask for a decent screenplay, and acting that wasn't cringeworthy, and perhaps subject matter that wasn't so depressing. The two reasons that drew in every audience member didn't disappoint, and while it's insultingly obvious to say they shole the show, they did.

The bulk of the movie is told in a flashback format, as Angela Lansbury visits a sick orphan on Christmas Eve and reads her a story to cheer her up. She tells the story of a little girl, Alivia Clarke, who has one run of bad luck after another in what ends up amounting to a terrible life. But, since she has a guardian angel, Dick Van Dyke, she keeps her spirits up and knows someone's on her side. It's inspiring, heartwarming, and downright lovely to see Dick singing, dancing, and brightening up the screen during the musical numbers. And Angela is perfectly charming as a combination Mary Poppins and Mrs. Potts, caring for her sick charge. The cinematography in Buttons was beautiful, with lush landscapes, pretty costumes, and saturated colors and lighting that added quality to the production.

Now for the bad news. The dialogue sounded like it was the first draft of a church play. Most of the cast acted very contemporary, despite the period setting. Those whom you don't recognize probably had very little experience before trying out with the pros, or at least that's what it seemed like. And now the songs: Every single number blatantly ripped off a previously successful song from an established musical - from "Bring Him Home" to "It's a Hard Knock Life" to "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life", the songs from Buttons can almost be sung simultaneously with their originals. Isn't anyone going to shout "plagiarism"? The supposedly sweet story that Angela reads aloud is far from it. It's very depressing, hardly appropriate for children at all, and not at all festive for Christmas. Why did the movie have to so much of a downer? Also, I don't know why the title was settled on Buttons, when the segment that honors it is extremely brief.

Yes, everyone is going to want to see this movie. Dick Van Dyke and Angela Lansbury are adorable. And surprisingly, there's quite a supporting cast that agreed to attach their names to such a mediocre project: Jane Seymour, Robert Picardo, Abigail Spencer, Paul Greene, John de Lancie, and very, very brief narrations from Robert Redford and Kate Winslet.

DLM Warning: If you suffer from vertigo or dizzy spells, like my mom does, this movie might not be your friend. The very first minute of the movie features an intense spinning camera effect, and that will make you sick. In other words, "Don't Look, Mom!"

Yeah, although I truly dislike what falls under christmas movie section, well... Katie McGrath it seems has a wonderful way of making you watch whatever she starred in... And if it was not for her appearance in the movie.... Otherwise, this is truly truly badly done and badly assembled movie, not even the fabulous cast could have saved it...

There was so much promise for this film. Some really great actors, the story is heartwarming and the message is clear. I was in tears at the end. However, it felt like a chore to watch. 10 minutes in and I had the urge to fast forward. The musical numbers on their own weren't bad, but they felt forced into the story, with the exception of "work" which was by far the best number. The songs definitely had strong undertones of other musicals to the point I wonder if they were original or actually from other musicals. The acting- honestly the stars in this film are wonderful in other roles I've seen them in, so I don't know what fell so flat- direction maybe? It was a weird mix of super talent and super horrible acting that made many scenes feel disingenuous and awkward. The sound- this was the WORST. Sound is one of those things you don't normally notice, so when you do, you know it's BAD. Everything sounded like it was recorded in a studio and placed on top of the film or something. It was disconnected and echoing to the point of distraction. This is definitely a very low budget movie (or they blew their budget on a few actors and had none for editing/sound). If you like tear-jerker orphan movies with musical numbers spattered about and happy endings, it's worth a watch, but fair warning about the production value. If it weren't for DVD and Angela Lansbury, I wouldn't have made it through this movie.