I really wanted to like this movie. I just rented it on Netflix because I thought the story was interesting and the performers were good. I wanted to see a pre-Grey's Ellen Pompeo as well.
Well, Hoffman and Sarandon were fantastic, as expected. Pompeo was quite a revelation. All 3 brought life and depth to their roles. Holly Hunter was very good in her few scenes as well.
But there were some problems. Jake Gyllenhaal didn't bring as much life to his role. Part of it may have been the way it was written. His character seemed more more internal than the others. But also, he just looked too young up against Ellen Pompeo. Jake has a young face, or at least he did then. He looked still in high school or early college.
But the biggest problem was the script. It seemed to want to make too many grand statements about life and death and such. At times, it was too wordy.
Decent enough movie overall, but the whole is less than the sum of its parts.
Well, Hoffman and Sarandon were fantastic, as expected. Pompeo was quite a revelation. All 3 brought life and depth to their roles. Holly Hunter was very good in her few scenes as well.
But there were some problems. Jake Gyllenhaal didn't bring as much life to his role. Part of it may have been the way it was written. His character seemed more more internal than the others. But also, he just looked too young up against Ellen Pompeo. Jake has a young face, or at least he did then. He looked still in high school or early college.
But the biggest problem was the script. It seemed to want to make too many grand statements about life and death and such. At times, it was too wordy.
Decent enough movie overall, but the whole is less than the sum of its parts.