Strange little movie that feels more like the first draft of Mamet play than a feature film. A bunch of little people in the big city -- housekeeper, district attorney, actuary, math professor -- experience enormous changes at the last minute to the strains of Chopin, cross paths Altman-style, and have Deep Philosophical Conversations about happiness and fate within minutes of meeting each other for the first time. The kind of movie where someone can't break a water glass without it turning into a metaphor for Modern Man's Alienation From Society And Himself, and where people get hit by cars or win the lottery as if these were occurrences as common as breaking a water glass. The pacing and philosophical bent of the movie made it feel to me a little bit like some of Hal Hartley's early ones, but without the sense of humor. Alan Arkin's a beautiful genius actor. He finds a million things to do within the confines of a too-limited character. And Clea DuVall, who I'd never heard of or seen before, does a gorgeous little job with a sweet little part. Finally, though, eh.
Jul 16, 2006
Thirteen Conversations About One Thing, Jill Sprecher (2001)
Strange little movie that feels more like the first draft of Mamet play than a feature film. A bunch of little people in the big city -- housekeeper, district attorney, actuary, math professor -- experience enormous changes at the last minute to the strains of Chopin, cross paths Altman-style, and have Deep Philosophical Conversations about happiness and fate within minutes of meeting each other for the first time. The kind of movie where someone can't break a water glass without it turning into a metaphor for Modern Man's Alienation From Society And Himself, and where people get hit by cars or win the lottery as if these were occurrences as common as breaking a water glass. The pacing and philosophical bent of the movie made it feel to me a little bit like some of Hal Hartley's early ones, but without the sense of humor. Alan Arkin's a beautiful genius actor. He finds a million things to do within the confines of a too-limited character. And Clea DuVall, who I'd never heard of or seen before, does a gorgeous little job with a sweet little part. Finally, though, eh.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment