Warning: Maybe a spoiler, but I don't think so.
Lovely & Amazing sketches/illustrates/illuminates a "slice of life" of several intertwined characters. It falls into that category of films (what I think of as the "Short Cut" class) that assumes completely erroneously that (1) presenting
painfully intimate, detailed vignettes of characters whose lives are completely out of control, who are rendered nearly immobile with despair, and who have no clue whatsoever how or even whether to save themselves, (2) building these vignettes to a crisis climax of sorts, (3) having the cast collectively smile wanly at a partial resolution of a major plot point, then gamely move on, and (4) ending abruptly on that note without the faintest attempt at explaining or resolving the characters' primal crises--that 1+2+3+4 equals cinematic profundity. This is so not true it makes my skin crawl. Cheat me, trick me, jerk my tears, but don't EVER leave me with less than I came in with. And especially don't ever expect me to believe you know more than you're telling, 'cause all the evidence is against you.
I didn't even realize the darn thing was over until the credits came up. For a moment I actually thought they'd cut the closing scene from the dvd.
What makes my assessment all the more painful is that the cast gave it everything they had. Keener, Blethyn, and Mortimer were all very good, as were the
supporters, notably Raven Goodwin in a performance of supremely nonchalant
nihilism. Doggone it, this movie shoulda gone somewhere! But, sad to say,
director/writer Holofcener couldn't think of anywhere to go.
To paraphrase in closing: There are more things in heaven and earth, Holofcener, than are dreamt of in your filmosophy . . .
Lovely & Amazing sketches/illustrates/illuminates a "slice of life" of several intertwined characters. It falls into that category of films (what I think of as the "Short Cut" class) that assumes completely erroneously that (1) presenting
painfully intimate, detailed vignettes of characters whose lives are completely out of control, who are rendered nearly immobile with despair, and who have no clue whatsoever how or even whether to save themselves, (2) building these vignettes to a crisis climax of sorts, (3) having the cast collectively smile wanly at a partial resolution of a major plot point, then gamely move on, and (4) ending abruptly on that note without the faintest attempt at explaining or resolving the characters' primal crises--that 1+2+3+4 equals cinematic profundity. This is so not true it makes my skin crawl. Cheat me, trick me, jerk my tears, but don't EVER leave me with less than I came in with. And especially don't ever expect me to believe you know more than you're telling, 'cause all the evidence is against you.
I didn't even realize the darn thing was over until the credits came up. For a moment I actually thought they'd cut the closing scene from the dvd.
What makes my assessment all the more painful is that the cast gave it everything they had. Keener, Blethyn, and Mortimer were all very good, as were the
supporters, notably Raven Goodwin in a performance of supremely nonchalant
nihilism. Doggone it, this movie shoulda gone somewhere! But, sad to say,
director/writer Holofcener couldn't think of anywhere to go.
To paraphrase in closing: There are more things in heaven and earth, Holofcener, than are dreamt of in your filmosophy . . .