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Too much of everything

Sorry, this movie sucks

I don't have all the words right now but this film is a work of art.

The joyful confection is coated in a sparkly gloss, bright enough to gleam from the darkest, most cynical corners.

I cannot fathom how this movie scored as low as it did. I sought on a movie channel and have been seeking and again ever since, so I will probably buy the DVD. It is full of heart, funny moments and serious moments, but the message it conveys about commitment is delivered well.

Joline (Heather Graham) live in New York with her friends and her husband Carl (Luke Wilson). He's an unhappy photographer and leaves her. On a whim, she sets off for Texas. She finds him working in an El Paso paper and decides to help him from afar. She is befriended by his flirtatious neighbor Niko (Goran Visnjic). Then she finds that Carl has new girlfriend Carmen (Patricia Velásquez) who has jealous ex T-Bo (Mark Ruffalo). Joline's brother Jay (Casey Affleck) comes to take her home but she continues to try to help Carl.Heather Graham is a compelling actress. This movie starts with an idea to be a wacky left-of-center comedy. The writing is flat and the movie never gets there. It doesn't have the jokes. It doesn't have the irreverent fun. Graham is left to carry the weight by herself. There are many solid actors but they don't have anything interesting to do.

I loved this film! It has a great heart and great bones. I stumbled onto it by chance and I had no recollection, not even an inkling, of this movie from promos or reviews or word of mouth.   I remember reading, many years ago, a journalist who commented on the value of watching movies without having them contaminated by the pre-judgement of reviews or the false shill of the promos.  And this seems to be the single most common source of the critics' negative reaction to the film:  it failed to meet expectations of it being a comedy, or a slice of life, or character driven.  I had no expectation about the film, and so it was comedic - but I only laughed once or twice - without being a comedy; it was about a person, but so eccentric that it wasn't slice of life; it was about a character, but the character was so intelligently optimistic and trusting of her instinct to life, that it wasn't the angst-driven sentimental melodrama so typical of American 'serious' film - as I wrote that I realized that writer/director Lisa Krueger managed to poke fun at this schlock American sentimentality in the husband!  And very cleverly too! And Kreuger was able to keep the cloyingly sentimental ending from the screen, when the wayward, not prodigal, husband returned with his tail shrunk between his legs. Bravo, Ms. Krueger, bravo!  (Now I will be watching this film again, as it is getting better and better as I reflect on it.)   Graham's performance as Joline is brilliant. I loved how subtly but completely she was able to portray and convey intelligent awareness of her committable commitment to honouring her words and actions - she knew that in keeping her word with a band, or friends, or husband that she was setting herself up to ridicule and/or disappointment in a world that was unable to honour commitment as she was able to do. But even with that strength, she was fully connected to humanity, and embraced with a fully committed heart their frailty and failures. The character of Joline was amazingly well acted, and I left the film surprised that I had no recollection of awards nominations for it. Okay, not that surprised, as American awards tend to go to women in 'serious' roles, filled with angst and the proper amount of nudity, which this film did not have. What it has was far better, which was heart in this woman's discovery of herself with the assistance of new friends and a self-deprecating shaman.I admit to being a bit of a soft touch for eccentric characters who manage their peculiarities while remaining honest and true to themselves as they move through the minefield of what comprises 'proper' societal behaviour and 'acceptable' interpersonal discourse. So, if people must conform to normality in your world, then this film will not be to your liking.  And that was, it seems, one of the common threads in the critiques.And I am always a sucker for a good play on words when it raises questions of human behaviour and ethical/philosophical values. Until this movie I hadn't made the emotional connection between being committed (to a cause or honesty or something) and being committed (to an insane asylum). At what point does one's commitment to a personal sense of truth and action in life become a one way ticket to insanity? This sounds like a simple question, or one that is easily dismissed as being rhetorical. But is it? And yet few of the critics - I think maybe two, commented on this aspect of the film either directly or indirectly.A lovely film. 8/10.

In an industry dominated by men and in lack of products with a female mark on it ; is it always nice to see a film shown from the woman's point of view. I would welcome more films from female writers and directors , and I think lots of other women with me.