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A Masterpiece!

Yo, there's no way for me to review this film without saying, take your *insert ethnicity + "ass" here* to see this film,like now. You have to see it in order to know what you're really messing with.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Watching it is like watching the spectacle of a class clown at their best: you laugh at their jokes, instigate their defiance, and "ooooh" when they get in trouble.

Between Strangers is about three women who find themselves in an emotional crises with regards to the men that happens to be a big part of their lives.It stars an ensemble cast that includes Sophia Loren,Mira Sorvino,Deborah Kara Unger,Pete Postlethwaite,Klaus Maria Brandauer,Malcolm McDowell and Gérard Depardieu. It was directed by Edoardo Ponti,who happens to be Loren's son.Olivia takes care of her husband John,who is on wheelchair.Despite her old age,she still wanted to pursue a career as an artist.But her husband does not want to listen to her stories about it and she finds solace from Max,a French gardener.While Natalia is a news photographer that is assigned to do work in Angola.She took a picture of a child orphaned during war.Her well-known photojournalist father made her famous for it but she is haunted by the fact that she wasn't able to save the child's life.Meanwhile,a musician named Catherine has never resolved her hate towards her father,who killed her mother by beating her to death.When her father was released from prison,she wanted to kill her father.But she does not know that he has changed for the better.The film tackles three themes:hope,redemption and forgiveness.This was shown by the three main female characters in Olivia,Natalie and Catherine respectively.Although the story could have been interesting,we get into one cliché after another with the three main female characters trying to fight their own personal demons.Added to that,there were really no great performances due to underdeveloped characters in it despite the fact that we have a talented cast on the film.It was obvious that the film tried to rely on the films famous faces particularly the gorgeous and age-less Sophia Loren.Would she have accepted doing this modest film if her son wasn't the director?

BETWEEN STRANGERS is a tough story told with unrelieved intensity, acted with underplayed angst, and directed with quiet strength by Eduardo Ponti. The "Strangers" are three unrelated women, each of whom has a burden that grows until it must be lifted.Mira Sorvino is a media photographer, daughter of Klaus Maria Brandauer (who has multiple awards for his own news photography, who has just had one of her images appear on TIME magazine - an image of a little girl from Angola who we gradually learn died in the fire Mira was photographing. She is haunted by the fact that the time she spent photographing the child could have been used to save the child's life.Deborah Unger is a concert cellist whose wife-abusing father (Malcolm McDowell) is released from prison despite her conviction that he should die for his cruelty, forcing her to leave her own family in the attempt to end her father's existence.Sophia Loren is a haggard housewife who has devoted her sad life to caring for her wheelchair-bound past athlete husband (Pete Postlethwaite) until she sees her illegitimate daughter she was forced to abandon becoming the sculptor artist she herself always wanted to be. Each of these women have visions of the same small girl at moments when they are forced to confront their pain and each finds a way back to salvation through 'living out a dream'.Some may find the story saccharine, but the actors deliver these sad folk in such an honest way that together they manage to capture our hearts. It is a true pleasure to see Sophia Loren act again and even the makeup she dons for her dowdy role cannot hide the fact that she remains one of the most beautiful women the screen has known - and one of the best actresses. All cast members are superb. Just be aware of the fact that this is a bleak story that requires much from the viewer. The rewards are worth it.

Over the top drama. A very boring movie, where every one has way too much grief and sorrow. Keep it small and do not overdo it man. This film is way too far-fetched and unbelievable. Speaking of incredibility: consider the implausible coincidences. Olivia is dreaming of images of which she makes drawings that look exactly like her lost daughter's sculptures. By accident, she then sees this daughter in a very staged television interview. The woman who just made a photo shoot for Time magazine in Angola happens to stumble upon an Angolan woman at the local market. Yeah right. Just to make the story-telling easier I guess. None of the actors really outshines here. Famous names, low profiles. The fact that half of the cast is not native English-speaking adds to the very slow-paced, troubled effort in natural acting. No irony, no humour, this movie takes itself far too serious. If you're still not sure, just watch the very stupid ending and all that I've said becomes clear. If you would like to watch an intelligent, well-acted parallel lives women's drama, check out 'Things you can tell just by looking at her'.

The elements of Between Strangers are impressive. Against the background of a Toronto made beautiful by selectivity, a cast of skilled actors work to fulfil the writer's deep material. The film keeps one's attention thanks to the actors' sensitive work. The director's interweaving of the subplots is often moving, sometimes clumsy. The film also puzzles us with the inexplicable behaviours of some of the characters, and the understatement of some themes that beg for deeper exploration. Nevertheless, a praiseworthy effort. 6.5/10.