| RATING: | 80% |
| FORMAT: | DVD |
A less dysfunctional extended family than that usually seen in US films, perhaps because it is multi-ethnic and so is enriched and benefited by a wider variety of points of view and experience.
Clearly, director Jonathan Demme is getting back to his ensemble acting and independent filmmaking roots he should never have left behind with such meretricious nonsense as The Silence of the Lambs. This is an emotionally astute and well-observed social comedy of manners that, however, suggests something deeper in its (Ordinary People-like) subtext and thematic concerns that it, sadly, does not explore. Blaming others for our own sins while pretending to care for the very people we blame will inevitably produce the psychological damage shown here. Yet this is ultimately a positive movie that strives to create a balance between what came before in the central characters’ lives and the bounty that is to come from shared, positive values.
Anne HATHAWAY is developing into a very fine character actress and the largely unknown (to a cinema audience) actors here make you why wonder you have never heard of them. The answer is, of course, that most movies are not good enough to contain their profound and varied talents. They are able - with a few deft strokes - to summarize their characters so that we feel we have known them a lifetime.
All of this is set to the accompaniment of an avant garde, cinéma vérité style that includes diegetic background music played by on-set musicians who turn up at certain moments to underscore the emotions displayed.
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