The movie is a throwback to the soap operatic melodramas of the 1950s, and on surface it got that right. The sets, the costume, the hair, the cars, all seems perfect. However the film has absolutely no depth, most of the characters were one dimensional. The only one that seemed to be real was the mother played by Kathy Baker. All the other characters seem to exist only as plot elements.
The movie doesn't even seem to know the outside world existed. No music from that era, (How about some Buddy Holly? or even Perry Como?), the only pop culture reference was when Mr. Abbott mentioned Jack Paar. Come on were they too cheap to pay rights to the music?
As for the story, well others have described it; two families, one rich, one poor, three sisters, two brothers. One brother wants revenge on the other family by screwing the sisters, the other brother truly loves one of the sisters. The Jacey character should have gotten his butt whup really hard, he deserved it. Mr. Abbott's conversation with Doug should have been longer and it would have carried more weight if somebody more attractive played Mrs. Holt. Don't get me wrong Kathy Baker is a great actress and she gave the best performance in the movie (which really isn't saying much), but what Mr Holt said to Doug would be more understandable if she looked like Kim Basinger.
My main problem with the movie is that it is SSSLLLOOOWWWW. A faster pacing certainly is needed by this movie, it just seemed to drag on and on. Some of the conversations were so slow I lost interest in what they were talking about. Likewise with "Far from Heaven", a similar paean to the '50s melodrama, the pacing is just too slow. The actual movies were faster paced and were easier to watch.
Note to other film makers: (I know that there are filmmakers who actually appreciated those 50s Melodramas and would like to make tributes to them.) PLEASE QUICKEN THE PACING.
The movie doesn't even seem to know the outside world existed. No music from that era, (How about some Buddy Holly? or even Perry Como?), the only pop culture reference was when Mr. Abbott mentioned Jack Paar. Come on were they too cheap to pay rights to the music?
As for the story, well others have described it; two families, one rich, one poor, three sisters, two brothers. One brother wants revenge on the other family by screwing the sisters, the other brother truly loves one of the sisters. The Jacey character should have gotten his butt whup really hard, he deserved it. Mr. Abbott's conversation with Doug should have been longer and it would have carried more weight if somebody more attractive played Mrs. Holt. Don't get me wrong Kathy Baker is a great actress and she gave the best performance in the movie (which really isn't saying much), but what Mr Holt said to Doug would be more understandable if she looked like Kim Basinger.
My main problem with the movie is that it is SSSLLLOOOWWWW. A faster pacing certainly is needed by this movie, it just seemed to drag on and on. Some of the conversations were so slow I lost interest in what they were talking about. Likewise with "Far from Heaven", a similar paean to the '50s melodrama, the pacing is just too slow. The actual movies were faster paced and were easier to watch.
Note to other film makers: (I know that there are filmmakers who actually appreciated those 50s Melodramas and would like to make tributes to them.) PLEASE QUICKEN THE PACING.