Adrienne (2021) User Reviews

A woman who had everything is killed by a man who had nothing,

[aarpcats · 8/10 · 10 January 2022]

Director Andy Ostroy made this tribute about his late wife, Adrienne Shelley, the actress, writer and director who was murdered by an Ecuadorian immigrant who was looking for money to pay his debt to the coyote who brought him to the US. To add insult to injury, the NY police initially refused to look past the circumstances of her death and called it a suicide. Only after his arguments did they reopen the investigation and call it a murder.

Senseless.

The movie is Ostroy's gift to his their daughter Sophie, who looks much like her mother. Even fourteen years after Adrienne's death, Their pain is still palpable.

What Ostroy wants us to know is how much Adrienne had to offer the world, how much it hurts that she is gone, and how much more she might have done. He interviews friends and coworkers, and gives the viewer glimpses of her last project,

The documentary is sad and unfocused, but what would you expect from something so intimate?

Touching tribute and labor of love

[paul-allaer · 7/10 · 15 December 2021]

As "Adrienne" (2021 release; 98 min.) opens, we see home video footage of a Halloween party in 2006, featuring actress-director Adrienne Shelly and her 2 yr old daughter Sophie. The voice over informs us that shockingly Adrienne would be found dead the very next day, November 1, 2006. We then go to "New York City, May, 2019", where the musical "Waitress", adapted from Adrienne Shelly's last movie released just months after her death, is doing great business on Broadway. At this point we are 10 min into the film.

Couple of comments: this documentary is directed by Andy Ostroy, husband of Adrienne Shelly. The movie is two things into one: first and foremost, Ostroy wants to pay tribute to Adrienne and at the same time preserve Adrienne's legacy and memory for Sophie (now 17 years old), as a mother, a wife, an actress, a director. Second, Ostroy wants to fully understand what exactly happened that fateful November 1, 2006. I must admit I vaguely recall this happening, but I didn't know much of Adrienne Shelly's body of work. What I wasn't prepared for is the emotional toll of watching this, considering the senseless death of Adrienne. Bottom line: this movie is clearly a labor of love from Ostroy.

"Adrienne" premiered recently on HBO and is now available on HBO On Demand and HBO Max, where I caught it the other day. Whether you are a fan who is familiar with Adrienne Shelly or you know know next to nothing about her, as was the case for me, I'd readily suggest you check this out, and draw your own conclusion.

My 80s muse <3

[manuel-boucherie27 · 8/10 · 2 August 2022]

She will always be the "100% Indie actress" <3, along with fdirector Hal Hartley, it was for me, the Indie cinema era at their prime, before it became more comercial.

A Heart-wrenching love letter to Adrienne. :(

[midnitepantera · 9/10 · 2 December 2021]

I've always loved actress Adrienne Shelly, since I 1st saw her in the late 80's and always felt like she was a friend in my head, a kindred spirit.

I remember when I watched Waitress and was SO THRILLED and Amazed that she had FULLY Broken through and achieved her Dreams. She made a Beautiful Masterpiece!!! At the time I had No idea of what had happened to her, as I had lost my Father 2 months earlier and was living in a numbed stupor.

I Loved Waitress, All the characters and wonderful actors she had cast were perfection!! I was so thrilled and as I watched the end credits I spotted something that seemed WRONG!! :O I immediately went online to look up Adrienne and now Knew it was TRUE! She was gone! Someone had cruelly and selfishly, Robbed her of her Life, Her Child, Her Husband, Her Family and Her Lifetime Masterpiece (a love letter to her baby, who would now grow up without getting to really know the beautiful, kind, talented and courageous woman her Mother Adrienne Really was!) I just cried... and when I realized that was little Sophie who played Jenna's (Keri Russell's) beautiful little girl Lulu in the movie, I cried MORE!! :(

I was surprised today to see this documentary made by her husband, Andy Ostroy and seeing her beautiful daughter. Sophie, so grown up now and just as beautiful as her Mom, Adrienne. I watched with a huge lump in my chest and my throat.

I can't say more without throwing out spoilers. But if your a fan of Adrienne Shelly, her past work and her Huge Hit movie Waitress, then this is a must see!

The world feels a bit darker without this beautiful and talented woman in it. Even for an ordinary person like me, who only knew her through her works. All I can do is say a Prayer for Adrienne, Sophie, Andy, and all the family, friends and fans who Loved her and Miss her So Much!

Tragic.

[CriticsVoiceVideo · 9/10 · 6 December 2021]

This film is a beautiful tribute to a thoughtful creative artist, mom, wife, daughter, sister, and friend. An exploration of life, death, mourning, legacy, and the human spirit. I remember when the news of her death broke in NYC. I remember all the inaccurate conclusions about her death being reported and then the truth seemingly coming out. This film finally put my curiosity and questions about what happened to rest and gave me closure. I loved "Waitress" when I first saw it and introduced it to everyone. Same with the musical. I saw it twice on Broadway and cried both times. Go see it! And watch this. This film celebrates her, while not shying away from the darkness and evil that intruded upon her and ended her life. She created a very touching lasting work about the human condition and that can never be taken away. Rest in Peace sweet soul and God bless her family for facing this head on and sharing their story with the world. Thank you.

sad

[randomStuff101 · 31 December 2021]

Sad and shocked to learn about Shelly's fate all these years later.

I'm not rating this because there's not really anything special about the doco. Technically it's a simple presentation. I see it more as something for fans of Shelly to find out what happened to her. I felt I needed to learn what happened, as I liked her work from the 90s. It doesn't feel right to give it a score out of 10.

Trust is such a classic. Shelly owns her role in that movie. This doco is a fitting tribute, it shows home footage of Adrienne's life, her work and friends. Shelly's daughter seems to have similar voice characteristics to her mother, that crystal clear tone.

For human life to be violently taken that way, is a great shame of society. We have a long way to go. When it's someone like Shelly who is taken, it makes it more important to do something positive in response. I think this doco and the other work in memory of Shelly is that positive response.

Beautiful film depicting the short life of Adrienne Shelly

[Susansgoldens · 9/10 · 21 December 2022]

Andy, thank you for sharing Adrienne with us. Your documentary shows us more about Adrienne than we knew. She was such a talented, beautiful and smart woman. I throughly enjoyed her work and fortunately I can watch her films to my heart's content. Of course I wish she was still here. Waitress is a film I've seen at least a half dozen times. Her writing was so on point and the characters were developed perfectly. It was a natural process for you to make a documentary about her since you're in the business. You're expression of love for Adrienne comes through in every scene. I wish for you and your daughter a happy life.

Widower makes a moving tribute to his late wife

[dfloro · 10/10 · 10 November 2023]

After appearing in two of Hal Hartley's unique indie films, Adrienne Shelly became the talk of the town in L. A. But it would turn out that she had much greater ambitions to make her own movies centered around women's experiences in life. Somehow, years later and against all odds, she would get funding to make a movie titled "Waitress," starring Keri Russell in the lead title role, along with Cheryl Hines and Shelly as her two best friends and coworkers. The movie that Ms. Shelly wrote and directed would be very well received at the next Sundance Film Festival. But then a most unexpected and UNTHINKABLE tragedy occurred before its debut: the talented (and much beloved by her family and friends) Ms. Shelley was murdered at her NYC office on Nov. 1, 2006. About 13 years later, her devoted husband Andy Ostroy, set out to make his own film about her, in part to help him deal with his many unresolved feelings about what happened but more so for the sake of his and Adrienne's now teen-aged daughter, Sophie, a mere infant back when her doting mother had been slain. It is one of the most moving documentaries I've ever seen, and not just because nobody has an unkind word to say about Ms. Shelly. It's because we get to see what sort of indelible marks that a woman, sister, artist, mother and wife can leave across the lives of so many people lucky enough to have met, known and loved her. It's a 10/10.

A Wonderful Love Letter With Just One Wish...

[pwolf-900-528634 · 8/10 · 6 December 2021]

I also had no idea that Adrienne Shelly directed Waitress, until I watched this documentary, which I'm so grateful I did.

Her husband and daughter walked us through a wonderful love letter for Adrienne Shelly. It was very well put together and produced.

My only wish is for her husband to forgive the clearly remorseful murderer. If Adrienne's husband would have forgiven him, it would have given him and his daughter the peace and closure he mentioned not having towards the end. That would have been the happiest ending to a tragic story. But, I get it. Judaism doesn't teach forgiveness as compared to Christianity, where it is the companion to love. To forgive is one of the most difficult things to do as a human being, but it is the one thing that brings closure, peace, and freedom after a tragedy.

This documentary did a great job of honoring Adrienne Shelly and was so well done that it had the perfect opportunity to demonstrate the liberating power of forgiveness, for the sake of her husband and daughter.

Harmful Messages

[mariesnyder-56491 · 4/10 · 30 December 2021]

I agree completely with the "Self Indulgent" review, particularly around the message of "never forgive people" and the way it was artificially presented as if he was about to investigate an unsolved mystery, when the perpetrator was jailed within days of the death. But I also want to add that it does a huge disservice to anyone who has lost someone to suicide by suggesting that it would mean that person didn't actually want to be with their family. He "fights" to prove it was a murder so that his daughter doesn't have to live with the burden that her mother didn't want to be with her. That's not how it works, and that's a particularly nasty message to present to anyone who had lost a loved one to suicide. From the film it appears that Andy hasn't begun to do his work around this death. I'm not sure if making this tribute film is the thing that will help, but I wish him and his family all the best.

Tragic and magic

[Norman_French · 8/10 · 20 January 2024]

This love-letter by Adrienne Shelly's widower is heartfelt and well-constructed. It got some poor reviews by people who are focused on their own tragedies. I lost someone very close to me only six months ago, but I assure you I'm able to judge this film on its own merits.

The film is a bit self-indulgent in terms of (uneven) pacing and run-time. While I'm sure Mr. Ostroy had good reasons for including all the historical footage that he did (and I'm just some random jerk), I believe that slightly more aggressive editing would have helped.

There is a spooky moment about 40 minutes in; it caught my attention. There is also a moment near the end, in an interview with the (very strong) daughter, that for me was so sad and genuine, it was like a dagger to the heart.

I rate this thoughtful and evocative film at eight (8) stars. RIP Adrienne; you are missed.

Self Indulgent

[homeredesign · 4/10 · 28 December 2021]

While I thought Adrienne was fairly well done, it also felt self-indulgent.

What happened to her was, of course, tragic. But, how many people experience the same or worse (e.g., genocide of an entire family... loss of a child to drive-by shooting, etc.) that never get to celebrate their loss via a film, much less, feel justice was served--closure, that Andy has. Not only was the perpetrator caught, and immediately, and is set to spend 25 years in prison, even then, Andy feels it's not enough.

It is the lack of gratefulness, all things considered, that is irritating. He doesn't have to endure years of sleepless nights wondering how his loved one met their fate. He doesn't have to feel angst over the lack of justice. And, he doesn't have to walk through life on his own, as someone who lost their entire family does. He has many reasons to feel gratitude and to move from victim to forgiveness. And yet, he practices and models non-forgiveness to their daughter, and stays in a victim role--15 years later.

Even those whose entire families were brutally slaughtered in African nations, find a way to forgive those who senselessly took everything they held dear. Even those wrongly imprisoned for decades, find a way to move past victim/bitterness. And others, whose refusal to let their losses define them, go beyond forgiveness to show compassion. They are the ones who are free. Andy is imprisoned.

Lastly, I felt it irresponsible that Andy essentially imposed the gravity of his sense of losing a mother, for a daughter, onto their daughter. Sophie 'would have' felt her own loss, had she been allowed to find it on her own.

Sad and unseemly.

[yowilwasup · 1/10 · 18 December 2021]

Of all the self serving documentaries where a family member makes a film to 'cash in' on their personal connection to a tragedy, this is the most distasteful. I'm very sorry for the family's lost but there is nothing to but one family's grief and their unseemly effort to benefit from their personal tragedy.