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Post by Deleted on May 28, 2009 18:51:15 GMT
I have it on TV again tonight. I am just fascinated with that movie for some reason.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 28, 2009 21:07:54 GMT
Really? I read the book and thought it immensely over-rated. The story itself is fascinating, so perhaps the movie is much better than the book.
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2009 0:37:31 GMT
I liked the movie very much. I thought it captured Savannah society and the location shots are very well done. I spent a little time in Savannah,the houses and gardens are very beautiful there and the movie did pay justice to the city well. Kevin Spacey is superb. It's well done.
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Post by hwinpp on May 29, 2009 5:56:30 GMT
I bought and read the book purely because of the title. It sounded cool. The story is ok but I wouldn't read it again. Of course I watched the movie when it followed but I don't remember Kevin Spacey.
I seem to remember a different guy, John something, he's got a hideous sister who's also an actor.
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2009 6:34:16 GMT
John Cusack was the writer in the movie. Kevin Spacey was the rich man and Jude Law was his plaything.
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Post by tillystar on May 29, 2009 14:12:00 GMT
I don't remember the film clearly at all, I just remember being fascinated with the film at the time. Maybe I need to see it again!
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Post by palesa on May 29, 2009 14:29:06 GMT
Is this the movie where they walk the imaginary dog?
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Post by Deleted on May 29, 2009 15:47:30 GMT
Yes it is palesa,I had forgotten about that! Too funny.
hw,the" hideous sister "is Joan Cusack. I like her in some stuff,not others.
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Post by bixaorellana on May 29, 2009 15:51:08 GMT
Joan Cusack is not hideous!
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Post by hwinpp on May 30, 2009 4:20:36 GMT
Well, beauty is in the eye of the beerholder...
Can't remember the imaginary dog walk either.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2009 4:59:58 GMT
The imaginary dog walk is one of the first things the John Cusack comes across in town, tipping him off that Savannah high society might be just a bit off in the brain.
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Post by palesa on May 30, 2009 18:09:42 GMT
I don't think we ever got to see the end of the movie, though we watched it a few times. Or, maybe we eventually did.
Seemed whenever we recorded it we somehow cut the last few minutes off at the end.
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Post by Deleted on May 30, 2009 19:55:12 GMT
You'll never know then. *evil grin*
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 25, 2009 16:23:15 GMT
I watched this movie last night and if this were the only thing I'd ever seen directed by Clint Eastwood, I would have dismissed him forever as a director.
SHEESH! The movie is so poky. There seems to be a pause after every line uttered, frequently to the point it seems a Significant Pause, but it's not -- it's simply dead air.
And the blocking! Notice how strangely the actors are placed in relation to each other. At one point in an unimportant conversation, John Cusack is rather looming over Kevin Spacey from behind. This is the sort of thing that would ordinarily mean something, but it seems more as though the director didn't know what he was doing. And it happens in scene after scene, where the viewer is distracted by the strange juxtapositions of various players. The actors hardly ever seem to be naturally moving from point to point, but rather picked up and put down like chess pieces by the director.
Also, apparently John Cusack's height in relation to other actors is routinely minimized in movies. In this movie, even that is done clumsily. He exits the courthouse with Jack Thompson, they pause at the top of the steps, then you can feel the "oh yeah" moment as Cusack steps down one step in order to be at eye level with Thompson.
I was able to notice all this because of the dragging over-all pace. Usually those details escape the viewer who is caught up in the whole visual/story-telling process of a movie.
I thought the book was all about nothing, and watched the movie because I graduated from high school in Savannah and wanted to see that very beautiful city again. The city shines in its role, although all stops were pulled to feature every southern eccentricity stereotype there is, including the voodoo practitioner in the run-down cemetery. Of course the voodoo woman was necessary to justify the trumped-up ending.
Kevin Spacey is fabulous, completely inhabiting the character. John Cusack does what he can, but the lumbering, high school production pace to the whole thing makes him look at times as though he desperately wished they'd take the camera off him. There are some good turns -- the judge at the trial is very believable, but most of the characters seem to scream, "look how eccentric &/or kooky I am!" Special mention must be made of the Lady Chablis, though, who is thoroughly enjoyable in every scene.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 25, 2009 16:50:55 GMT
It is the pokiness that appeals to me. American movies are always in a hurry and this one isn't.
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Post by bixaorellana on Jun 25, 2009 17:05:32 GMT
I love poky. I love movies where "nothing happens", or takes a long time to happen. It's just that the pace of this particular movie felt all wrong to me. The movie impressed me the same way the book did -- that there weren't enough facts available to flesh out either, so they both felt artificially padded to me.
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Post by cigalechanta on Jun 26, 2009 4:53:47 GMT
i SAW THE FILM WHEN IT FIRST CAME OUT. eNJOYED IT. bASED ON REAL CHARACTERS.
Sorry my keys stick!
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