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Reviews
The End of the Affair (1999)
stay with it...
Forty-five minutes into this movie, I still couldn't tell if I was liking it, if I was going to like it. It was on the brink of being too much like "The Ice Storm" - a gorgeously executed film that ends having been too clinical, too heartless. But, as the minutes ticked away, Jordan and his plans became clearer. Here is an elliptical, icy, intellectual story of heartbreak with profoundly spiritual underpinnings and revelations. It is a movie that I was undecided about until about halfway through. Now it is over, I'm ordering the DVD next week. "The End of the Affair" has shot up to number 4 on my best of 1999 list. The finest we've seen from Neil Jordan since "The Crying Game."
Dreaming of Joseph Lees (1999)
underrated...
Sepia-toned, understated, Hardyesque - Dreaming of Joseph Lees is one of those rare, quiet films that hits with brute force. Its only serious fault is in a too-slim characterization of Harry - his desperation could and should have been a little more fleshed out. We're only given glimpses into the reasons behind his crippling dependency on Eva. Apparently lots of folks feel that Joseph Lees suffers from a similar near-transparency, but his character is what it must be - he has always been a romanticized ideal for Eva. And his fleshing out in her eyes, is present, but also patient, as it must be.
Near the end of the film, Morton turns in some of the best acting I've seen in years in a scene in which her Eva finds herself just inside the front door, literally caught between Harry (further inside the house) and Joseph (just outside the door). Rarely has heartbreak ever been so beautifully rendered in a performance as it is here.
It's a crying shame that this film has yet to find its audience.
The Cutting Edge (1992)
Sweet and Effectual...
I saw this nine times in the theater when I was seventeen. Nine times. Now, I'm almost a decade older. And I still love it. It's flaws are more apparent now - as a film critic and cineaste, I'm more attuned to looking for flaws nowadays. But the film is undeniably fun. And its ending is one of the most romantic, if not better, ones out there.
Manhattan (1979)
Nearly perfect, but...
Still not "The Purple Rose of Cairo" (which is vastly underrated in my view). "Manhattan" is vibrant and elegantly shot. It is deeply heartfelt - the scene in which Isaac is lying on the couch listing the reasons why life, for him, is worth living was one of the finest scenes ever. Mariel Hemingway was wonderful - her Tracy was a great creation to begin with - a real, wise, not immature, but still young girl. And the character was fleshed out beautifully in the performance. "Manhattan" is a lovely picture postcard - an homage to a legendary city, a fresh meditation on this tricky life/love business each of us has to go through. But, as I've already written, for the greatest examination of love Allen has ever conceived, see "The Purple Rose of Cairo." And then see "Manhattan." Both are luminous.
A World Apart (1988)
Stunning...
Jodhi May deserved an Oscar for her work. All told, this is one of the finest coming-of-age stories I've ever seen filmed. And its ending is one of the saddest and most powerful ever - alongside "At Play in the Fields of the Lord."
Waterland (1992)
Rapturous and haunting...
Here is one of the best films of the 1990s. I remember the first time I saw it, I wasn't too sure what to think. I've seen it countless times in the last six or so years, since that first viewing. I am completely in awe every time I watch it. In awe of the way Jeremy Irons conveys sadness better than any actor working today. In awe of the hypnotic score, the sense of mysterious longing it evokes. In awe of everything here...
I swear this film breaks my heart every time I see it.