Reviews

Cynthia Moss first met Echo when she moved to Kenya. She followed her family for more than 35 years. During that time she also categorized many other elephant families naming each member with the same first letter of the alphabet. She started with E, but over time she had so many families that she had to move on to the AAs and the BBs etc.

While this particular film is primarily about Echo and her family, Cynthia and the narrator manage to slip in many facts about elephants, their declining population and the very real threat of extinction due to the ivory trade.

It is at once a heartwarming story of a family and a tutorial on elephants and conservation. Some of the footage is truly amazing especially when you consider there is one cameraman on location with limited resources.

This was the most genuine portrayal of lesbian love and passion that I ever recall viewing. Fear of same sex relationships remains a problem of early socialization in our society to this day. In spite of celebrated people "coming out", gay marriage and famous transsexuals,internalized and externalized homophobia remains to a great extent in America.

This is a realistic story of two straight women, one woman overcoming her fears and another falling in love with a woman after the loss of her male fiancé, falling in love. The timing of the development of their relationship is absolutely genuine.

There is a fair amount of sex in this movie, but there is also a demonstration of gentle caring, affection, compassion and love. While their relationship starts as a business transaction over time it begins to subtly change and build into a real loving relationship. The characters are two women, but could easily have been two men or a man and a woman.

What it did for me was convincingly illustrate how a lesbian relationship is not different from any other loving relationship. It was refreshing to see two women in love depicted as being in love instead of "in lust". This is something that seems not to be portrayed as clearly in other LGBT films.

The ending was not a surprise until the daughter showed up at the art gallery. The interaction between her and her mother's lover was the icing on the cake. The only thing that I found a little distressing was that the sons did not seem appropriately saddened by the loss of their mother.

This is a great film that I would recommend wholeheartedly to anyone not looking for an action flick.

This is a wonderful movie. It is a series of vignettes about four women with problems that are complication their lives and the way they work toward resolution.

The acting is realistic. I bought into most of the people and their actions and reactions. I also developed an emotional attachment to some of the characters.

The editing and choreography of the vignettes was done nicely. You got enough information before moving on to the next story. I felt it moved fairly smoothly with a couple bumps here and there.

The only criticisms I would have are: 1. That the resolution of some of the problems were dependent on other people and outside forces and things fell into place a little too nicely 2. At times the music drowned out the dialogue. I liked it, but it was not necessarily realistic. Life doesn't always end in the story book fashion.

Overall I would recommend this for an entertaining watch though the underlying message might just be a little too optimistic. If your band hasn't taken off by the time you are 40 you might want to get a day job.

Many gay themed movies of the past suffered from poor cinematography, poor scripts, poor acting - basically low budget films for the underclass.

This movie was filmed in SONY Digital 4K so the viewing experience was definitely HD.

Moore as Laurel and Page as Stacie gave great performances. They seemed genuine and believable. Steve Carell, on the other hand, was not a good choice and he did not do a very good job as Steven Goldstein. His performance actually took something away from the film.

The script did jump around a bit shifting back and forth between Laurel's job as a detective and the developing relationship. This was, I assume, the writers way of showing her effectiveness at her on the police force.

In spite of some of the problems with the script, the movie did hold my attention and I did not look at my watch once as I generally do wondering when the movie is going to end. It is a very moving story of courage and people's ability to effect change and of others of being able to change.

An important facet of this film was that there were no sex scenes. There was some kissing and implied sex, but for a gay film I thought it was a novelty. Being gay is not all about sex; it's about who you love.

Even though gay marriage was upheld by SCOTUS before the film was released, I think it's important for us to continue to tell our stories about life before people became more accepting of diversity.

Unless you are Kim Davis or another type of bigot, this movie is enjoyable and well worth seeing.

The pictures of the real Laurel and Stacie at the end of the film were a wonderful addition.

Now for a dissenting opinion. I was not the biggest fan of the Four Seasons, but I certainly enjoyed many of their songs in my youth. I looked forward to seeing this movie and reliving some of the past.

Unfortunately, perhaps my expectations were unrealistic. The script was OK, not great, but OK. The acting was terrible. The singing was unbelievably bad. The actor who played Frankie Valli, frankly, (no pun intended) could not carry a tune. The make up, and I never notice makeup, was amateurish. The cinematography was poor quality. I have seen better video on youtube.com.

I enjoyed the story and some of the music and dancing, but it was not much better than some made for TV movies. All in all this was definitely a low budget film. I found myself frequently looking at my watch to see when it would end.

I would not recommend this movie to anyone.

After previewing this movie, I can't imagine why Dustin Hoffman allowed it to be distributed. If I were he, I would have paid to keep anyone from seeing it. This is the only movie I have ever walked out of before the end. I wouldn't mind a movie that has little action or special effects, but I do prefer one that has a script. My friend and I both love Hoffman and Franz, but the dialogue was not that good and the movie was going nowhere. After twenty or so minutes of incredibly boring conversation,we looked at each other, stood up, walked and never looked back. I have never regretted that decision; I only wish I had asked for a refund.

This may actually be the worst movie I have ever seen - Buffalo Nickel is a close second.

It is the story of a preacher who is just like the rest of his congregation. Now that is a revelation. Aren't all preachers human. He has his faith and his faults. Surprise, surprise.

It seems to me anyone could go around yelling, singing and preaching like Duvall. The incessant preaching and bible thumping is truly very nerve racking. It could actually make a person prefer to go to hell.

As an atheist it is disturbing to see so many religious people. As a critical thinker it is disappointing to realize how many people remain steeped in faith and fantasy rather that fact and reality. As a movie goer this movie is BORING!!!!!

This movie made me laugh and cry. I rarely watch films about gay men, but I must say this film was exceptional. It alludes to intimacy without actual sex scenes. The character development is a little bit questionable, but possible. The main theme though,if you can get past the fact that it is about 2 gay male partners, is the resolution of a blended family. It is also about people becoming more accepting of gay marriage and adoption. I thought the acting was great and the plot believable.

I rarely watch foreign films with subtitles, but I must say they were in large type and did not interfere with my enjoyment of the movie. If you don't like movies with happy endings this is not for you.