Traveling back to 1964,
The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens (Dakota Fanning), a 14 year old who runs away from home in an effort to find answers about her late mother. With only pictures to guide her, Lily follows clues that lead her to Tiburon, South Carolina and the bee farm owned by the Boatwright sisters. This is really the first time we've seen Fanning on the big screen since 2006 (I haven't seen
Hounddog) and I think she chose a good role to help with the awkward journey from child star to adult actor. She's really good here and holds her own with a great cast. Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, Sophie Okonedo and an almost unrecognizable Paul Bettany round out the cast. Okonedo is especially heartbreaking. My only real complaint is Jennifer Hudson. I've seen
Dreamgirls and how she won an Oscar I'll never understand. John Malkovich doesn't have an oscar. Kate Winslet doesn't have an Oscar. Peter freaking O'Toole doesn't have an Oscar! After nearly ruining
Sex & the City, Hudson doesn't add a whole lot to
Bees either.
Released from rehab on the eve of her sister's wedding Kym (Anne Hathaway) comes home for a weekend of pain, laughter and tears - all the usual family offerings.
Rachel Getting Married is a good film, not the great film that I was hoping for, but still
very good. What I liked about the film was that it seemed like I was eavesdropping on a real family. The effortless acting and dialogue made me feel like I was watching regular people, not performing actors. But speaking of performances, Hathaway, Rosemarie Dewitt (Rachel) and they're divorced parents Bill Irwin (Paul) and Debra Winger (Abby) were all exceptional. They were all brimming with so much emotion and realism and passion that it spilled out of the screen in every scene. The family struggles to balance Kym's selfish needs with Rachel's understandable desire that for just once, on her wedding day no less, she could have the spotlight. Not only does the family struggle with this, but I think the film does also. The action seems to be pulling in two directions for most of the film, which makes for great drama, but I think it also caused the film to be a little unfocused. Another minor criticism I have is the amount of excess in the film. A couple of scenes were unnecessarily long and they began to drag and feel tiresome. And finally, this has got to be the most eclectic wedding celebration that I've ever seen and there was just too much going on. But these are just minor criticisms in an otherwise fully engaging film. And a shout out to a funny cameo by Annaleigh Ashford!
Traveling back to 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens (Dakota Fanning), a 14 year old who runs away from home in an effort to find answers about her late mother. With only pictures to guide her, Lily follows clues that lead her to Tiburon, South Carolina and the bee farm owned by the Boatwright sisters. This is really the first time we've seen Fanning on the big screen since 2006 (I haven't seen Hounddog) and I think she chose a good role to help with the awkward journey from child star to adult actor. She's really good here and holds her own with a great cast. Queen Latifah, Alicia Keys, Sophie Okonedo and an almost unrecognizable Paul Bettany round out the cast. Okonedo is especially heartbreaking. My only real complaint is Jennifer Hudson. I've seen Dreamgirls and how she won an Oscar I'll never understand. John Malkovich doesn't have an oscar. Kate Winslet doesn't have an Oscar. Peter freaking O'Toole doesn't have an Oscar! After nearly ruining Sex & the City, Hudson doesn't add a whole lot to Bees either.
Released from rehab on the eve of her sister's wedding Kym (Anne Hathaway) comes home for a weekend of pain, laughter and tears - all the usual family offerings. Rachel Getting Married is a good film, not the great film that I was hoping for, but still very good. What I liked about the film was that it seemed like I was eavesdropping on a real family. The effortless acting and dialogue made me feel like I was watching regular people, not performing actors. But speaking of performances, Hathaway, Rosemarie Dewitt (Rachel) and they're divorced parents Bill Irwin (Paul) and Debra Winger (Abby) were all exceptional. They were all brimming with so much emotion and realism and passion that it spilled out of the screen in every scene. The family struggles to balance Kym's selfish needs with Rachel's understandable desire that for just once, on her wedding day no less, she could have the spotlight. Not only does the family struggle with this, but I think the film does also. The action seems to be pulling in two directions for most of the film, which makes for great drama, but I think it also caused the film to be a little unfocused. Another minor criticism I have is the amount of excess in the film. A couple of scenes were unnecessarily long and they began to drag and feel tiresome. And finally, this has got to be the most eclectic wedding celebration that I've ever seen and there was just too much going on. But these are just minor criticisms in an otherwise fully engaging film. And a shout out to a funny cameo by Annaleigh Ashford! 
1 comment:
dont forget johnny depp or edward norton. both are lacking some hardware from the Academy. How did Hudson beat either of them?
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