Good films are almost always nested in some way. This is a good. Oh, its not because Joan Allen is a good actress. I suppose she is, but her character here is an easy one to play and pretty much goes nowhere. And it is not so much because of Costner, though he really does act here: every nuance is perfect, even the not quite natural laugh. He's trained away that thin wavery voice.
No this is a good one because of how it is structured, _and_ that all involved are competent.
The structuring is of multiple nesting. One nesting: We see a funeral at the very beginning. As the movie progresses, we see it is a remake of "Terms of Endearment." Or so we think. Four daughters, each with a story which one will die? There are at least two false leads until we realize that we are being toyed with.
This film is centered on Mike Binder's character. He has written himself in as producer, a radio show as surrogate for the movie. It stars Costner's character from his other competent movie: "Bull Durham," but later in life. Costner brings up a woman in the show, and everything follows from that, including and entanglement with a daughter.
Another fold: one daughter is a performer, another a producer (aspiring at first) another a producer literally. A final fold: the youngest daughter narrates the film, which is the very film she is making on her iBook.
Its this structure that allows us to be captured by the story, and the characters and the situation they spin.
Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.
No this is a good one because of how it is structured, _and_ that all involved are competent.
The structuring is of multiple nesting. One nesting: We see a funeral at the very beginning. As the movie progresses, we see it is a remake of "Terms of Endearment." Or so we think. Four daughters, each with a story which one will die? There are at least two false leads until we realize that we are being toyed with.
This film is centered on Mike Binder's character. He has written himself in as producer, a radio show as surrogate for the movie. It stars Costner's character from his other competent movie: "Bull Durham," but later in life. Costner brings up a woman in the show, and everything follows from that, including and entanglement with a daughter.
Another fold: one daughter is a performer, another a producer (aspiring at first) another a producer literally. A final fold: the youngest daughter narrates the film, which is the very film she is making on her iBook.
Its this structure that allows us to be captured by the story, and the characters and the situation they spin.
Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.