I can tell I am in a rut. Its not that I don't feel like watching movies, its more that the movies I have been watching are difficult to review I guess. This was a decent movie. I thought it was done really well. It was a subtle reminder of how things changed (or didn't change) in NYC in a post 9-11 word. The movie takes place in September 2002. It is told in five little stories that just barely intersect at a few points in the film. I usually like movies that tell small short stories and somehow merge, though this one did less merging than I prefer. The performances were all incredible. My favorite performance (though not my favorite story of the bunch) was by Jim Gaffigan, I recently decided that he is clearly more than just your average stand up comic/actor. He is kind of special. In "Sandie's Story" he plays the only character that the film actually implies was directly affected by the tragedy. He is being treated by a Dr.(Tony Shaloub) who comes to his workplace to talk about his feelings regarding the tragedy and whatever happened to him and the rest of his co-workers on the "7th Floor" the Dr. uses unconventional means to bring out his feelings and the whole storyline was very interesting to me.
My favorite storyline was "Judy's Story". Judy, played by the always entertaining Olympia Dukakis, is an elderly woman who is clearly just going through the motions of her life. Every day is the same routine, and she serves her husband his dinner on a TV tray in front of the TV and goes back to making her little fantasy travel collages. I really felt this story, and I got really sucked into it. She runs into a man from her youth that sort of breathes some life into her and though the changes were subtle... it was a very honest story.
The other three stories were "Emme's Story", "Avi and Satish's Story" and "David and Allison's" story. Maggie Gyllenhaal plays Emme, who comes off sort of cold and bitchy, as a Cake creator for the rich and famous. Also an interesting storyline and a fun few minutes worth of my favorite nerd Jim Parsons!
Avi and Satish was the story I could relate to the least. Maybe on a second viewing I will get a little more out of that one.
David and Allison's story was just depressing and sad, while being pretty creepy and scary at the same time. They have a son who has some serious issues, and most of their story is about them dealing with that as well as how that affects their relationship to each other. A bonus in this story is Stephen Colbert as a school principal.
Overall I recommend this movie. It is slow at times, but its like a really interesting piece of art. Sometimes I "got it" and sometimes it was just nice to look at and wonder what it really means.
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0402230/
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