Genres

Visitors Review

2012-05-15 22:27:06

Sappy

The main reason I wanted to see this film in the first place is because of double mother/daughter casting (Redgrave/Richardson and Streep family). More that anything, I wanted to see showdown of acting abilities by a younger generation. While Natasha Richardson knows her place in the film industry and deserves her place next to her mother, I cannot say the same for the younger Streep. As you can tell, I do not even recall her first name. Other than her mother's likeness, her acting is bland. The plot itself is slow moving and multi-layered plot that probably works well in the novel fails in the movie miserably. To be fair, if you liked "Notebook" and other similar movies from the same genre, you would like this one too. If it was not for the (female) talent of the casting in this feature, it would be hard worth mentioning it. Good to see only if you wish to satisfy your own curiousity about the cast.

2012-05-15 07:55:36

A masterpiece!

I knew this movie would be good just looking at the list of names of people who are in it. And it was. Actually, it is a true masterpiece.It speaks to the heart of many many things. Regret; passion; bonds that exist between people; settling in life; memories. The story and how it unfolds are beautifully shown here with inconsequential 'holes'. Keep your focus on what is being told.I certainly didn't notice any flaws as I watched the movie. The acting, costumes, sets, photography and music blended so well, so seamlessly that it pulled me along as I watched it.We've all experienced what the lead characters have experienced. We all choose one way or another to go in our life. Each way has regrets as well as positive experiences, it's all in how you view it and what meaning things have for you.I doubt that anyone could spend time watching this movie and not come away untouched. Highly, highly recommended. Truly a must see.

Rickie331 2012-05-13 02:08:06

Redgrave, Streep, Close are all good to go!

How can one lose with this cast, plus Merryl's and Vanessa's two lovely daughters in the cast. There are two 'sister' bed scenes that are cast close comfy and are oh so competently acted by them that you will be glad you saw this film. Go.

Liz Braun 2012-05-12 05:11:46

It's all terribly Great Gatsby, and fun to watch.

Roger Ebert 2012-05-07 16:09:27

There are few things more depressing than a weeper that doesn't make you weep. Evening creeps through its dolorous paces as prudently as an undertaker.

underhillm 2012-05-06 18:08:43

Cast great.....plot confusing and slow

I hadn't heard critics' reviews before I went, so I had high hopes,based on the trailer and cast. I kept waiting for it to get moreinteresting, but was disappointed. The cast, Claire Danes inparticular, were very good.*Spoiler* It might have been me, but I thought throughout half of thefilm that Ann and Buddy were together. I also thought it was strangethat she was so open with kissing Harris after she found out that herbest friend loved him. Especially the morning after the wedding whenthey returned in the same clothes.In addition, some of the scenes were confusing...like the butterfly inthe house and her leaving. I also thought the night nurse going backand forth between the "angel" character and the nurse was confusing. Ididn't like how it ended either.Overall, I loved the cast, loved the concept, but I wish the plot wouldhave been a little better. Two couples actually got up and left in themiddle of the film at different times, one young and one old.There's my two cents for what it's worth!

John DeSando 2012-05-04 16:41:00

Try to remember Gatsby.

For of all sad words of tongue or pen, The saddest are these: "It mighthave been!" John Greenleaf WhittierEvening is dominated by regret, saturated so completely I regret havingseen the film. Well, not quite, but rarely has a film had such anaccomplished cast and high-class writing pedigree and disappointed meso thoroughly. The regret theme is hammered home so superficially I wasdriven to try to remember lines from The Great Gatsby to mitigate mygrowing anger at being treated by the filmmakers as if I could notendure subtlety or ambivalence. In other words, I got it from the first scene where Vanessa Redgravelooks out over her Newport memory at her young self (Claire Danes) andbegins what have to be the easiest lines she's ever had playing anaging romantic: "Why didn't I marry Harris?" The variations on thistheme in the movie are legion, even when it's not the young doctor,played by Patrick Wilson, whom her friend, Lila (Mamie Gummer—lookingvery much like her aunt, Meryl Streep), also regrets not marrying.One of my major problems is that it's never clear why these substantialwomen spent so much emotional coin on a character we never get to know,except for his Paul Newmanish good looks. But like the rest of theregret-laden characters, this film spends no dramatic coin on depth—allis skating on the surface, letting us do the sub-textual work ratherthan the dialogue. In the coda, Old Lila (Streep) makes an attempt atcharacter deconstruction by saying about women, "We are mysteriouscreatures." Give me a break; could I have a bit more than platitude?A regrettable life is Buddy's (Hugh Dancy), Lila's drunken, poeticbrother, who tries to prevent Lila from marrying the wrong man (notBuddy), whom Buddy loves also, but then this gay sub-theme is neverexplored beyond a drunken kiss. Nothing in this film is explored exceptmaybe its shameless borrowing from Gatsby without a modicum ofunderstanding that his loss was not just of a woman but of a classstruggle, a dying age, and self worth. For Ann, it's just Harris.The cars are shiny period antiques, the house is beyond the reach ofanyone in the audience, and the insights into smart women facing lossare none. Thank goodness for the arrival of evening, when the realstars are the lights in the firmament, not the rich wailing for theirlost loves.

overheated 2012-05-04 13:58:27

Tedious until Streep walks in

Almost as tedious to watch as it was to read, Evening is a gorgeouslyproduced failure...until Meryl Streep walks in and quietly shows herother cast members how to act this kind of stuff. Vanessa Redgrave isshockingly off in her role as the dying Ann and Claire Danes is acipher. Perhaps if Vanessa and Claire had switched roles we could haveseen the vibrancy in the young Ann that gave her entrée to the rarefiedworld of the story and we could have imagined that the older Annactually was dying. I was hoping the addition of Michael Cunningham to the writing creditswould smooth out the jumpy storytelling but alas. It gave me aheadache.

2012-05-02 00:54:27

Wow, what a way to mess u p a great book!

I loved the book and couldn't wait to see this cinematic treatment. It has a dream team of actors/actresses, and minot herself helped adapt the screenplay-what could go wrong?Plenty it seems. The MAIN problem was they changed really important plot points for whatever reason-but it resulted in taking away from the relationship that binds the present to the past. There's two stories going on-one of a woman dying, another around a wedding years before. In order for anyone to even begin to care about the dying woman and her memories, the wedding storyline needed to be setup correctly. IT"S NOT. In the book, the past makes us understand the present. In the movie, we are going "what's wrong with all these looney, whiny ladies?"Man, all I can say is read the book. It's a great novel. This movie on the other hand? Just rent it to watch two hot pieces in action-Patrick Wilson and Hugh Dancy. And just take a nap whenever the old lady and her complaining daughters come on.

David Elliott 2012-05-01 16:14:34

Evening reaches for depth, at times plodding, never cloddish. The lessons about choice and loss and getting on in life have some decent heft, and there is a sunset magic in Redgrave's eyes.

Dustin Putman 2012-04-28 03:15:23

For a movie that begins on such shaky footing, Evening packs an impassioned wallop by the end.

Dragoneyed363 2012-04-27 11:25:46

Oh So Genuine

I love this film and it is such a wonderful example of a familyjeopardy, a romantic love story, and a very sad story plot. Everythingwas just so perfect and excellent about this film. It was such a greatmixture of actors and actresses and with some laughs and a lot of criesthis film deserves to get plenty of awards. With the mention ofbeautiful scenario, and although I would relate this film to TheNotebook and The Family Stone, it was sort of much more cunning, sad,and brilliant than those films. The Evening tells of a love storybetween an old woman dreaming back to her younger years, and her twodaughters stay by her side while she is not well. The story dating backis so strongly told and wonderful I was sitting on the edge of my seat.You really get to know all the characters and by the end, I was wantingto watch it all over again. This is a amazingly sad and vividly actedand plotted movie that is really one of a kind and should be seen byall for how wonderful it really is. All the performances areastonishing and the film captures your attention from the verybeginning and never lets go. I loved it, and am so glad that I watchedit for it was truly an astonishing film...

D A 2012-04-25 21:08:53

Heartfelt mediocrity

This (desperate-to-be) quintessential multi-generational chick-flick onthe surface feels like a classy production, certainly elaborated by abevy of accomplished actresses. The film does bear a few sinceremoments dwelling upon love lost and lives fulfilled amidst the genericbeach-front scenery as we watch a dying mother reminisce of days pastvia redundant transitioning. Sadly, any thematic weight easilydissolves from the myriad of walking stereotypes that plague thesehollow, manipulative characterizations. Only Vanessa Redgrave risesabove her two-dimensional cutout, thankfully framing the increasinglymediocre melodrama in a vivid haze of performance.

2012-04-25 16:38:55

EVENING

This review is from: Evening (DVD) THIS WAS AN EXCELLENT MOVIE!! IT'S 3 YEARS OLD, BUT I HAD NEVER SEEN UNTIL ABOUT A MONTH AGO & LOVED IT AND I HAD ADD IT TO MY VAST MOVIE COLLECTIONS!! CECELIA P. LOS ANGELES, CA.

2012-04-19 14:26:44

A Crucial Memory That Will Organize The Fragments of A Life

'Parked uneasily between sensitive indie and studio chick flick, Lajos Koltai's Evening makes star-studded hash of Susan Minot's beautifully written, if emotionally constricted, novel about a terminally ill woman trying to wrestle meaning out of the shards of her memories. Floating in and out of delirium in her Cambridge, Massachusetts, home, Ann Lord -- a former singer, twice married to men she didn't fully love and vice versa -- is cared for by her two daughters, played in the movie by the world's least likely siblings, Natasha Richardson and Toni Collette." Ella TaylorSomething is missing from this film. We are left searching for a memory that will organize the fragments of Ann Lord's life. Vanessa Redgrave plays a woman dying. Her two daughters, Natasha Redgrave and Toni Collete have come to spend their time with her. Ann keeps mentioning 'Harris' and neither woman has any idea who this is. Memories flit in and out. Claire Danes plays the younger Ann, and she seems to be good to be true-at once a good friend to the only two characters who makes any sense at all, Lila the bride and friend of Ann's played by Mamie Gummer and, Buddy, the brother played by Hugh Dancy. One of the few redeeming qualities of this film is that Hugh Dancy is brilliant as the young man, an alcoholic who seems to see through souls. The scenes between the old young life and the new old life are trite and have no ties that bind. What is it in this life that we missed? What is the message that was meant to be? Meryl Streep plays Lila as the older woman, and she makes a striking resemblance to the young Lila. Mamie Gummer is Streep's daughter and has the same glow from within. Dame Eileen Atkins plays the night nurse and is brilliant.The soundtrack from 'Evening' is glorious and the other redeeming quality of the film. Jan A.P. Kaczmarek is responsible for the movie score and as his Polish ancestry directs the Polish Radio Orchestra in several ephemeral songs throughout. He brings Ella Fitzgerald, Michael Buble, Peggy Lee and Anita O'Day as well. This is as lovely a score as you could want and is remarkable on its own."But "Evening" is not about sickness and dreadful death. It's about how some words that pass muster on the page can sound terribly precious coming out of a real person's mouth. It's also about how modest projects like this depend on name actors to get made." Manohla DargisThis film did not connect for me. The crucial event, the crucial memory did not appear. There was nothing to tie the scenes together. A collection of brilliant stars but no real story.Recommended for the movie score and the acting. prisrob 05-10-08Anne of the Thousand Days / Mary, Queen of ScotsThe French Lieutenant's Woman

Edward Douglas 2012-04-19 10:41:03

It's aggravating to know how much better this would have worked as a stageplay, because sitting through it as a movie is tantamount to being in your own deathbed awaiting the end.

2012-04-18 06:20:17

Evening

This review is from: Evening (DVD) Power-packed with superstar actresses, the concept is good, the individual acting is up to par yet something is missing in the story line and directing. It ends up being a trite chick-flick.

mickey323 2012-04-17 14:54:44

Brilliant cast; sluggish direction.

I had circled my calendar for the release of Evening, loving as I do somany of the actors. And, yes, the actors were wonderful. And,absolutely, the art direction was brilliant. But the tempo (whattempo?) was so awfully slow I almost had an anxiety attack by the timeMeryl Streep showed up. It all felt to be on one level. The chancemeeting "years later" echoed "The Way They Were" much too closely. Thetouching scene between Streep and Redgrave was disturbed by the factthat they appeared to be (albeit the age makeup on Streep) a generationor two apart in age. But none of that would have mattered if the filmhad pace. It doesn't. Unfortunately.

2012-04-12 14:38:45

Evening

I have never been influenced by mixed reviews not to buy an item. Being a fan of most of the cast in this film and Mr Dancy in particular I knew that none of the actors would have signed on this project if they had not been intrigued by it. I read Susan Minots book a while ago and knew what to expect. She also worked on the script for the film together with Michael Cunningham. It is fair to say that not all the characters in the book appear in the film, some like Buddy Wittenborn who is scarcely mentioned in the novel has been promoted and given a main role to explain his personality better. Evening is about the recollection of an elderly and dying woman about one weekend spent in Newport when she was young at her best friend's wedding and the events that happened then and changed her life. How she met Harris, a young doctor with whom she would have a passionate affair, witnessed the anxiety of her best friend and bride to be Lila who was about to marry a man that was not her first choice but did not have the guts to call the wedding off, the spiralling out of control of her former college mate Buddy, brother of Lila, a tormented soul with bi-sexual tendencies and the tragic accident that ended his life far too early. The woman is Ann Grant who married a couple of times and has brought up four childen (in the book) of which two daughters have made it into the film adaptation. It's very moving to see real life mothers and daughters Meryl Streep (as elderly Lila) and Mamie Gummer (as bride to be Lila) and Vanessa Redgrave (elder Ann) and Natasha Richardson (one of Ann's daughter's in a film together. Sadly only Vanessa Redgrave and Natasha Richardson have a nice scene together. Ann's two daughters don't have an easy relationship with each other which unravels while they stay at their mum's side during her last weeks. Evening is not a film to watch if one wants just to relax but an emotional ride on many levels. The individual characters are well defined and the acting of the cast is superb. Add to this the richness of the cinematography and experience and depth of director Lajos Koltaj (who's work I admire too) and you have a wonderful ensemble piece that does not seek to please but is very rewarding if you are willing to travel with the characters through their journey.

2012-04-12 10:49:07

Beware!

This is the worst film I have ever seen and a real disappointment when one considers the quality of the actresses involved. I kept watching, thinking that it had to get better -- I was amazed that it could be so bad. The characters were unappealing, the plot did not make sense, and it was a total waste of time.