Stays with Me

Rating: 10/10 (10 January 2007)

The long shots add to the tension of the story. Clive Owen and Michael Caine cushion our anxiety throughout a film of lightly controlled chaos. We see what looks like present day landmarks: Nelson's column out the window of Clive's cousin's house, plus the ubiquitous red double-decker bus. The street where Clive gets his coffee could be Tottenham Court Road. We see a separateness between Julianne Moore's character and Clive's character. Clive himself delivers a 21st century kind of guy, nice but apathetic,just getting by in life. How futuristic is that? He does get ignited and it is a movie about hope. The message is personified in these characters, but Alfonso Cuaron lets it sink in, doesn't hit us in the face with it.
This writer saw an early release on December 20. I haven't stopped thinking about how that movie relates to our world and neither will you. It captures you when you see it, but then you keep on trying to evaluate it here it is, three weeks later! That speaks volumes.