Brilliant In Almost Every Way

Rating: 10/10 (6 April 2009)

People are weak and those that seem weakest might in fact be the strongest, you can't tell until the end.
In most American movies we are used to seeing strong characters that fall into certain simple categories, as if we are too stupid to understand that people on film can be like people in real life. Villains have to be wholly bad and heroes have to be flawed just enough to make them "likable" but still they are good through and through.
These people are more like people in real life. They are perhaps good at their jobs but otherwise weak, they change their mind, they mess with each other's heads, they say they love one person and they have sex with each other anyway or with a hooker and say it didn't mean anything (maybe it didn't). They love one person and want to be with them until they prove to be too demanding or needy then they turn or return to someone else who wants them.
Some characters fail when given a chance for greatness (Law's writer) and some have no career ambition and just want to live their life (Portman). The interplay between these people is riveting and the whole thing seems almost live, like watching a play.
I recommend this movie highly just for the interplay between the characters, which is really all this movie is about. There are no heroes or villains, just people.