Thank You Sofia

Rating: 10/10 (19 December 2007)

Whenever watching a character driven movie such as this, my mind goes into overdrive. I hang on every word, every beat, desperately trying to find meaning, as if there is a riddle to solve and the clues are cleverly embedded in the script (ala "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind").
Well, I should've known better, and I'd like to thank Sophia Coppola for teaching me a valuable lesson: a film doesn't have to build up to something bigger, and it doesn't need to end with a neatly packaged moral.
In this case, the journey is the reward. Just sit back, and let the film take you for a ride (and what a ride it is).
This film is beautiful because it takes you inside the lives of two characters who are decades apart in age, but in many ways in the same exact boat. The movie doesn't make judgment, manipulate or romanticize the characters, it just flows with the lives of Bob and Charlotte, until there paths intersect in the most natural way.
The characters learn from each other, grow from each other, but all the while don't quite know what their relationship is, or can be.
If you like being a fly on the wall, this film is a real treat.