A nice picture

Rating: Null/10 (30 August 2002)

This movie has an awful lot going for it. It's theme can be summed up by one of the old Jamaican womans lines, We lonely here mostly too. If we lucky, we got some nice pictures to take with us.' Well this is a nice picture.
Claire Forlani is just achingly vulnerable as she (understandably) struggles to comprehend what is happening to her life. The scenes where she and Brad are talking, or almost gently dancing, inches apart as they oh so politely marvel at each other are foreplay at its finest, to be frank. The movie revels in the slow burn. What happens is often much less important than the way it does. Some of the plotting and characters can seem a little simplistic or one dimensional but after paying attention there is usually a little more going on that might appear. (Allison: I should have my head examined again.'). There are also some really funny and bizarre moments in huge contrast to the popular slow and ponderous' impressions of it. Early on Allison sees fir to introduce herself to her own sister? And later their father (Anthony Hopkins) is reminiscing about when they were both little girls and out of nowhere Quince chips in with I love little girls.'. Or Brad to Anthony, Calm down Bill. You'll give yourself a heart attack and ruin my vacation .' And later on Bill, who has been very clearly set up as having almost everything a man could want, is reciting a list of all the things that in fact suck about his life and it finishes with, And oh yes! I almost forgot. My daughters fallen in love with death.' It's hard to accuse this of getting too serious really.
Everything is nothing without love' is a huge theme of the movie, and there are some great lines and moments as they make their point.
Be sorry for nothing.
Thank you for loving me. (ahhh!)
and
Bill: It's hard to let go, isn't it? Joe Black: Yes it is, Bill. Bill: What can I tell you. That's life.
Watch this and let yourself go with it. This is a nice picture.