Whimsical and Sharp!

Rating: 9/10 (17 July 2012)

I will be really interested to see next year's Academy Awards, especially the one for cinematography. This is a course in that subject. The camera plays with everyone and is the trued hero in this film. Once I realized that this was not a conventional movie, but one with quirky characters and deep psychology overtones, I settled back and was mesmerized. This is the story of a couple misfits, caught in a claustrophobic world where they don't belong. They come form a dysfunctional ethos but maintain dreams they don't understand. They manage to persevere despite the odds against them. This is a lovely film with some of our best actors: Frances McDormand, Bruce Willis, Edward Norton, Bill Murray, all caught up in their own debilitating existences and trying to move from one day to the next. This is one of those gems that come along once in a blue moon. It is full of charm, wit, kindness, pain, and a whole hose of characters you will have a hard time forgetting.