If you're looking for a fun movie that will make you laugh, this is it.

Michael Riley gives a great performance as an ordinary guy who works at two hum-drum jobs and lives a pretty boring life. Robbie Coltrane comes into his life and changes it for the creative better. As always, Coltrane is over-the-top with his portrayal of a failed, but always hopeful restauranteur. The dialogue is witty especially from Kristina Nichol, who has a minor, but standout role. Eugene Lipinski, who also wrote the original story and co-wrote the screenplay, gives a hilarious performance as the jealous, slightly-psycho 'Hopeless.' Kenneth Welsh is equally funny as the obsessed-to-win hockey coach and boss.

The list of memorable performances goes on. The cinematography involves unique camera shots that are creative beyond what I've ever seen.

Definitely, a must see. I give it a 10 and a spot on my favorite movies of all time list.


This movie is brilliant.

If you like thoughtfully paced humor in the vein of Bill Forsythe (Comfort and Joy) this movie is for you. Great cast, great screen play...and deft humor.

It is the story of Renzo Parachi (Michael Riley), who leads a dull and quite life...and likes it that way. He works at the local brewery's bottling plant and plays goalie for the company hockey team. He also drives a cab at night, where he picks up a fare who will change his life - Robbie Coltrane as Alonzo Turner.

Within minutes Alonzo has insinuated himself into Renzo's life...and suddenly this quiet, unassuming man discovers that everyone wants something from him. His boss at the factory will do anything to transform the hockey team into winners...the girl at the ice rink will do anything for his chastity...and Lonzo will stop at nothing to get what he wants.

A move not to be missed. Unfortunately, and criminally, it is not available on DVD in the U.S. Yet Ishtar is. Go figure.


Yves Simoneau uses the stereotypes of Canada, the beer factory, the hockey rink, the snow-covered wilderness, as his setting to examine its relationship with its bombastic neighbor to the south. But instead of a heavy geopolitical study it's actually a hoot. He throws in opera and cross-dressing for fun, and Robbie Coltrane gives a fabulous performance that almost steals the show. Yet the entire cast hits their notes well, with the smaller parts especially shining. Beautifully shot, it's a gem of a film.


If you like slow, stylish, cynically heart-warming humor...this movie is for you. This isn't sleepless in seattle or when harry met sally. This is a brilliantly conceived, written, directed and acted masterpiece that exalts the multifaceted idiosyncrasies of the great white north, combining it with a deft touch of the quieter side of British humor.

It combines my love of humor, hockey and music in a tale of romance and transformation that is smart, rather than sickly sweet.

Kenneth Walsh is great as the no-holds-barred coach that will fake cancer to motivate his team. Michael Riley gives a performance even more subdued and complex than Bud Cort in Harold and Maude. And Robbie Coltrane is a hugely under-appreciated comic talent - the John Candy of Great Britain.

I seldom gush over a movie...but this one hit the spot.


I really don't know what to say about this film that could help someone understand it. I think this film stands for what is good and fun about Canadian cinema, like 'Paint Cans' stands for what is bad and awful about Canadian cinema. Not that I didn't like 'Paint Cans'. I haven't seen this film for quit some time either. So if you come across it somewhere, pick it up, I have a feeling that it is a rare find. Those more contemporary film buffs out there may be impressed to find Mr. Coltrane playing an American visitor (most recently starring in the Hughes Bros. 'From Hell' and 'Harry Potter', who is actually a Brit with a very stellar international career). This film is just a plain good time. And for anyone really in touch with Canadian film culture, this thing has its finger on the pulse of quirky. FORE!


Though a very few people know about this hidden gem, "Perfectly Normal" is one of those comedies that can make you laugh, and at the same time adds a high profile depth of humanity to it, making it both entertaining and inspiring at the same time. It's a shame that this movie is so obscure and so overlooked because it deserves at least one look just for all-time sakes.

Michael Riley plays the leading role as Renzo Parachi who works in a beer bottle factory and volunteers as a hockey goalie with his company's pathetic hockey team during the day and works as a cab driver at night. Renzo seems satisfied with his ordinary predictable lifestyle. His life takes a shift for the better as he picks up a con-artist named Alonzo Turner (Robbie Coltrane)who persuades Renzo to cash in his late mother's inheritance into an Italian Restaurant in which the crew must dress like opera characters and to entertain the customers with a floor show.

Okay, so it's nowhere close to winning a Genie award, but the numerous subplots are what makes this zany comedy remarkably funny which is very similar to the more successful comedies like "Comfort and Joy" and "Lost in Translation". I can hardly wait till it comes out on DVD, it ones of those movies on my A-list.


This wonderful comedy deserves to be widely viewed; very funny, and one of the few films ever to film hockey the way those who love it really experience it. Few films have ever better represented upper Canadian humour. Riley and Coltrane have a wonderful chemistry, and the one-liners are side-splitting. Kenneth Walsh as the putatively dying coach is classic. Contrary to the LES BOYS films, this movie actually captures the look and feel of beer-league hockey. It also deals very funnily with the stress of working on the line (in this case at a beer-bottling plant), of the difficulty of dealing with assembly line production that just keeps on coming. I would recommend this film to anyone!

TB


You want conventional? Forget it! This film is for those who love a delightfully skewed view on life, in this case the so-called life of one Renzo Parachi. After the death of his mother, into his life comes a whirlwind of a well-meaning shyster in the form of Alonzo Turner (aka Robbie Coltrane), at once turning his life upside-down while simultaneously bringing out the inner opera-loving Renzo. This film ranks as one of my favourite films because of its delightfully skewed world that at the same time holds true to itself. Renzo can never be considered an everyman but, if we're honest, we can maybe hear an echo from somewhere within.

Well acted, well written, well shot and edited. If you're looking for formula comedy, you'd better off with some other film. Otherwise, sit back and enjoy the ride.


If IMDb ever needed a ZERO category for a film, this is it. Voting ONE is to heap unwarranted praise on this trite and pretentious effort. The silver wasted in the emulsion would have gone to far better use in dental fillings. Oh, it undoubtedly was a hit at the Toronto Film Festival as the beautiful people oohed and aahed at its daring innovation and creative groundbreaking. Yeah. Right. Acceptable words fail me. Would the BRAVO channel have shown this were it not required to meet Canadian content regulations? Would it even have been made if its perpetrators had not been able to feed at the public trough. We do some things very well in this odd country of ours. Making movies is not one of them!


What a wonderful surprise: Yesterday my sister calls me and tells me that there's a new film by the director of Brick, playing at the Mill Valley Film Festival. "I'm there!"

Even before we get in the theater, I know we're in for a different experience. A pair of toughs with metal detectors wave us down for hidden cameras and demand we turn our cell phones off. I'm surprised we didn't have to take our shoes off. Endgame Entertainment certainly doesn't want any leaks.

Once inside, the director, Rian Johnson, shows up just before the show starts, fresh off a flight from Abu Dhabi no less. He gives a short interview with Mark Fishkin (long time director of the festival), coming off as a very charming, self-effacing, funny and unpretentious fellow. I like him immediately. Hollywood has not corrupted him (yet).

Like Tarantino, Johnson has closely studied films and makes constant references and nods to The Classics, especially from the 40s and 50s. Unlike Tarantino, Johnson writes more original stories and has good taste and far gentler sensibilities. Obvious influences include: Wes Anderson, The Cohen Bros, Billy Wilder, John Huston.

The film itself? Instant classic. It's got all the elements you could want in a Hollywood-style movie: Charming characters, plot twists, tons of gags, an incredibly beautiful leading lady, sumptuous sets and locations, and an overall sense "gee-whiz-isn't-this-fun!"

And it's classy, too. It doesn't resort to needless, sensationalist sex and violence. The writer respects and honors the audience's intelligence, a all-too-rare occurrence these days.

You could tell that the actors had a blast with the sometimes subtle, sometimes slap-stick script, relishing their characters' quirks and foibles.

Overall, Brothers Bloom almost manages perfection. It's one fault lies in the resolution, the last 5 minutes where it's tone abruptly changes for darker. Without giving anything away, I feel that it was too heavy-handed, considering the generally light and wacky spirit that had predominated. The rest of the audience seemed to feel the same way, given the hushed mood as the credits rolled. If the producers have an alternate ending up their sleeves, I suggest they use it, even it has to be somewhat ambiguous.

Otherwise, I'm happy to contribute to the positive buzz. I really think Brothers Bloom could be a huge hit, even a timeless classic.


While the complete polar opposite of Brick, Johnson left the Dashiell Hammett prose and instead decided to delve into Wes Anderson territory. His The Brothers Bloom is a smart, witty adventure that takes some unexpected turns on its journey, never lets a detail fall into obscurity, and shows that if nothing else, he is a high caliber storyteller that should be around for a long time, not rehashing the same thing over and over again, but churning out refreshingly new and unique yarns to entertain and enlighten.

This tale is about a duo of con menthe best in the worldwho reunite to do one last job. The younger, Bloom, has been playing the roles written by Stephen since they were children, always embodying the character so easily because it allowed him to be that which was not himself. After having fallen in love with too many marks, only to watch as they swindled and left them out to dry, Bloom is ready to quit and goes into self-imposed exile for three years until his partner finds him and rounds him up for one last big score. That score involves an eccentric shut-in, a woman who has never left her mansion and collects hobbies in order to entertain herself. A master with a deck of cards, juggler extraordinaire, harp player, and ping-pong champ, amongst other activities, there is little she does not know. This epileptic photographer is anxious to go off on an adventure and opening up to the Brothers Bloom is her perfect opportunity to do so, and their best chance at an easy million dollars.

What the men did not account for was her inexhaustible sense of enthusiasm and uncanny knack for the con game. Getting herself out of situations that the brothers can't even fathom and catching on to things so quickly, it's as though the mark becomes the professional, however, that is exactly Stephen's plan. She is a woman of intelligence, beauty, and unique without compare. Penelope is exactly the girl that Bloom has been looking for, but of course, she is discovered in one of Stephen's stories, accessible only until they must cut her loose. Yet, here comes the first "what if" of the film. What if our orchestrator has concocted this all for Bloom, a con on a grand scale in order to give him the life he always wanted? Bloom does say that Penelope feels just like one of Stephen's characters, but as he says in his defense, "the day I con you, is the day I die." We can only hope those words don't become prophetically true.

Johnson weaves an intricate shell game for his characters to roam through, crossing paths, discovering secrets, telling lies, and possibly conning each other. No one truly can tell what's real because not only are they unsure themselves, they know that every one of them has the potential to make-up an elaborate scheme to confuse and manipulate. Ruffalo is the true artist at this game, crudely drawing up a plan of attack in brainstorm bubble trees, thinly veiling his tales with inside jokes that a woman like Penelope (Weisz) is well-informed enough to see through, yet too naïve to put together. Straight from the start, a childhood narrated by Ricky Jay, these boys have gotten what they wanted and planned to perfection. Trained by the nefarious Diamond Dog, the men, (Brody portraying the other, Bloom), have eclipsed their master and took the world by storm. Along with their pyrotechnics guru Bang Bang, (Rinko Kikuchi) and a select cast of regular actors (Robbie Coltrane as the Belgian and a great string of cameos in a bar scene early on with Nora Zehetner, Noah Segan, and a blink-and-you'll-miss-him Joseph Gordon Levitt all showing some Brick love), the boys always get what they want. Ultimately attempting to create the perfect conso well planned out and airtight that it happens all by itselfthis con becomes reality and everyone gets exactly what they wanted.

The Brothers Bloom is told in a storybook fashion with bright colors and in-focus frames. Johnson jam-packs each composition with detail upon detail, never shying away from having an important plot point occur in the background, behind a conversation or action by our leads at the forefront. Most times they are jokes, lending some levity to the situation, one that becomes ever more dark as the charade goes along; unexpectedly dark, yet perfectly so. His use of humor infuses a heart into the proceedings and a true bond and relationship between Stephen and Bloom, two men that learn to hate each other at the end of a job, but always come to the others help when needed at the start. You must be diligent to the environment surrounding our actors, as it is just as much playing a role as they, helping a truly bold and intricate story be disguised as a simple one. Very slight on first appearance, it is the fact that it's so well told that makes it seem simpler than it really is. Without any bloated superfluities or weakly handled tangents, this tightly woven tapestry lives on its own at a breakneck speed, culminating with a spectacular final twist, an end that had been building up right from the start in that bourgeois playground during the boys' foster home placement. The Brothers Bloom look out for each other and never let the other down, no matter what damage it may cause to themselves. In the end, they do it all for their brother, anything they can to make the other's life a success.


The Brothers Bloom unwinds the story of two confidence men, an Asian sidekick and their rich but isolated mark. The Brothers Bloom is a charming off kilter dramedy about love.

Bloom (Adrien Brody) and his brother Stephen (Mark Ruffalo) work as confidence men with their explosive sidekick Bang Bang (Rinko Kikuchi). Tired of the life, Bloom tells his brother he's done. His brother talks him into one final con against Penelope Stamp (Rachael Weisz.) Penelope is a rich, eccentric shut-in who has yet to live. They take advantage of her loneliness in a scam meant to satisfy her need for adventure.

Rian Johnson sees the world in The Brothers Bloom the way an archer fish sees bugs. The archer fish hunts bugs above the water's surface by shooting water at the bug from below the water line. When looking up from underneath everything looks like it is one place but actually is in a slightly different place because water refracts light, changing the view for the submerged. The archer fish has to see things slightly cockeyed in order to get the archery right. Rian Johnson took a slightly crooked approach to get the cinematic physics just right.

Penelope Stamp is the Robin Hood of cinematic archer fish. Everything about her life, her development, and her emotions are delightfully off balance. She isn't brilliant but she had dedicated herself to learning how to do many strange and obscure things. It wasn't good enough for Rian Johnson to make Penelope interested in pinhole cameras (a camera made by putting a piece of photo paper in a light-tight container and poking a pin hole in it to expose the paper), it had to be a pin hole camera made of a watermelon. Johnson made sure Penelope is beautiful, but by casting Weisz, made her an interesting beauty.

It isn't just the nature of the characters, but also how they talk. Johnson commits so fully to this strange-ified world, that dialogue that would warrant a call to the loony bin in real life, seems natural in the world created in The Brothers Bloom.

The downside to making the characters fit so naturally in their world is jokes or emotions that might resonate deeply in our world sometimes fall a little flat in The Brothers Bloom. There are no gut busting jokes but occasionally the audience finds themselves chuckling. Cheeks will not be soaked in tears, but occasionally a frog may find way into the throats of the viewers.

The Brothers Bloom is an endearing quirk-filled film sure to whisk the audience away on a flying crime filled love carpet.


This may be my first review of a movie for IMDb. Can't remember if it is or it isn't but the point is I don't normally feel compelled to write about movies on this website. I had the pleasure of seeing this movie in advance at the New Beverly Cinema in Los Angeles this February. I had not yet seen Rian Johnson's previous film Brick, so going in I had no biased opinion about the director or any expectations about what I was going to see. Basically what I saw was a movie that had a great story to tell. And it knew it, so it acted accordingly. I don't think going into detail about the events in the movie will do anyone any good, so I'll stick to a vague approach here. The movie has a similar vibe to Wes Anderson's work, but only in a purely superficial sense. The plot is of the "caper" mold and concerns two sibling con men and their virtually mute sidekick on a quest to trick rich people out of a lot of money. The actors are all first rate. Adrien Brody is essentially the lead, but Mark Ruffalo and Rinko Kikuchi round out the main group of characters. That is, until we meet the real star of this movie. Rachel Weisz has always been great in everything I've seen her in, but she commands the screen in this movie like I've never seen before. I'd put her on an early shortlist for Best Supporting Actress at next year's Oscars. Ultimately this movie made such a strong impression on me because of how well her character worked for me and the strong chemistry she had with Adrien Brody. I strongly recommend you avoid details about this movie in order to get swept up by this wonderful story, like I did. This is a must-see.


By the time this film was released the SHAFT phenomena was coming to a close. I didn't see it when it was released. This was a good move. Most people didn't want to deal with the slave trade practiced in modern day Africa. Currently the slave trade is still quite active and unfortunately those still profiting from it skirt the law quite well. But back to the film. It only approaches the true gravity needed to convey the nature of these crimes a couple of times in the film. Most of the time Shaft is being the wise ass jawbreaker we all know and love. That's OK...this isn't PBS. Frank Findlay is under-appreciated on these shores, sort of the way Charles Dance is currently. Vonetta McGee was as hot as any starlet back in the day. That includes Suzanne Somers and Jacquelyn Smith. Clint Eastwood ain't no fool when he cast her in Eiger Sanction. The attempt was to bring the Shaft character to the world audience but so much of script is lame. Roundtree is working hard to make it sound fresh but he's swimming upstream. The film has a great climax that should have been given more credit.


The ever-cool Richard Roundtree, who along with the equally awesome John Saxon has played more cops than any other actor alive, makes his third appearance as John Shaft, the super-tough, super-smooth, oh-so-hot black private dick who's a sex machine to all the chicks and a most gnarly guy who's always getting into loads of trouble. This time our main man Shaft -- the ultimate bad-a** soul brother from the Big Apple hood -- goes to the motherland (that's Africa, homeys) so he can get the goods on an evil black slavery ring that's run by -- natch -- an odious bunch of wicked white b**tards, with the Major Nasty Man himself being suavely slimy French dirt-bag Frank Finley. Like, can you dig this funky s**t, baby? Well, frankly I totally dug this simply fantastic and wonderfully outrageous globe-trotting action/adventure treat.

John Guillerman's briskly efficient direction keeps the rousing zesty momentum humming along throughout, the action scenes are suitably rough, strenuous, exciting and dynamically staged (the stick fights in particular are the genuine happening article), there's a welcome sense of wryly self-deprecating humor (a male assassin in drag tries to plug Shaft in an airport bathroom!), the dialogue sporadically offers a few profanity-laced slangy zingers ("Baby this may blow your mind, but I don't want to [*very naughty word deleted*] you?") and the snappy pace never lets up for a minute, thereby ensuring that "Shaft in Africa" races towards a thrilling conclusion with terrifically steady and unwavering headlong brio. Moreover, the luscious Vonetta McGee lends her fetching, captivating presence as a foxy young African princess who helps Shaft out, Johnny Pate's intensely groovy wah-wah guitar-ripping score is very easy on the ears, the ever-wondrous and under-appreciated Frank McRae pops up in an amusing minor part as a bothersome henchman, the African scenery's gorgeous, Roundtree carries himself with his customary extremely watchable and winningly easy'n'breezy off-handed grace, and -- hubba! hubba! -- the tiny, adorable, curvaceous blonde looker Neda Arneric will definitely raise the blood pressure of any red-blooded heterosexual male with her smoking hot portrayal of Finley's sensuous, sex-starved main squeeze (Arneric's steamy seduction sequence with Shaft is so incredibly sexy and arousing that it almost melted my DVD player). A hugely satisfying and immensely stirring final filmic fling for blaxploitation cinema's single most engaging and significant take-charge man's man rugged individualist protagonist.


This is definitely a third rate movie. According to some reviewers, this is the best of the Shaft films so far. If that was the best of Shaft, I sure would not waste my time with another Shaft film..

Richard Roundtree does a fair job of acting, but the rest of the cast do not show much talent.


I saw this film at a screening in LA recently and truly enjoyed it. Genuine and full of heart, and I thought the acting was terrific. I don't know why Danny Aiello hasn't had more leading roles before this, and I was impressed by Jane Curtain in a drama since she's really only been in comedies, like SNL. Once I was immersed in the story, I really felt for these characters, and I could definitely identify with the son's conflicted feelings of loyalty towards his dad and his dad's business. No matter what happens, you will always love your parents, but often times there are things about them that drive you crazy and make you swear you'll never be like them. I thought this movie was well-written -- the dialogue seemed like conversations between real people, not trite like a lot of Hollywood movies. Nice to see an indie that you can actually relate to.


It is rare to see these days such a true to life film. the director delivers an extraordinary story of the truth of the human character. The depth of passion expelled from each look and each frame is amazing. Never have I seen such truth put on screen.

It is the way of the world, It is the truth of the hardship of living.

Based on a true Brooklyn story about an Italian family in the middle of some rocky patches.

The lines and thoughts stay with you long after the movie has ended. The characters just felt like people that I know. People with real problems nothing melodramatic which was nice to see.


Finally- a true independent film that believes that well developed characters, realistic dialogue, and a true to life story make a good film instead of explosions and potty humor.

Every performance is nuanced, every character flawed, every joke funny... and it clearly a labor of love. I look forward to when this movie is released in more theaters so I can see it again. Who doesn't want to watch something that makes you feel good in an entirely plausible context? It is nice to escape when you are the movies, but it also nice to believe what you are escaping to can happen.

I actually believed the people in this movie were a family and cared about each other. And who knew that the lobster business would be so interesting?


I was glad to see a movie where nothing explodes, no one gets shot, where the characters are well, regular people doing their best to keep it together...

Lobster farm tells the story of a small business and the family that defines it. Or maybe it's the other way around As the plot and characters are introduced we begin to see how closely the identity of the individuals and of the family as a whole are tied to their small business.

Through the day to day routines and an unusual string of events, we discover each person and a chance to see ourselves.

One by one, we get both a comedic and quirky peek into their individual stories leading in to a more serious look at the gravity of what family business and the family are faced with.

All in all , because of the story, the acting and the direction, Lobsterfarnm feels very real. It makes you laugh like your laughing with family. It makes you worry like you would about your own. Ultimately it paints a portrait of a family with all it's facets that is a real gem.


This movie is a labor of love for its writer and director, who has created this autobiograghical film. A family with a 60 year old business is hit with many changes, and the film loving deals with how the patriarch handles these problems. You cannot help but enjoy the movie, as Danny Aiello once again plays a tough Italian father who tries to hold on. Jane Curtin plays his wife with care and success and the rest of the actors do a fine job, but it's Danny show. Though the themes are clearly universal, anyone from Brooklyn (or New York, for that matter) will feel an affinity for the characters and the settings, and there are a number of items in the film which give a New yorker a warm feel of familiarity. A little film, made in New York, by a New York, with New Yorkers. Go see it and support New York films.


I saw this film at the Union Square screening and was simply thrilled to see a film for people over 35 years old. WE STILL GO TO THE MOVIES! I saw this with my sister who is getting up there (okay she's 48..Sorry :) We both had tears in our eyes at the end. To sit in audience and have this experience go on a ride that has adult characters going through real situations. Who decided to kill this for us?? They've already killed CBS FM what's next?! We have DVD players too! I love my Netflix account. This pushing us out to pasture while the fart joke movies dominate makes me sick. I still want to go to movies. This movie had such a warm natural cadence. Jane Curtin and Danny Aiello were simply a real married couple that have been through a good deal of sh** together. They still had love but a past that showed many bumps, many choices and all in their eye contact. It was a wonderful ride with a REAL FAMILY! Felt like mine but Italian not French/ Irish!! :)


Brooklyn Lobster, poignant story about a man's love for his work, his family and his traditions. My wife and I enjoyed the film immensely and should be seen by all. The acting was genuine and both Danny Aiello and Jane Curtin should be applauded for the fact that they participated for the love of it, for a project they believed in, rather than for the almighty dollar. I especially appreciated the performance of Henry Yuk who I grew up with in the old neighborhood on Avenue J. The movie brings out the best in what people are. After the movie, Kevin Jordan held a Q&A session and those who watched the film gained a better appreciation for the family and the struggles they endured.


Just saw this movie at NYU with interview with director following the screening. He was as engaging and genuine as the film itself. This young man is a gifted director, mentored by Martin Scorcese, and what makes the film even more compelling is its basis in the true story of his own family's struggle to keep their lobster business "afloat." After the screening both the director and the director's father shared their emotions and anecdotes, and the audience could tell how much it meant to them to tell their story in this film. Aiello and Curtin signed on to do the film knowing that it would pay some $75 a day, so you know that the script was special and spoke to them on a deep, human level. I highly recommend this film and I hope everyone who can will go see it!


Frank Giorgio, the owner of a lobster place in Brooklyn is facing the possible loss of the business that has been in the family since the 1930s. To make matters worse, his own marriage has failed before his own eyes, as Maureen, his wife of many years has decided she has had enough, and moves out. Frank's life, as he knew it, is coming crashing down on him. One of the solutions for his problems is to sell the business to a franchise restaurant who wants the location, but being so proud, it is something he doesn't want to consider. His own sense of loyalty to the place his parents dedicated their lives to, plays heavily on his soul.

All this is happening around Christmas. Michael, the son who has left Brooklyn to make a name for himself in Seattle, returns for a visit with his fiancée, the gorgeous Kerry, whose family is rich and might be interested in investing in his father failing business. Michael is torn between his own ambition about the company he has established in the West Coast, or come to the help of his old man.

"Brooklyn Lobster" was a rare surprise to find the other night on cable. It's a story written and directed by Kevin Jordan, who evidently knows what he is talking about, since it appears it has some biographical slant to it. The film involves the viewer because the situation at the center of the story feels plausible. It's a different kind of story without following any formula.

Mr. Jordan was lucky in finding Danny Aiello, an actor that always projects honesty in his work, to impersonate the older Giorgio. Mr. Aiello is one of the best reasons for watching the film, as he pulls us into the story without any effort. Daniel Sauli is also good as Michael, the son who has left, only to come back and finds out things are not good at home. Jane Curtin, a rarely used actress, plays Maureen, the wife that has decided to move on, rather than to stay with Frank, yet, she still stays close to home.

This is a film that feels real from beginning to end thanks to the solid writing by Kevin Jordan and his clear view of a family in trouble.


If you like films about real people expertly portrayed by established and talented actors, you'll love Brooklyn Lobster. Writer/director, Kevin Jordan based his film upon his real family that has been in the seafood business in New York since 1938. He shows us a picture of his family that is loving but not saccharine.

The family patriarch is played by Danny Aiello who shows us a strong, single-minded man. He is stubborn and has many flaws, but beneath beats the proverbial heart of gold. He loves his business and its traditions and attempts to move heaven and earth to save it from the bankers who are trying to foreclose.

Jane Curtin is excellent as the marriage-weary wife who has decided to divorce herself from the conflict of the business and from a man who sees only the business and nothing else. Most people think of comedy if Curtin is involved, but her range as an actor enables her to take a part such as this and make it her own. She beautifully portrays a woman who has become fed up with her live yet can move on without bitterness.

Daniel Sauli plays the son who has managed to escape the trials of the family business but is conflicted with the desire to help his father. He gives us a realistic picture of a young man caught between the love of his girlfriend and his new life and the love and devotion to his father.

All this is combined with a spate of superior supporting actors who combine with worthy writing and insightful directing to produce a film about real life with all the humor and heartbreak that it involves.

If you decide to give this film a viewing, be sure to view the special features on the DVD as they will enhance your pleasure by giving you a look at the real people upon whom the film is based.


"Brooklyn Lobster" takes a close, careful look at a group of people dealing with major and minor problems in a rather unusual family business. Since it lacks contrived melodrama, I suppose it's vulnerable to the dreaded charge that "nothing much happens". However, I think a great deal does happen, although quietly. It's necessary to pay attention to appreciate what's going on, but this is easy to do thanks to a number of fine performances. Danny Aiello in particular does a great job in the central role, bringing out the strengths and weakness in the character and never crossing the line to histrionics.

The film also does an excellent of giving the audience a sense of place, without ever turning into a travelogue. The only "I'm being taught about lobster farms" moment I had was when a character explained that they don't actually breed lobsters, which I thought was rather interesting. Other factual details emerge naturally from the story.

I had read a few print reviews of "Brooklyn Lobster" earlier, so I was aware that some critics had been rather unenthusiastic. My reaction while seeing it was that if this had been a foreign film with a no-name cast, it would have been praised for "defying the canons of conventional storytelling" or something like that. It's certainly a film worth seeing, and goes on my personal top ten list for 2005.

Due to a derogatory comment by another review on this site, I feel I should mention that I had nothing to do with this film, and don't know anyone who is connected with it.


BROOKLYN LOBSTER is a fine little low budget film that boasts a good story (based on fact) written and directed By Kevin Jordan, an excellent low key cast, and enough family love to satisfy just about everybody's need for feel good movies.

Giorgio's Lobster Farm has been in the Giorgio family for years and has recently come on hard times: the bank defaulted on the note held by the business and the business faces foreclosure - and even worse, it will be auctioned off, removing it permanently from the family. Frank Giorgio (Danny Aiello) is trying to keep his business alive, neglecting his wife Maureen (Jane Curtin) who is tired of living with the crustaceans, and depending on his daughter Lauren (Marisa Ryan) to be his computer, and trying to convince his son Michael (Daniel Sauli) to return to New York from his home in Seattle to help run the business. Michael's steady girlfriend Kerry (Heather Burns) supports the concept of saving the business but when her family gets involved an incident occurs which damages all concerned. How Frank's close friend Bill Lau (Henry Yuk) and wife Jen (Jo Yang) step into the failing picture builds to a climax that demonstrates how family, love, extended family, friends, and perseverance can heal just about anything! The cast is excellent with Danny Aiello, Jane Curtin and Daniel Sauli especially fine. But the overwhelming result of this little film is a restoration of faith in the human spirit - with a lot of help from family and friends. Grady Harp


Knowing that Jane Curtin was one of the original "Saturday Night Live" cast members might make it hard to imagine that she could star in something as serious as "Brooklyn Lobster", but it comes out very good. The movie tells the story of Frank Giorgio (Danny Aiello), a seafood merchant whose business falls on hard times, forcing him and his family to reevaluate their lifestyles and relationships with each other.

I think that what made the movie especially effective was the Yuletide setting. It reminds us that while so many people are merrily eating dinner and opening presents, a number of individuals - possibly more than half of us - are struggling just to get by, with or without tragedy striking. As it is, I got the feeling that Frank felt pretty disgusted with how the surrounding world was celebrating, and that drove him to do some of the angry things that he did.

So, this is certainly a movie that I recommend. See it if possible.


I saw this film, I expected a lot and it didn't deliver. It's that simple. It's boring, and over the top performance-wise. The actors are all pretty good....in OTHER movies. The rest of these reviews on this site smell like typical plants to me. So be very careful before paying any money to go see it. Although, once it's on video, it might be worth a look. If it ever gets there. I've read other comments that said it has been passed over for any kind of distribution and when I was at the screening the producers said that it was rejected by every festival. Bad sign for an independent film. But it makes my point for me. My 2 cents.


I saw The Bet in Sydney last night. Wow! It is a brave film from a first time film maker. Brave for several reasons. The writer/producer Caroline Gerard raised the funds entirely from the private sector and then set about assembling a top rate team of cast and crew who have delivered a remarkable ensemble effort.

The story appears at the outset to be fairly a standard Sydney Harbour based yuppie drama but by the closing moments you realise that the story is anything but pedestrian. I wont give the game away but suffice to say it is quite a powerful and unique result. The casting is wonderful and Matt Newton manages to pull off a character that is believable, likable, trapped, in love and great looking all in the space of 90 minutes. Aden Young almost scene steals with his Machiavellian portrayal as Newton's friend/foe.

Mark Lee directs his first feature here and has a great command of the medium. I guess when you have 40 plus film credits under your belt and have worked under Peter Weir, Russell Burton, Chris Noonan and John Duigan among others you tend to pick up a thing or two!

The music is another triumph here. The original music is symphonic and deftly enhances the emotion of each moment in a way that is sometimes lacking in modern Australian cinema. The use of Bach in the apartment scenes and the doof doof tracks in the night club are very well placed. I heard some critic banging on about how the music score was overly romantic and inappropriate but don't these folks remember Chinatown or Lolita or After the Deluge?

Go and see the film before it closes and if you miss it at the cinemas get the DVD!


I agree with the "slickstu" comments - but had a few other problems: The actors in general did a great job, but the guy who played Will (brilliantly) and the guy who played his father (brilliantly) were really miscast. There's no way they could be genetically linked, their only connection is that they were both great actors. Also, the guy that Will had the bet with; I can't work out if he was supposed to be Australian with a bad American accent or an American with a bad Australian accent? And why not just go for an Aussie or an American, instead of trying to make one of them into another? There were a couple of other continuity problems - which are perfectly excusable for a first-time director, but this film could have been so much better if more attention had been paid to the basics (like not having a dark-haired, dark-eyed, shorter actor playing the father of a - well, let's just say a man that he could not genetically be related to). This film could have been so much better, with a little more attention to detail. Screwing up the basics can often be enough to suspend belief in the overall narrative.


I don't want to give any of the movie away and I fear I will do this if I say too much about the movie itself. I've just finished watching this gem of a movie and will re-watch it again tomorrow with my partner.

If you enjoy movies along the lines of 'Wall Street,' 'Boiler Room' and ' Glengarry Glen Ross' and 'The Bank,' then I think you will enjoy 'The Bet' ('The Bet on Bet'). Even if these movies are not usually on your watch list, give 'The Bet' the benefit of the doubt and I'm sure you'll be pleasantly surprised.

For a director's first feature, I take my hat off to Mark Lee and also to the writer/producer who for reasons previously stated in another post did an amazing job getting this movie to our screens. For the most part the cast were excellent but a special mention to Matthew Newton for what I found to be a very real portrayal of someone in his position.

We could nitpick over minor faults and details here and there as we could with every movie, however, considering budget restraints, location, scheduling etc. etc., 'The Bet' stands proudly alongside other great Australian movies of the past 10 years.

If you're interested in checking some out, here are a few I'd highly recommend... 'The Bank,' 'Better Than Sex,' 'Looking for Alibrandi,' 'Lantana,' 'The Oyster Farmer,' 'Little Fish,' 'Japanese Story,' 'Chopper,' 'Romulus, My Father,' 'The Proposition,' 'Shine,' 'Wolf Creek,'.... the list is endless.

I wish more of these stylish and artistic movies from Australia and other parts of the world were promoted a little more worldwide. From what I've been told it had enough trouble being shown in it's country of origin thanks mainly to mainstream cinemas continually refusing to show mature movies with substance instead preferring to pander to one particular and constant demographic. Wake up! You show it, we'll come to see it!!

Finally, well done Australia, another movie your industry should be very proud of and I look forward to spotting more films by this director and writer/producer.

Enjoy!

For more great Australian movies:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_films_set_in_Australia

http://www.listology.com/content_show.cfm/content_id.12707


"The Bet" could be described as a triumph of style over substance. There isn't much to the plot. Young stockbroker bets with rich young banker he can make more money over the next 90 days. Stockbroker resorts to illegal methods to get ahead, endangering his relationship with pretty young lawyer. There are a couple of twists in the ending, though one makes very little sense. The film-makers have buffed the whole thing to a high state of gloss with lots of lovely harbour scenery, an atmospheric (if wildly unrealistic) dealing room, harbourside restaurants, smart bars (and real pole dancers), smart cutting, seaside golf and even a trip to the polo at Windsor. There's a nice original score too, in classical style by John Gray. The producers didn't have any government money and did it their way.

The trouble is that this story, unlike Richard Beasley's satirical "Hell Has Harbour Views", is meant to be a serious morality play. Yet the message here seems to be if you are young, greedy and stupid, and going to hell, you might as well do it in style. The women here are gorgeous, the champagne French and the night is beckoning. The concluding scenes have a serious suspension of disbelief issue that I can't go into or I'll give the ending away. Acting, though, is excellent. Matthew Newton (Bert's son, who has been lately having a little local difficulty in his personal life) is great as Will the eager beaver young broker  he's like Russell Crowe's naïve younger brother, with big blue eyes and a love of risk-taking. Aden Young as his handsome, rich and profoundly callous banker mate gives us a study in nastiness. His casual dismissal in public of his beautiful and personable girlfriend Lila (Peta Sargeant) in the same way he might sack a secretary is evidence enough. Sibylla Budd gives us a rounded performance as Tori, the bright young lawyer in love with Will. I also enjoyed Roy Billing as George, Will's father, the Aussie Battler personified (though Roy is actually from New Zealand).

The film-makers, including former actor Mark Lee in his directorial debut and writer/producer Caroline Gerard, an ex- big Sydney law firm employee, have given the whole thing a professional sheen and produced a reasonably entertaining film. The atmospherics are terrific, but the characterizations are pretty basic and the story skew-whiff. Still, it does make a change from stories about Western suburbs junkies. Failure happens in rich suburbs too. Unfortunately it's just as depressing.


Really enjoyed this film when I saw it at the Sydney film festival. It's message concerning the perils of corporate greed and it's ramifications are very eloquently stated. It features some good Australian actors who all play their roles well. Special mention needs to go to Aden Young, who absolutely rocks in this. What happened to this guy? The way he carries off his arrogant, rich boy character is nothing less than mesmerising. Matt Newton also does very well as the main character who's life bears the brunt of the bet that is referred to in the title. It was good to see an Australin movie which actually made you think whist being entertaining, which is rare as our industry seems to only spew out lame comedies or drug movies. If you see it advertised it's well worth catching.


Quite simply the greatest Made for Television adaptation of a comedy ever! Robards delivers one of his greatest performances ever. He was born to play loveable,blunt and carefree Grandpa Vanderhoff. his timing,delivery and facial expressions are those of an expert comedian. George Rose shines as the Russian Choreographer.Rose was one of the last great "music hall" style comedians and This role along with his Major General in "PIRATES OF PENZANCE" have given the general public a record of his great gifts for all posterity. Hart and Kaufmann's Play has held up remarkably over the years and Director Rabb has created a loving homage to 1930s theatrical comedy, and to this particular play in general. Avoid Frank Capra's 1936 film version it is nothing like the play. if you can find this gem ( I did for 9 dollars at a local Kmart) purchase it on the spot!


Jason Robards, at this point in his career, seemed to specialize in patriarch roles, such as in "All the President's Men", "Max Dugan Returns", and "You Can't Take it With You". And in this case, those of us who never saw him on the stage get a big treat, because this was a taped Broadway production. He dominates every scene, but in his natural "Grandpa" way, and only within the character. This is an ensemble play, which is why it's good for high school and community groups. But every actor has the chance to shine and does. Old television watchers will spot veteran actors Bill McCutcheon and Jack Dodson. I want to single out Elizabeth Wilson as the Mother, who exudes warmth and love, though in a contextually "loopy" way. Oddly bland are the romantic leads, although their characters put them at a disadvantage, since every one else is over the top. I enjoy the Frank Capra film, but he gets preachy in the second half (which has nothing to do with Kaufman/Hart), and it is an entirely different animal. This is a case where less is more. I guarantee you'll get misty eyed when Grandpa leads them in the blessing of the meal.


This is a very funny play that i thoroughly enjoyed watching. It's really funny but makes you think at the same time. Our school is doing this play and I can't wait! I am an understudy for Mrs Kirby, it should be really fun! Everyone should see this funny play!


In 1984 I was more active in going to Duffy Square in Manhattan and seeing what plays I could get tickets to on Broadway. One that I saw was YOU CAN'T TAKE IT WITH YOU, which (as I had seen productions of it in the past) I was acquainted with. I decided to see it again because this production had gotten good reviews, and it starred Jason Robarts, with Ellis Rabb and Colleen Dewhurst in the cast. Actually while it was exciting to see a play with Robarts and Dewhurst in it the latter had a small cameo role and only appeared in the final act (where she did a comic bit about dancing with Rabb). But watching Robarts (the only time I saw him on stage) was wonderful. I was so close to him that I could see his character (Grandfather Martin Vanderhof) perusing his "stamp collection" (the small collection book actually did have stamps in it!).

It is fortunate that a video record of the production still exists, complete with performances by Robarts, Dewhurst, Nicholas Surovy, Bill McCutcheon (as Mr. DePinna), Jack Dodson, and others of the original cast. Only Raab was not in it - ironically his role of Boris Kolenkhov the Russian dance master is played by George Rose, who I also saw on stage in other plays. But Rose was a fine comic performer and gave proper distinction to the Russian's famous put-down ("It stinks", said with a friendly dismissive air).

The story by Kaufman and Hart is about the eccentricities of the Vanderhof - Sycamore clan, which does not pay taxes (why should it? taxes are only used to support the Navy, and the last time it was of use was in 1898!), which gives free room and board to several people like DiPinna and Kolenkhov, and which encourages freedom (Penelope writes stories because a typewriter was once delivered to the house by mistake, her daughter paints DiPinna as a discuss thrower, her husband makes illegal firecrackers in the basement,and her son-in-law earns his living with his small printing press (unfortunately printing Communist posters). When her more staid daughter falls for a normal boy, and the family of the boy is invited over, all hell breaks loose.

The movie version of the play (directed by Frank Capra) expanded the philosophy of enjoying life into another assault on the super-rich, with Edward Arnold as Mr. Kirby...not as a stockbroker as he is in the play or in this video production, but as a banker and empire builder, who gets emotionally twisted and lost, and then finds himself again. While certainly an interesting variant on the original play it was unnecessary. The original has a lot of nuttiness and common sense mingled into it, and is one of the few comedies of the 1930s that are still capable of revival. The production here keeps the single stage production of the Broadway revival (which is possibly a mistake - they could have shown say the basement of the house). On the other hand the single set keeps the record of the original revival production in tact. I can only say it is worth watching.


Knowing through logic or knowing through intuition - and if we suppress what's staring us in the face, how can we find the truth? Such are the elements of a good mystery; and in the case of Stephanie Daley they are also the subject matter.

Tilda Swinton is a forensic psychologist trying to determine if 16 year old Stephanie Daley (Amber Tamblyn) knew she was pregnant. As the girl has just recovered from a horrific experience - we don't find out till later exactly how very horrific - it seems slightly strange that no-one seems overly concerned about her welfare or why it is so crucial to know if she knew. What is even more strange is that all we know is that she wandered down out of a ski resort leaving a trail of blood. The hospital reports that she has recently given birth, that she was 24 weeks pregnant. Swinton's character also happens to be pregnant - 29 weeks. (The legal age when a fetus is considered viable varies but is generally around 24 weeks).

There are snatches of conversation - teeth used to cut the cord - toilet paper embedded in the face. I found myself leaning forward and concentrating, afraid I might miss something, just as one does when listening to a fascinating but quietly spoken person or when eavesdropping.

Liddie Crane (Tilda Swinton) is no stranger to pregnancies gone wrong. We see her watching a baby scan, and learn she has conceived only three months after a stillbirth. An intelligent, professional woman, she is coping with her own state of mind - someone tells her she must not pass on her obvious anxiety to the child. She has fine legal training, but looks back to the time of her last pregnancy when she knew - she just 'knew' - that something was wrong. We believe her, but later watch her discomfort as she realises she is asking Stephanie not if, but how she knew, challenging a certainty that she herself would not be able to explain with logic. Stephanie, at sixteen, shows all the psychological characteristics of a developing teenage mind, sometimes confusing what she 'believes' - she has a Christian faith - with what her intuition is telling her.

Stephanie Crane is part mystery, part psychological drama and, towards the end, a harrowing thriller of unexpected intensity. Without proselytising for one side or the other, it also puts issues such as sex education and the laws regarding sex and minors into stark perspective. The storyline could be seized on to advocate stronger obedience to religious injunctions (Stephanie thinks that when things go wrong that God is punishing her) or to question the whole basis of sex-education influenced by U.S. religious (Christian) beliefs.

At the start of the film, we see an almost colourless landscape - mountains and a few dark trees against limitless snow. As Stephanie comes into view, her clothes and the red marks left from her sluggish feet suggest a possible theme in the use of colour. Most of the times when we catch her subsequently or in flashbacks, she is wearing something red or else the light is strangely subdued. Maybe it could suggest the passion of youth? The novel, Scarlet Letter, is used in Stephanie's class. She concludes, when asked, that is suggests, "it is harder to live a lie than it is to tell the truth and be punished." Modern punishment and retribution echo the novel's storyline in the film's denouement. Colours associated with Liddie, on the other hand, her clothes, her kitchen, bedroom, house and surrounding garden are mostly the greenish palette of nature. Liddie herself usually wears some green or blue, both relaxing, reassuring colours.

Strong white is used twice in the film in key scenes: at one point, Stephanie is ascending the stairs into bright light (but when we continue upstairs there is only darkness). The other time is the brilliant whiteness of her church. The two key lovemaking scenes also seem linked by the way the colours are distorted by near darkness. In both cases there is joyous consent, but in each case the woman has very different thoughts about the man involved as subsequent events come to light.

In one interesting scene in the schoolroom, the youngsters having learnt about 'making babies' and encouraged to use baby beepers to better understand when a baby needs frequent attention, the teacher turns to the topic of 'not making babies' and invites the class for input. One young man, to the amusement of his classmates, says, 'A condom?' the teacher replies that, although she would like to agree with him, the only official answer the school board will allow her to give is abstinence.

Denial is another element of Stephanie Daley. Is she denying the truth to herself? Does Liddie deny her woman's intuition in favour of legal niceties? Stephanie's mother wants all the fuss to be over quickly. Psychologically, it is as if she is denying anything terrible has happened.

Tilda Swinton's career, apart from the odd glitch, has shown a remarkable aptitude for including challenging films. This film, like many of her consummate characters, may not receive the immediate recognition it deserves, but that does not detract from it being complex, ingenious and very intelligently woven. Her character, like the brilliant script by director-writer Hilary Brougher, rewards every bit of study and attention you might wish to give it. Unlike the young teenager she is interviewing, Liddie has developed both the objective and intuitive parts of her character to a mature level. When they come into conflict at the end of the film, the interior struggle just for a moment slips out from her professional façade. But of all the images that remain after viewing, it is the solitary anguish of Amber Tamblyn, her own hand over her face to muffle a scream, that will haunt you for days afterwards.


Captivating and hypnotic portrayals by Tilda Swinton and Amber Tamblyn

Magnetic acting by Timothy Hutton, Denis O'Hare, and Melissa Leo, who receive excruciatingly minimal screen time portraying crucial characters

Spellbinding cinematography and imagery and allusions

Painstakingly realistic situations, events, conversations, human interactions

A film about how people interact and communicate with each other in difficult situations that will change their lives forever...how missed opportunities of communication permanently transform the lives of people...how treasured events in women's lives - loss of virginity and pregnancy - are seemingly always subverted and mistreated and degraded by lack of clear communication...


I have no idea why this film, or many of the other Sundance films for that matter, are rated so low on IMDb. It's a shame, because this is a remarkable film.

Amber Tamblyn gives the best performance of her career and deserves an Oscar for her subtle, eerie picture of teenage confusion, fear and malice. Tilda Swinton is also very good as the detective investigating Daley's case, and both Melissa Leo and Timothy Hutton give solid backup.

See this movie - it is a frightening and eye-opening portrait of real life. ****/*****


I watched it Saturday, along with all the special features. It was a tough movie. If you don't like indie film, you might have a hard time with it. If you do, it's an astonishing achievement. All the acting is uniformly excellent. I don't mean to undercut the obviously painstaking work Tilda Swinton did in creating her character...

...but this is Amber Tamblyn's movie. Period. Anyone who watched Joan Of Arcadia already knew she could act her heart out. But what she does here is nothing short of phenomenal. She gets every nuance of Stephanie --- someone VERY different from her own flaky, artsy hippie-chick personality --- absolutely right. There's not one minute of "acting" in her time on screen. I promise you that if you give yourself to this story you will not come out of it the same.

And you will not soon forget it.


I had no idea what to expect from this film, and by the 10 minute mark it won me over.

Tilda Swinton and Amber Tamblyn both gave stellar performances.

The script was tight, and the back and forth between the Swinton and Tamblyn was spot-on perfect.

Tamblyn's big bathroom scene was gripping and intense - a great use of the absence of sound to really hammer a point home.

The cinematography left a little to be desired - the HD format still looks like video at times.

I can see why Swinton Exec. Produced this: It was a great vehicle for her and I now have a new found respect for her as an artist.

I am looking forward to Brougher's next film - hopefully she will get a wider release this time.

The editing of the film was eerily effective - I was never once lost or confused, yet I was constantly being moved around time and space.

The ending was very satisfying - I don't need to be spoon fed every little thing.

Concise, daring script + great performances = "Stephanie Daley"


Wow, what a movie! As most of the comments before, acting was superb, the story was well laid out, intelligently and without patronizing explanations. What I was really aware of this time- I am not one very sensitive to technique in general- was the way the film was shot and the resulting realistic feel. None of the "look at me I am using a hand held camera so people would think it's a documentary" but I had the constant feeling this was real. The scene where the two Cranes are at the party, the unselective sound made the scene fell like it was a real party, one where you have a hard time sorting out voices and conversation from the general din. The camera was slightly swaying sometimes and the light not perfectly chosen so you felt like you do in real life: not always in the best spot to witness life unraveling, which is a characteristic of most movies, where any viewer is sitting in first row. That gave the performances extra boost, extra credibility and made the viewer absorb the movie's content even more deeply.

The scene in the bathroom at the ski trip is devastating, you can almost feel her physical and emotional pain and her conflicting emotions about the abortion, there for you to witness out of that sliver of space between door and doorjamb. Unforgettable. Too bad she is not getting an Oscar for it, but seldom Oscars are given to best actors, just best actors on the main circuit who made the movies at the right time to get the prize etc etc...

If this is not worth a 10 what is? But definitely not for anyone, not for those who need special effects or to be blasted from the chair by action or violence... for a mature audience even though the message is about the kids the movie is for their parents, to change how sex is taught in school...


In "Stephanie Daley," Tilda Swinton stars as Lydie Crane, a forensic psychologist in her final months of pregnancy. Despite her condition and the fact that she had a miscarriage less than a year earlier, Lydie agrees to take on the case of a teenaged girl named Stephanie Daley (Amber Tamblyn) who is accused of killing her newborn at childbirth.

Written and directed by Hilary Brougher, "Stephanie Daley" is a human drama wrapped inside a legal whodunit (it's sort of like "Agnes of God" minus the nuns' habits and beatific visions). Set in scenic Upstate New York, the movie explores the anxieties and fears that many women face before, during and after pregnancy. Lydie's situation very much parallels Stephanie's at times, resulting in a strange symbiotic relationship between the two women. Those parallels aren't always as clearly drawn as they might be, but the positive result is that the story is made less obvious and more intriguing by the ambiguity.

"Stephanie Daley" is a low-keyed, thoughtful work that doesn't go in for flashy melodrama or thematic overstatement. It allows its narrative to unfold slowly, finding much of its drama in the minutiae of everyday life in the small town in which it is set.

The movie is blessed with sensitive, subtle work from not only Swinton and Tamblyn but a large cast of secondary performers, including Timothy Hutton, Kel O'Neill, Denis O'Hare, and others. The relationships in the movie are intricate and complex, and the plot doesn't seek out a preset path or formula to follow. It's not a movie designed to appeal to mainstream audiences much, but for those who prefer their films to wander a bit off the well-beaten path, "Stephanie Daley" offers substantial rewards.


Writer/Director Hilary Brougher has created a deeply involving and moving masterwork of film with her little independent low budget STEPHANIE DALEY. Brougher has courage to address an issue most people wish to submerge - that of unwanted teenage pregnancies and their consequences - and she does it in the form of a story that is so well woven and presented with such fine actors that she not only succeeds in bringing attention to her main topic, she also introduces us to two women whose lives, though separated by years of age, are significantly parallel. The result is a film that lingers in the mind long after the closing credits.

Stephanie Daley (Amber Tamblyn) is a 16-year-old girl, shy, introverted and on the periphery of the social scene at high school until she meets a boy with whom she has consensual sex. The focus of her life changes as she grows in girth and at one dramatic point she gives birth to a fetus inside a bathroom stall which she secretly discards: no one knows Stephanie's secret. When she is examined, she is told she was pregnant, a fact which she denies. A forensic psychologist Lydie Crane (Tilda Swinton), pregnant herself, is brought into the case to examine Stephanie and help the court decide the truth about what happened. As Stephanie opens up to Lydie, Lydie begins to acknowledge her own conflicts about her current pregnancy with her husband Paul (Timothy Hutton): their first pregnancy resulted in a stillbirth and the current pregnancy began three months after that unresolved tragedy. When Lydie is not at her job she faces a world of people including a friend Frank (Denis O'Hare) who make her consider her own concepts of right and wrong. Lydie and Stephanie work together on the concept that 'the truth is what we believe'. How these two women reach the conclusions they do is the part of the story that is best left unshared until the viewer experiences it alone.

The cast is so fine that to single out one would be a disservice to the ensemble effect director Brougher has achieved. Tilda Swinton continues to finesse her extraordinary gifts as an actress and the young Amber Tamblyn makes a significant stride for her career. There is a small role for fine character actress Novella Nelson as Doctor Lynn that is a remarkable achievement. This is a film with a tough subject matter, handled with the utmost dignity, and makes a social statement while glowing as a superb independent film. Highly recommended. Grady Harp


It is strange how people can have a gigantic Hollywood budget, the whole powerful studio support system and churn clunker after clunker. Then someone like the director of this small independent flick, with a minuscule amount of money makes a compelling piece of art. Small town in unidentified part of America, could have been anywhere, with gloomy colorless landscape. Boring, predictable lives, unfulfilled promises, church on Sundays, unspoken words hanging in the air. Makes you want to run for your life.But where can you run? " Stephanie Daley" is an unflinching, sometimes hard to watch movie. Takes us to places we don't want to go, makes us remember things we'd like to forget. I am not sure Hollywood has a place for Hilary Brougher. People who have something to say can be nuisance. They can force us to think, and we can't have that,can we.


While Tilda Swinton does another one of her typically marvelous performances, it is Amber Tamblyn who displays the surprisingly great acting chops in this film. I must admit that although I knew of her for her TV role in "Joan of Arcadia" and for the movie, "The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants," let's just say that I don't think a 46 year old guy is typically in her target audience. After this role, however, I have no doubt that if she keeps her head on straight, she's the next great actress of her generation.

As other commenter's have noted, her scene in the public bathroom on the ski trip is at times uncomfortable because of how devastatingly powerful it is. Tamblyn's performance deserves a Supporting Actress Oscar nomination at the very least, but because this film has barely been seen (even seemingly by the frequent movie-going audience of IMDb!), I doubt it's even on most people's radar.


FINALLY! April 20 in NY and then it moves around the country. It's about time that this movie gets played in movie theaters.

Tilda Swinton, Amber Tamblyn, Timothy Hutton, Melissa Leo, et al turn in very special performances. Amber won Best Actress at Locarno, was nominated for a Film Independent Spirit Award and it was well-deserved. The screenplay won at Sundance.

It's a tragic story, but one that needs to be told, so that people talk about this issue and how to deal with the education and support of young girls who have similar experiences.

Don't miss this. Also, note that it will only go out to a few screens at first and those who don't go on opening weekends will miss the chance to see it the second weekend. Small indie films like this rely totally on word-of-mouth and opening weekends.

If you want to see it in your town, you MUST ask your local art house theater owner to request it from the distributor.

Unfortunately, this seems to be so under marketed that there is no website yet, so you must go to Regent Releasing, http://www.regentreleasing.com for any information.


This film was one of the real gems to come out of Sundance, and I was quite surprised to discover that Amber Tamblyn (Stephanie Daley) didn't walk away with the Independent Spirit Award for which she was nominated. I can only imagine that the majority of ISA voters didn't see the film. So far as I can tell, it has been the best reviewed film of 2006 as of the first quarter of the year, and nothing else for which I've seen trailers thus far looks likely to unseat it any time soon. The terms "career building" and "tour de force" are so rabidly overused that they don't do the performances justice in this film -a film that actually deserves such description without sacrificing subtlety. Stephanie Daley should be mandatory viewing for parents and daughters everywhere. It addresses the problems that can arise from the lack of information available to teens. Misconceptions about the "facts of life" due to withholding those facts (from young people) can lead to dire consequences, whether you are a believer of abstinence or a proponent of birth control. Education is the key, and this film presents a very candid, emotional and valid viewpoint that addresses both sides of this hot-topic issue. This film deserves as wide an audience as possible, and support from educators and community leaders will help open a dialogue that benefits all viewpoints, but most importantly benefits our children.


This is one of those movies that looks like it was developed from the Sundance workshops... and what do you know? Hallmarks of the category include female chauvinist perspectives, emasculated or violent male characters (if there are any men to speak of), long stagnant takes shot on digital video, and an aggressive tendency toward unresolved endings. This has most of them.

And I don't care, because Tilda Swinton is plenty of reason to watch any movie. Even THE BEACH. Okay, I won't go that far. But she is pretty exciting. To paraphrase the old line, I'd pay to watch her go to the bathroom... and, in this movie, I get to. Several times. Be careful what you wish for, I guess. Not that I ever wanted that... alright, enough on this subject.

Plus Amber Tamblyn, who far from sucks here, and Melissa Leo, who never gets enough to do in movies - though, Jesus, girl, you are racking up the films lately. I think Leo's made as many films in the last four years as she made her entire previous career - though, again, she usually doesn't get too many lines.

Actually, Hilary Brougher raises this picture somewhat above its disadvantages through nuance, innuendo, and lack of blatancy, though this very ambiguity does ultimately queer the ending, as in, I don't really get what's going on with the shrink character when credits roll. Not that I need everything spelled out, but I need to know what language we're speaking. Perhaps Sudden Cutaway to Overexposed Window means something in Girrrlish.

Maybe I need to bone up on my Independent Woman Filmmaker symbolism. Or maybe I need to shut up before I get slapped with a Thoughtless Human with Penis label and written into another script where men fail to make the world entirely comfortable for women.


Phillip Kaufman's loving examination of Anais Nin's relationship with Henry and June Miller is an enthralling journey. In the film Anais is inspired by Henry and June to descend into a world of debauchery that fuels her erotic writing. We the audience see Henry and June through the eyes of Anais, which may mean it's not exactly as they really were, but rather a romanticised version of them. This is NOT a biopic of Henry Miller, which is the foolish mistake that some reviewers seemed to make on the films release.

The script tends to meander a bit, lacking any real plot. Each scene lives for itself, some more successfully than others. But in the torrid climax when Anais' wild ways have finally caught up with her, it all comes together nicely to leave a feeling of completion.

The cast is first rate. Maria de Medeiros, despite not having top billing, get's the bulk of the screen time as Anais. She has a captivating look, and embodies a sense of innocence throughout, despite displaying the most promiscuous nature. If at times she overdoes the melodrama, she should be commended for managing to purr out some rather flowery dialogue without sounding silly. Many lesser actresses would have faltered.

In what is undoubtably the highlight of his film career, Fred Ward instils Henry with some old styled charisma and gusto. While he gives us a throughly entertaining Henry, I still however have trouble seeing this character as a writer of erotic fiction. He seems too much like a man's man. The original casting choice of Alec Baldwin would make more sense in this case, but I doubt in the end he would have been as entertaining in the role as Ward.

Uma Thurman, as June, gives a memorable performance. It's the most showy character in the film, and Thurman gets the chance for plenty of legitimate scenery chewing. She uses the full scale of emotions and performs a transformation of the character from menacing seductress to pitiful emotional wreck. Despite the surprising comments of one of the other posters here, it really is one of the best performances of her young and promising career.

In support, Richard E. Grant is awkward (probably purposely) as Hugo, Anais' well-hung and faithful husband. Jean-Philippe Écoffey is adequate as Anais' cousin and brief lover. Kevin Spacey is amusing in what now looks like a cameo, but then was quite an important role for him.

Philippe Rousselot's cinematography is beautifully done. He creates an almost surreal feeling of Paris in the 1930's. The music is also well placed and adds to this mood. Kaufman and Rousselot make the numerous sex-scenes things of beauty rather than titillating, they get creative with them. In fact, the film is surprisingly unarousing considering the amount of sex occurring in it. Whether this is a good thing or a bad thing I guess you can decide for yourself. Why on earth it got an NC-17 rating I don't know. I doubt it would if released today.

Not everyone will like this film. It is 'arty farty' so to speak. It's maybe even a little pretentious. But I find it to be a fascinating and just plain absorbing trip. I have managed to find the time to watch it quite a few times, and it seems to improve with age. I recommend it to any thinking filmgoers.

9/10


this film is just flat out exotic in every sense. the period details and characterizations are perfect and the controversial erotic material well integrated into plot and pacing of the film.

the basic plot involves Maria DeMedeiros' character's affair with famous author Henry Miller (Fred Ward) and her attraction to his wife June (a smoldering performance by Uma Thurman.)

all of the actors and actresses involved do splendid work but it is the beautiful Uma Thurman who steals this film. she's only in the film about 25 minutes but those scenes radiate an eroticism that has been unmatched by any film since. she is simply gorgeous in this role and any person doubting her acting ability due to her poor script choices recently should check out her performance in this film.

the much talked-about erotic elements and explicit sex scenes that caused the MPAA to create the now useless NC-17 rating, are actually well integrated into the film and actually work to create better understandings of the 3 principle characters through their sexual behaviors and practices. the film isn't all sex like some people think, but when the erotic elements rear their head, the intensity and focus of these scenes throw people off kilter.

overall this is a fantastic film that drags just a little bit near the beginning and end, but is perfectly acted and stunningly filmed.

a great date film or for people who love truly great cinema.

rating:9.5


If you're drawn to this film as a Henry Miller fan and expecting the Paris of Tropic of Cancer, you'll be let down. This film is a character-driven drama and therefore it is not intended to reproduce Miller's vision. Instead, the film focuses on (then) newly revealed excerpts from Anais Nin's diary. Four characters: Miller, Anais, June (Miller's wife), and Hugo (Anais' husband) complete the love square within which fairly complex relationships play out.

The film is primarily concerned with Anais' sexual awakening through her relationship with Miller and his wife. And I have to say, de Medeiros exceeds all expectations in this role. Not only does she look remarkably like the young Anais, but she also seems to radiate the writer's deep erotic mystique. If nothing else, watch this film just for this performance-- besides, she's absolutely gorgeous. Thurman's performance is also quite good, her NYC accent believable and her dirty-girl role works well in contrast to Anais' bourgeois exterior. Ward as Miller took some getting used to, but Grant's character seemed wooden and artificial.

Literary and historical references are sparsely sprinkled throughout the film, and although Miller has a few monologues in which he attempts to express the point of his writing, Miller fans will find nothing more than a superficial synopsis. But again, this can't be counted against the film since its focus is Anais. As far as the eroticism of the new "Journals" goes, the film succeeds fairly well- but the images convey more than the dialog.

This brings me to my final point: the NC-17 rating. Historically, this film was the first with that rating-- the MPAA created the rating specifically for this film since they deemed it to risqué for an R. By today's standards, this film is an R. If you're looking for softcore, watch "Emmanuelle" or something.

7/10


I really enjoyed seeing Henry and June again on the satellite  15 years after its release. The relationship between June and Anaïs - and between both of them and Henry is dark, sensual, and at times, graphic. This is a very "steamy" movie for its time. From time to time characters seem to just disappear - especially Henry - leaving Anaïs and Henry to explore their feeling and passions.

Kevin Spacey has a very small role here- only a hint of what he will become.

The classical music used for the opening scene is by Stravinsky - Le Sacre du Printemps - it's perfect for the mood. The musical score has several "smoky" and sultry French songs that make you want to have been in Paris back in the 20's. There are a few jazz tracks and scenes in jazz nightspots.

The filming captures the "look" and "feel" of Paris in the 20's - with a hint of a war to come. The antique cars barely fit between the buildings - just as today!

If you have not seen Henry and June - find it and watch it - after the children are in bed.


Director Phillip Kaufman stirred up quite a bit of controversy when this film was first being released, most likely because of the intensity of the love scenes, but after watching the DVD I am now thinking that this film could have maybe slipped by with an R rating. The film faired poorly at the box-office, but seemed to have received generally positive reviews. The best element of this film is the atmosphere, which truly resembles the time period in which the film takes place. The story of the romance between the two writers is interesting on its own, but the great acting gives it a boost. Overall, a highly worthwhile film that will come as a pleasant surprise. The 6.3 rating is too low. I would say it deserves at the very least a 7. Ill give it an 8.


I loved this picture because it has beautiful cinematography and settings of Paris. But that's not all, Uma Thurman has so damn beautiful as the wife of Fred Ward who charms the young, naive, but tricky Anais Nin played superbly by Maria de Mardieos. Fred Ward as a little weird as the American writer who charms Anais. Uma was great with her thick New York accent and her beauty. I think the rating should have been R instead of NC-17.I have seen R rated movies much worse than this picture.Rent this movie right away! It will astonish you!This picture is an epic which should not be overlooked at the video store! Have Fun!

10/10


Anaïs Nin is hailed by many critics as one of the finest examples of writers of female erotica. She was one of the first women to really explore the realm of erotic writing, and certainly the first prominent woman in modern Europe to write erotica. Henry and June is based upon her life in Paris around 1931, and her relationship with Henry and June Miller. This relationship strongly influenced her as both a woman and an author.

Phillip Kaufman (Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1978), Quills, Raiders of the Lost Ark) does a superb job of directing his own screenplay and presents a story that flows smoothly as it presents a picture of bohemian life in Paris that consumed the banker's wife.

I am not sure they could have found someone better than Fred Ward (Remo Williams) to play Henry Miller (Tropic of Cancer, Tropic of Capricorn, Black Spring). He just seemed to fit right in with the character.

Uma Thurman (Kill Bill, Pulp Fiction) was fantastic as his wife, June, the bi-sexual who fell in love with Nin. After realizing that she lost Nin to her husband, she left him. What was interesting was that Nin immediately left Miller to return to her husband. You really need a scorecard to figure out who is married to and sleeping with whom.

Nin was played by Portuguese actress Maria de Medeiros (Fabienne in Pulp Fiction). She was sensational as the woman who fell into the bohemian life and lifestyle.

There were brief appearances by Kevin Spacey as a lawyer who wanted to be a writer, and the person who introduced Nin to Miller.

The slice of life in Bohemian Paris in 1931 has to be seen to be believed. It was an exciting time and certainly an exciting place. To see a piece f some of the greatest writers in American erotica, even fictionalized, was also great.

Henry and June holds the distinction of being the first film to receive an NC-17 rating.


this is just a gorgeous film full of tone and color and an absolutely perfect soundtrack. portraying an idyllic time in anais nin's life, the film works to highlight one woman's sensual/sexual exploration which just happens to include another infamous author. worth noting is uma thurman's striking portrayal of june miller. she is unmatched.


This film is a really enjoyable experience. It is extremely stylish from the beautiful cinematography too the superb acting. It is ferociously character driven and basically spends it's length just enjoying the presence of it's three fascinating main characters, Anais Nin (Madeiros) and Henry Miller (Ward) and his wife June (Thurman).

All three actors are extremely good, especially Thurman who makes one of the most impressive uses of limited screen time (about 50min) that I've ever seen.

Thurman exudes the sexuality and screen presence of Dietrich and Garbo combined, and goes through an entire gamut of emotions from high melodrama to subtle tender moments, such is the nature of June Miller. The range shown in one role is astonishing. I have always thought Uma Thurman was a good actress, but I didn't realise she was THIS good. Nothing prepared me for what I saw here. It is a performance everyone should see before they comment on her as it leads me to believe she has been largely wasted in the rest of her career.

The film is worth seeing for Thurman's performance alone, but also for the cinematograhy and the fine work of other cast members. The much publicised erotic element only really rears its head for a torrid 25 minute period in the middle of the film when Anais goes from one lover to the next.


One of the most beautiful pictures ever lensed. Rhythmically elegant, unashamedly sensual. An erotic interlude in the lives of Anais Nin, Henry Miller and his wife June is fashioned into an exceptionally compelling screenplay, brought to exquisite life by a truly gifted filmmaker. Philip Kaufman's genius is without peer, and "Henry and June" ranks as the very best film of the 1990s.


when this sort of thing seemed so cool. In all fairness, I only watched the first three quarters of this movie, but that's all I could stay awake for. Does anyone find all this talk about "liberation," "inner self," and so on, at all convincing? Just about every line lacks verisimilitude. Let's back up the TiVo for a minute... "I've never been with a woman I could be so sincere with." (I need to remember that one next time I'm in a bar.) "Everybody says sex is obscene. The only true obscenity is war." (Heavy, dude.) "I saw your true nature when you were dancing out there." (Another good pickup line.) "I'd love you at eleven--I love you now--I will love you at a hundred." (I'll be asleep at eleven.) Is this how Henry Miller really talked? Or is it merely how Anais Nin really wrote? Even her own lines: "I've been dying to write something about it--about how necessary this book is for our times. You gave us a blood transfusion." No actress could pull such a line off gracefully, and Maria de Medeiros is no exception.

Beyond all that, how did they manage to goose this up to an NC-17 rating anyway? They must have paid someone off, for it's the only way they could have provoked any sort of buzz for this movie, and given anyone the impression that this would be worth sitting through. The sex scenes earned their classification as "erotic" primarily because everyone moves slowly, and they're filmed mostly in extreme close-up--but they weren't nearly as sexy as the shower scene in Porky's.

Finally, Fred Ward can't pull off the bald look. He looked more like a monk with a shaved pate surrounded by a ring of thick, healthy hair.

If the movie suddenly got terrific in the last half hour, then I apologize to everyone for misleading them. But I wouldn't bet on it.


Well, the first time I've seen this film was 7 years ago. I actually watched this film around 5 times. This is my favourite film ever. I love Maria Medeiro's performance, she's a very good actress. Uma Thurman was incredible here as June. A film full of erotic experiences, Anais and Hugo, her husband, then with June, experiencing a lesbian relationship and finally with Henry... She was eager to have new experiences, and she did it. But what I was enjoying the most was music as well. A very interesting film and a very attractive soundtrack. I really like as well how they captured that interesting and bohemian atmosphere. By the way, what is the name of the song at 1h and 28m ??? Many thanks!


This film is about a married female writer who is sexually drawn to a mysterious couple who are also writers.

I had high hopes for "Henry & June" due to the positive comments, but I found it terribly dull. The so called plot is simply an excuse to provide grounds for one sex scene after another. This collection of pointless scenes stretch over two hours, I felt I could not bear it anymore. It is made worse by the emotionless delivery of most of the lines, particularly by Anaïs and Hugo. It sounds like they are trying so hard to create the perfect accent, but end up sounding cold and mechanical instead. Henry Miller's fake balding scalp and his thinning side hair look so fake that they become eyesores.


"Henry & June" (1990) by Philip Kaufman which is based on the book by Anais Nin is a wonderful film, a rare and admirable example of how an art-house erotic film should be made. It tells an interesting story that concerns the famous and scandalous American writer Henry Miller during the period of work on his first major work, "Tropic of Cancer" in 1931 in Paris and two women without whom the book would not have happened. One of them is his wife, June Miller, who is a constant presence under the different names in all Miller's works. The other - Henry's (and June's) close friend, lover, and confidant, Anais Nin. The film is an adaptation or mediation over the Anais Nin's journal which she wrote for 60 years and described in it the intimate details her inner world, including experiences with sexuality, and the meetings and relationships with prominent bohemian personalities of literature and art, who came from around the world to Paris, always known as the Mecca for creative individuals. Nin said about her life long writing in diary, "This diary is my kief, hashish, and opium pipe. This is my drug and my vice." Anais met in Paris provincial but talented non-conformist Miller and his exotic, sensual, and irresistible wife June (Uma Thurman never looked so attractive, as in this movie) and began affairs with both of them that would change their lives and influence enormously both Miller's and Nin's literary work. Anais is also known and praised as one of the first and the finest female writers of erotica. One of the reasons for film's success was director/writer Philip Kaufman's ability to delicately transfer to the screen the erotic intense atmosphere of Nin's writing as well as the spirit of Bohemian Paris in the beginning of the 1930s.

At the of Anais' request, her journal was published only after the death of all the participants in the events. Anais' relationship with Henry and June, which led to her own realization as writer, served as the basis for the Philip Kaufman's film. Kaufman wrote the script together with his wife Rose, and made a brilliant, disturbing, outrageous film, which had made history by having been the first USA film to receive the NR-17 Rating, so called "kiss of death". Henry and June is an adult film in the literal meaning of this word, it is the movie made for adults which explores in the insightful, exiting and artistic way the motivations, inspirations, and desires of the famous figures of Art. The acting is universally good with terrific Maria de Medeiros as Anais Nin. It is impossible to take one's eyes off her face - so charming, lovely, and desirable she is. She possesses the power of commanding the screen and she is the best thing in the movie which belongs to her Anais Nin.


4 human beings whose talents came together to make a beautiful film about the paradigm of love.

So many others have done excellent analysis of this film that I would wish to mention the ABSURDITY of the whole ratings system.

This was a film crafted to appeal to adults seeking a mature theme portrayed with elegance and grace. Philip Kaufman, does anyone remember just how handsome a man he was at that time, triggered performances that still haunt me to this day. YET, the ratings board, a calamitous holdover the dark dreary days of the Hays Commission, virtually KILLED the box office for this film. Adults, couples, who wanted to see something fresh, and challenging were DENIED that right due to the lack of venues.

Eighteen years later has anything really changed? We still have suits and ties deciding what is "safe" and what we shouldn't be allowed to see.

Censorship is truly an evil. Grab this one on DVD and see what a man of integrity, an artist, was able to conjure.


I adore this film. It is a wonderful drama and one of the most erotic films I have seen. The sexual tension through this movie, including the highly erotic love scenes adds to the beauty and charm of that era and Paris. It's the 'other side' of Paris. The 'creative side'. It is the tale of Henry Miller and his meeting with Anais - both wonderful authors. The main tale follows Anais as she discovers her lust for Henry and his seductive wife June.

Using ANAIS*NIN as his muse and inspiration, Henry is torn between his lust and his passion. His faithfulness is tested as E caves to the desire of two women as they BAY to his every whim.

He seeks the truth, as does Anais, through the *detail of the book provided* in their writings. I advise reading the works of Anais Nin and seeing the truth she provided through her prose.

An excellent film and one of my favorite.


I agree with most of users positive comments. I have only one thought; at one dancing scene the actors are standing on a glass dance floor (blue lights). At my knowledge such dance floors did not yet exist in the twenties.


This movie inspired me to read the literature of Anais Nin. In comparison of the books, i must say the actors portraying every person did an amazing job. they captured the pure emotional world anais nin wrote about. The relations between characters stayed true to life. I was especially amazed with maria demedieros who played anais nin. Fred Ward who id only known from Tremors surprised me as Henry Miller. This is a beautiful movie in every detail, staying true to the beautiful life it showed.


I am still affected by this film. I worked at the theater that had shown it and was surrounded by the controversy. It got the first NC-17 rating ever (Which is pretty much a kiss of death, like the film "Showgirls."). The reason for the rating? An erotic picture of a woman and an octopus!(True story!). Anyway, this was a pretty intense film, and the triangle(Henry, June, and Annis)was pretty interesting, too. The one who stole the film though is Kevin Spacey(Early in his career)as Osbourne, the writer that's obsessed with naked female contortionists. I liked the feel of 1930's Paris and the cinematography. Watch out for a cameo by Gary Oldman as Pop (He was married to Uma Thurman at the time.).


Henry & June has a place in film history as the first picture to be rated NC-17. There are films with much more sex a nudity and offensive material than this that get R in the US.

The film tells the love triangle of Henry Miller (Fred Ward), his wife June (the stunning Uma Thurman) and Anais Nin (the equally stunning Maria de Medeiros). There is lots of sex and trips to brothels, a casual lesbian romance and Henry bedhopping between the two leading ladies. It is this relaxed sexual freedom that is more the moral center of this movie rather than the sex itself.

There are some very erotic scenes, most notably the notorious and famous lesbian encounter between Anais and June towards the end. It is brilliantly filmed and contains a very early, wonderful role from Kevin Spacey playing a talkative paranoid loser.

All these good qualities are not binding enough to make a coherent drama of this length. It drags on and has some completely deletable scenes. It provides no real insight into the author as a character, but merely uses the writers a backdrop to tell the love-triangle story. Henry & June seems to stop itself short of being purely a sexual film or a drama. But still, it is a very good love triangle story.

*** out of ****.

If you like Maria de Medeiros here and in Pulp Fiction, then seek out the small Spanish, Film Goldenballs.


What, I wonder, is the superlative of pretentious. Yes, I know that it's 'most pretentious,' but that doesn't seem dramatic enough to describe this very long, long journey into total self-congratulatory eroticism. The film is based on portions of Anais Nin's diaries -- she wrote something like 9,000 pages, and you don't need to read more than a tenth of those to know that you are in the hands of one of the most self absorbed women who ever walked the planet. For one who is supposed to have been all about Art, she really seems to have been all about Anais. Nothing else much mattered. And this film, which is supposed to focus on her relationship with Henry and June Miller, really is all about her. The more libidinous she becomes the more 'innocent' she claims to be.

Anyway, about the movie: Maria de Medeiros has an amazing, triangular face with huge eyes. Her unique looks and tiny perfect body make us pay attention. I found Fred Ward's Henry Miller a bit too thick to be convincing. Somehow, from what I've read of Miller, I think he would have been a lot more intuitive and sensitive to the female psyche (we know he knew a lot about the female physique). Uma Thurman was wonderful as June. Really a stellar, moving performance. I wanted to see more of June because I was left not quite understanding how she worked. I guess Henry and Anais didn't either.


(1)Couldn't watch it for very long. I tried because the cinematography was so wonderful but one doesn't want to walk out of the theater whistling the camera work.

(2)Not quite bad enough dialogue to make it unintentionally funny and watchable. (3)Not bad enough acting too: ditto the above. Actually Maria de Medeiros was quite good; the combination of her appearing to be naive while having an erotic mind was very well done. But Uma! Oh poor thing! Was that a Brooklyn accent she was failing to make real? Fred Ward too, wise-guying his way through which made his shallowness the character. A celebrity impersonator.....wonder if he can do Jimmy Cagney or Robert De Niro? 4)Quite often an author is not well served in a movie and in this case the very honest reporter of nitty-gritty life, Henry Miller, was desecrated. Would anyone who had never read him be motivated by this movie to do so? I think not.