offers up Vanessa Redgrave as an aging, ailing matriarch whose deathbed dreams revolve around a balmy weekend many decades past with her first great love. As flesh and consciousness slip into a place of pure memory (which is where the movie mostly occurs), Redgrave relates her tale to her grown daughters (Toni Collette and real-life Redgrave offspring Natasha Richardson), but mostly to herself. Claire Danes plays Redgrave s younger self (and though they look nothing alike, both women have the commanding presences to make this a good casting choice), who finds romance at a friend s wedding nearly a century ago.
The object of Redgrave/Danes affection is Patrick Wilson (who performed a similar function recently in ), but then again, it seems like just about everybody is in love with this golden boy -- from the soon-to-be-bride (Mamie Gummer) to her possibly-gay brother (Hugh Dancy). The entire movie basically just becomes a waiting game for the sparks to fly, which they eventually do (although not in particularly spectacular or even interesting fashion). There s plenty of estrogen-laced star-power here, and the performances are uniformly solid (with one truly remarkable scene between Redgrave and Meryl Streep that s alone worth the admission price), but the material is nothing special.
Also stars Glenn Close, Mamie Gummer and Eileen Atkins. 2.5 stars (PG-13) As superhero sagas go, this fledgling franchise has yet to prove its bankability, but that could all change with this new installment, which seems hand-designed for the fanboy crowd (those young-ish male louts who rule the box office).
Rise of the Silver Surfer promises to be a geek s paradise, with some of Marvel Comics most popular creations featured, including the titular silvery one and a beyond-good-and-evil nemesis who devours entire planets simply to exist. Oh yeah, and did we mention Jessica Alba? Also stars Ioan Gruffudd, Chris Evans, Michael Chiklis, Julian McMahon and Kerry Washington.
offers up Vanessa Redgrave as an aging, ailing matriarch whose deathbed dreams revolve around a balmy weekend many decades past with her first great love.
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