The Sisters

THE SISTERS is adapted by Richard Alfieri from his play 'The Sisters' which in turn was adapted from Anton Chekov's 'The Three Sisters': the theatrical aspects of the play remain intact in this film version - and that is most definitely a plus! All of the action takes place on an obvious set (an enormously beautiful Faculty Lounge for a university where nearly everyone in the play is employed, and in a hospital waiting room) and the lines are richly imbued with dialogue that mirrors Chekov's form despite the fact that Chekov's play has been updated to the present time with all the changes (and similarities!) of modern day family life.

The story is well known: a family of three sisters and a baby brother are both united and bonded by the past and show the scars of maturing on their journeys from a childhood to adulthood with a father that was both a hero to some and an incestuous attacker to another. One by one each of the sisters and the brother peel away the trappings that hide each other's realities and make public the pain endured in their dysfunctional family. Maria Bello as Marcia carries the bulk of the story as the abused, spiteful, vitriolic, unhappy head of the family unit: she is astonishingly fine. Mary Stuart Masterson is Olga, the closeted lesbian chancellor who has never had the luxury of sharing her private feelings with her sisters for fear of the consequences of her sexuality. Erika Christensen is the youngest sister Irene whose painful life as being treated as a child leads to her life of drug abuse. Allesandro Nivola is Andrew, the baby brother left in charge of the family estate in the South and has married a trashy, mouthy floozy Nancy (Elizabeth Banks) who is the sole challenge to the family's unity. The stalwart Greek chorus is the old professor Dr. Chebrin (Rip Torn) who watches as the various characters tangential to this crumbling family vie for inclusion: Gary Sokol (Eric McCormack) whose asides keep the theatrical flavor moving; David Turzin (Chris O'Donnell) who loves and wants to possess Irene and is in bitter competition with Gary for her affections; psychologist husband of Marcia Dr. Harry Glass (Steven Culp); and the visitor from the past Vincent Antonelli (Tony Goldwyn) who changes Marcia's existence transiently. Each actor is superb, playing the marvelous dialogue for all its worth and giving us fully realized characterizations. Arthur Allan Seidelman is the fine director and the elegant musical score is by Thomas Morse.

There is action in this story and movement inside and outside the ways films should be shot when making a play into a movie. But for those who love the theater seeing this film little film will create a desire to have this exact company of actors set up shop in a nearby legitimate theater to allow for the grand impact of a fine play sifted through a fine adaptation to be absorbed repeatedly. Highly recommended. Grady Harp

'The Sisters' is a lovely little family drama that I nearly missed. Obviously, I was glad I didn't.

At first, the movie just looks like two hours of people fighting with each other, and it is. But (highly due to Ms. Bello's performance)there is so much more than that: a human aspect and real characters (for the most part). However one-note the people may be, the writer adds little things here and there to make them diverse and relatable.

Maria Bello, as always, is amazing. She plays the angry sister, the one who is always prepared for an argument. Her performance is the best thing about the film. Bello expertly shows the changes her character experiences over the course of the movie. In the beginning, she is just shown as a snotty, sarcastic, rude woman. Over time, she lets us see the hidden vulnerability of a normally dull character, and by the end of the movie, Bello not only plays her part but becomes it, creating a human out of a very underwritten role.

Erika Christensen was a surprise. While she is not Evan Rachel Wood or Scarlett Johansson, she still has plenty talent for someone so young. With only one above average performance to her name (Traffic), I expected much less of her but she blew me away with her performance as the shy little sister. She is quite promising and again, I hope to see more of her.

The rest of the cast is just as good. Elizabeth Banks plays her role perfectly. She makes a seemingly one-dimensional person show more emotion than expected. Mary Stuart Masterson is also good, but I found her performance the most lacking.

Now for the flaws: the screenplay. Truthfully, they are all supposed to be college professors or students, but the vocabulary used is the most advanced I've seen in a film. This may sound like a stupid flaw, but it was the thing I noticed the most while watching this movie as it is as unrealistic as possible. It proves effective in a multitude of arguments, but it doesn't reveal anything about the characters aside from the fact that they are inhumanly smart. The other flaw is that the brother barely has any historical background shown, while his sisters reveal many of their memories; however, he is never in them. If the filmmakers had explored the characters, their relationships, and their motivation more, some of their actions wouldn't seem so absurd or out of place.

A very charming movie about anger, forgiveness, and family. ***/****.

An outstanding film from Arthur Allan Seidelman, based upon a play by Richard Alfieri (Puerto Vallarta Squeeze).

Maria Bello just dripped sensuality in every word and movement throughout, except when she was spitting venom like "This party isn't for you anyway. It's for our little unborn nephew... God save him from your genes." Or, "Harry... Harry, if you want to withhold approval, intimidate and give rewards or punishments... buy a dog." She was the child of incest by her father and that rape caused her immense pain that permeated every relationship. It is a fact of life, and I have never seen it more brilliantly displayed. Alfieri captured the lifelong torture in his word, and Bello displayed it with emotion that made this film.

That is not to say that Bello was it entirely. Eric McCormack ("Will and Grace") had a pain of his own and he was absolutely dripping with venom in his snide remarks and eventual explosion of the bottles up anger. A man afraid to revel his feeling for fear of rejection, he got to the point where he could no longer contain.

Elizabeth Banks was the perfect "white trash" that felt out of place in this family - and she was, marrying the out of place brother Alessandro Nivola. Mary Stuart Masterson was also extremely good as the sister who could not reveal her pains either due to her position at the school. Rip Torn added perspective as the professor who read headlines out loud.

Great performances from all and a film worth your time.

I had the privilege of meeting the Director, Arthur Allan Siedelman at the screening of this film. This is probably the first "dialogue-heavy" movie that I really liked. This film is based on Chekov's "The Three Sisters" which is a great story to begin with.

The acting is in one word stunning. Script is like I said very rich in dialogue. Allan Siedelman's direction is very enticing and inviting. I'll root for Maria Bello for an Oscar nomination for her brilliant performance. Scoring is beautiful but subtle.

When released, this movie should draw rave reviews and can only be more successful as more people get to watch it.

If I wanted to just watch a bunch of generally unpleasant people fight with each other, I'd watch "Divorce Court." Although I suppose this movie is designed to show emotional complexity with its quibbling protagonists, it just doesn't work for me. None of these gals is particularly likable, so it is hard to care about them or the "family" they form.

Against this fairly negative backdrop, we have a plot where none of the real underlying problems, conflicts, or broken relationships is fixed. No one seems to gain insight over the course of the movie, no one seems to heal. A real disappointment.