Farben der Liebe

"People need to figure out how to find their success." Joshua (Hutcherson) has been abandoned by his mother in a hotel room and is on his own. After finding an open house he sneaks in for food and a bed. He stumbles on a secret room with painting supplies and his real talent is discovered by the owner (Molina) in the morning. Giving Josh a choice to stay with him in return for helping him forge paintings Josh thinks he has found his calling. Then he meets Anne-Marie (Bacall) and everything changes. This overall is not a bad movie but just a little slow. Molina and Bacall are a great choice for these roles and really helps the movie have a more legitimate feel and takes it above made for TV status. For a movie about forging paintings I do have to say that this was a really tough subject to stay interested in. For the most part I was entertained but during quite a bit of it I found myself not really caring and losing interest. Then Molina or Bacall showed up and got me back again. It seems like I'm bashing the movie, which I'm not trying to do. This movie isn't terrible just a little slow moving and hard to stay focused on. Overall, not bad but has the feel of a made for TV movie. I give it a B-.

I have to say I was quite impressed with the movie. A few elements I wasn't expecting really made an impact. One was Lauren Bacall. She really brought it. All of her moments on camera were clean and precise, natural and full of impact. Another surprise was Alfred Molina. He was quietly menacing - not overstated. The biggest surprise for me was the discovery of both Dina Eastwood and Scott Eastwood. Both were genuine and understated. The Writing was well crafted and communicated the dramatic/haunting theme of the piece with softness and ease. I was sucked in by the plot. The use of the coast was spectacular. The film makers captured the ambiance and the quirky culture. As with any beautiful town - it might look perfect on the outside but there is always an underbelly. This movie did a nice job of exposing the underbelly without going over the top.

At first sigh, a film for see only for actors. or for location. in fact, this is not the only motif. but the story. sure, simple, nice, full of flaws. but working. in nice manner. a film about choices. and, maybe, about art. about refuges. and about the way to define yourself and the others. not special. just beautiful. and that is enough for see it. for the not bad reflection of feelings, first.

I new nothing about this movie when I picked it up at a local Red Box. Judging by the cover, I expected a feel good romantic drama with all the excitement that young love and forgery schemes contain. I will say that I somewhat enjoyed this movie, but overall it was a disappointment. It was a B movie that I could easily imagine appearing on the Hallmark channel. It was predictable, cliché, and the characters were unrealistic. Also, for a movie staring as many talented people as it was, the acting came across as a bit lazy. It was not one of the better movies I've seen, but it certainly wasn't the worst. I give it 4 out of 10 stars.

I suppose, well, no, I know, that most of the reviews before mine are right about the many holes in the script, the flimsy dialog, the wrong casting for the main character (a twenty year old actor to represent a fifteen year old character) and several other flaws.

But I enjoyed the movie from beginning to end.

I just watched it as if it was a Walt Disney production, knowing that I couldn't expect more than what was offered and so, I wasn't as disappointed as the other reviewers that were waiting to see an Eric Rohmer's "My Night at Maud's".

Well, sorry, There was only ONE Eric Rohmer, and he wasn't here. So, back to THIS movie: If you lower your expectations it isn't a bad movie to spend a couple of hours watching some very good actors practicing their trade in a gorgeous environment (Carmel) with some nice eye candy (Hayden Panettiere and Scott Eastwood) a very dignified Lauren Bacall and a born actor, Alfred Molina.

In contrast to all the other critics, what really bothered me as the weakest point of the script was the unpolished way to represent the forgery of an old painting (too long to go into specifics) but just one enormous flaw: Molina was an expert forger and surely he should have known that no matter how much you clean an old canvas to erase the original painting, traces of that painting will be seen when looking through the new layer of paint with special equipment.

Forget about all those weak points within the script and enjoy this movie as a very good piece of light entertainment.