Take This Waltz

This movie was hauntingly real--subtle in its slow approach to the climax and it stays with you long after you have left the theater. All of the actors are wonderful and capturing the nuances of their characters. Sarah Polley does it again. The story, set in Toronto, captures the everyday life of Margot and Lou--and depicts their special relationship through the details of their special ways of communicating. It is not until the complexities of Margot's struggle between her love for Lou and her unyielding attraction to her neighbour, that you start to feel her personal struggle. The inevitable ending does not disappoint. Highly recommended.

OK it's not as bad as all that -- it is sort-of OK -- but I had to say it. I'm probably not the first.

This is basically a short film on infidelity, dragged out to a couple of hours. It's not terrible, but it's also not good.

The film has its good points, of course. I found the cinematography to be great, for example. Particularly the shots in and around water were very effective, and showcase the use of film to communicate without words. But the fact that I'm noticing the cinematography first tells you that the story isn't really there.

I thought the acting was believable. Everyone performed well in their roles, as far as I can tell. Seth, Luke, and Michelle were good choices for the triangle. That said, I am confused about casting not just one but two popular comedians against type. It made me question what I was supposed to be seeing. I'm not sure I figured it out.

For me I attribute the problems to editing and writing.

The story didn't provide anyone for me to root for, identify with, or even hate. I didn't really care for any of the characters. I like these actors, but I found these characters annoying to varying degrees, but not so annoying as to be detestable. I just didn't wish to spend any more time with any of them than I had to. Perhaps if I could recognize in them any motivation for their actions (or lack thereof) it might be different. I compare this with The Postman Always Rings Twice, where understandable things happen, and lead to a more satisfying (but too preachy-perfect) ending.

The long silences here are not deep and meaningful. They're just long. I figure the film could be cut by half an hour, and not lose much beyond silence or small talk. In fact, even the end could be lopped off. There were several points where I thought it was over, but it kept going. What's odd is that there are some scenes where random half-second cuts are made, music-video-style, but real cuts to speed it along aren't made. I'm certain you could cut another hour or so and turn it into a really great short. There's nothing wrong with that, if telling the story with emotion is the goal.

The tie-in to Leonard Cohen's song seemed forced. I cringed. When I think about that scene, it feels to me like someone decided we needed a cryptic song by a Canadian poet to name the film after. I don't feel that any of the characters in the film are devoted Leonard Cohen fans.

Overall, I wouldn't recommend this film, but neither would I say to avoid it. It will surely be on the The Movie Network (among others) in Canada, since they apparently helped pay for it. The best place to see it is therefore probably cable or satellite.

One of my favorite things about this charming indie drama was that I really enjoyed was just how real the relationships in the film came across. Writer/director Sarah Polley creates a freshness and realness to this story of a happy young married couple Margo (Michelle Williams) and Lou (Seth Rogen) whose happy life is challenged when Margo meets and falls for neighbor and artist, Daniel (Luke Kirby). Margo thought she had what she wanted but, the free spirited Luke makes here question whether she is really happy with Lou or just thinks she's happy. As Lou becomes focused on writing a cookbook, Margo begins to explore what she really wants... or is it. And that's the thing that I felt was so real about this charming little movie. Margo's answers are never clear as in life they sometimes aren't. Are were really happy or just convincing ourselves to settle for what we have? Is it human nature to always think there is something better for us out there and thus were never are truly content or happy? These are true life questions and questions we ask ourselves as we watch Margo pursue a course which could cost her everything. And, of course there is the age old question, of the grass always appearing greener. I really enjoyed how director Polley gave the film a very refreshing style and really made the characters seem like real people. They all have their little quirks and habits and they make decisions based on emotions and are sometimes selfish and not careful about hurting those around them. And, they don't always know what they really want. The performances are strong across the board with Michelle Williams giving another great characterization of the almost childlike Margo, whose very likable despite her selfish pursuits. Seth Rogen surprises as Lou a man who obviously loves Margo but, has his own goals and is a little too focused on such to notice his wife is troubled. Luke Kirby is good as the artist Daniel who, much like Margo, decides to selfishly pursue their attraction despite knowing she is married. Round out the cast as Lou's sarcastic alcoholic sister, Geraldine is a perfectly cast Sarah Silverman. All in all this is a refreshingly un-Hollywood indie that takes a look at real people with real emotions making real and sometimes selfish and stupid decisions. Something we are all guilty of and that's why we can identify with these people and how love or, what we think is love, can be such a confusing factor in our lives. And, most of all, is there such a thing as true happiness or is it an illusion we create ourselves?

'I'm afraid of being in-between of things.' That's a beautiful line quoted by Margo from a film called 'Take this waltz'. Attracted by the title which reminded me of Leonard Cohen's song which turned out to be the same source at the first place, also the cast especially Michelle Williams that I find quite special, special in a way that her appearance seems to be fragrant because of how she looks like. I somehow believed that the character resembles a lot with her in real life. We all know her divorced co-star husband Heath Ledger died of an overdose accident, and they have a daughter named Mathilda. After his death she somehow emerges into a characterized actress. You can see her playing depressed wife, Marilyn Monroe, and this confused in-house freelance writer not knowing what to write about. It's all very well chosen with her characters. When I see the way she read out the lines, in a naturally performed way, there's a kind of magic and it must be coming from all what she experienced. Of course every actor's acting style comes from their own life and experience. Yet Michelle has this very sincere attitude of not disguising what went through in her spiritually and physically. Her nudity is not difficult to be found. Although a mother to daughter, her figure remains like a maid, pure and simple. It seems like having a child brings her nothing but growth, growth of innocence and courage of showing the real self inside of her.

The film involves a freelance writer Margo who married to a cookbook author and they enjoyed leisure house life on a Portugal region in Toronto, Canada. The couple is happily engaged with their friends and natives. Parties are thrown every now and then. They sometimes argue, but generally leading a sweet and contented marriage till she encounters with a handsome guy at a tourism site. The magic connection drew on these two strangers. They both found each other very strangely familiar. And right at the first conversation they felt natural enough to joke each other and explain one's inner feelings. Together they make a couple of innocent child embarking on an intuitive sight of the world sparkling only in their eyes. It's fun and haunting, especially when it's found they're only neighbors across from street.

Yet the thrill of encounter only keeps in a very cautious way, which makes it all the more alluring. They interact in an extremely explicit and intimate verbal way to displace physical attraction. Imaginary stroking, kissing and intercourse touched their mind with fulfilled excitement. Every morning she followed him or vice versa to the beach, cafés and the swimming pool, where they swim like dolphins, getting near and dodging away. When he attempted to grab her ankle, the moment suddenly halted and she just left like that. She felt like the spell will be broken once the intimacy takes off to a further step. And she's still guarding herself from the fear of casting herself in the craziness of love affair.

This film shouldn't work nearly as well as it does. Take This Waltz centres around a two-suitors plot that was tired a century ago, takes place in a hipster-utopia version of Toronto, has multiple comedic actors who've worn out their welcome doing Serious Roles, and its characters are either selfish or dull. But Take This Waltz also has a kind of magic that can wash over the most jaded cinema viewer and make you forget that you've seen it all before.

Maybe it's Sarah Polley's direction, or maybe it's the brilliant performance of Michelle Williams that makes her character likable against all odds. Maybe the thematic statement about the perils of looking for adventure and the need for constant romance is something that we need affirmed more often against the tide of romcoms and gooey melodramas. Maybe it's just that I really want to live in hipster- utopia-Toronto. But this film stuck with me for days afterwards, its scenes playing over and over in my mind, blotting out all the rest of the disposable entertainment. There are so many indelible images here: a public shower scene which plays pranks on the male gaze, that goofy but somehow powerful 360-degree-rotation montage, and of course the final scene, a coda that grants its central character and us along with her a moment of unmediated joy. And it's that joy that the film understands as being something we maybe have to pursue no matter what its cost. Michelle Williams' abashed smile gives us a taste of that adventure, and like the rest of the movie, it's damn hard to resist.