bibliofile

This movie kept me guessing throughout the entire movie. This wasn't intended to be the easy, mass-marketed schlock where you can figure it all out and they spell the ending out for you in the end, in case you don't have a brain or any imagination. This is one you want to go back and watch again to see if you can catch any more clues. It's a dark story with a generous helping of hope, decent to good acting and I have always had a thing for Sean Patrick Flannery, so that never hurts in my book. My only real complaint is that the camera-work and lighting sometimes got a little too artsy for my tastes. Oh, that and it's tough to see Juliet Landau as anyone not evil/insane.

This movie was a refreshing change from the ordinary disaster-filled world usually portrayed in Hollywood. Nine times out of ten when you see a movie and there's a scene where something terrible might happen...it does. In America keeps surprising right up to the end. Some might say that it's a sappy feel-good flick, but the depth of the subject matter and the uneasy storytelling and tempo make it an extremely worthwhile way to spend a few hours, particularly when the world looks rather grim. A few scenes are particularly well written and shot. One is on Halloween when we gaze up at Sarah through the stairway railings. Another is Ariel's nightmare. That scene will rip your heart out and prove to you (even though it's fiction) that children know much more than we think they do.

Sandra Goldbacher's premiere as a feature film writer/director is groundbreaking. The discomfort some feel regarding the character Rosina (played by Minnie Driver) as a 19th century Jewess disguising herself as a Protestant in order to work as a governess can be attributed to the purposeful destabilization of the social hierarchy both within the film and without. Rosina (who calls herself Mary Blackchurch in her disguise) plays several roles in the household, each of which she makes her own in very subtle but important ways. This film is not necessarily satiating plot-wise, but is richly rewarding for its commentary on the role of women.