Valerie Flake

"Valerie Flake" is a slice-of-life indie which tells of a homely young woman with an abundance of sarcasm as she tries to find herself in the wake of her husband's death. The film is flawed in many ways but the most notable seems to be how her love interest falls all over himself at first sight when most men would have been running the other direction. I sat through this tedious and very ordinary drama because the Tivo guide info ranked it at 2.5 stars along side such films as "Girl Interrupted" and "The Patriot". Guess I'll be calling Tivo. Pass on this one.

Excellent job of writing on this. Not our usual Hollywood garb, but writer Robert Tilem added a rather complex, confused, and conflicting portrayal of lead character Valerie Flake (Susan Traylor) Most scripts do not delve into subject matter like this, but rather stay at the safe, surface (let's sell tickets) level. Peter Michael Goeta (My Engagement Party) plays Valerie's Father-In-Law and is just one of many in the film that can't figure out what to make of their deceased son's widowed wife. Jay Underwood also does a admirable job as the (innocent) love interest! I also find Valerie Flake's character to be more believable because physically she is no goddess, but knows what she can get from others...whether she wants it or not! For an Indy film, I very much liked the delivery. Kudos to John Putch (Director, and son of Jean Stapleton) and Robert Tilem (Writer) for not being afraid to film against the predictable Hollywood grain!. Hope to see more films from this team!

Far be it from me to try to tell anyone they will or won't like a film---I've been wrong far too often. But I liked the film, flawed as it was. The script didn't always ring very realistic, but the cast pulled it off pretty well. Desribed earlier as `homely', I found Valerie (Susan Traylor) to be the kind of homely that it would be easy to fall in love with at first sight. I remember her from "Broken Vessels", too, (probably a better film) so maybe she has a nice Catherine Keener-esque career ahead of her. As for the ending, I found myself wondering how it related to the rest of the film, so I was left a bit uneasy.

I woke up one day and heard this movie on the TV. I thought here we go another pretentious emotive about being unpretentious. But I kept watching it. I recognized Susan from a lot of people I know. Some are middle age people who have gone through life and are a little jaded. She also represents a lot of younger people I know who has had something happen big or small and has let that one incident change their whole outlook.

This movie shows how certain situations or ONE situation molds a person. We all know people like that. For example a man has ONE girlfriend who cheats on him. So for the rest of his life he deals with all women like they cannot be trusted. People who let one bad experience control the rest of their lives.

Not to give anything away but it deals with the conclusion in a realistic way. People just go on in life letting that one situation define them and how they will interact with other people. I guess we call it life.

I like the lead actress, she is perfect for the part. People say she is homely. Not to me. She looks like a average looking person. People have been so jaded by letting Hollywood and the media define what is pretty that anyone who doesn't look like a starlet is considered homely. She looks just like the type of girl men marry and have kids with. There is nothing homely about her. She brings credibility to the role, because of the way she looks.

The people who interact in her life are interesting too. She has one friend, but she is not a person who is mean or nasty she is just not interested in a lot of stuff. She says things to people that people do not expect to hear but need to be told. That is one of the reasons I like people like her. No false pretense. I like that she has a good relationship with her in laws. You can see she really loves them. And they love her too.

When she tells them why she feels the way she does and acts the way she does, they have a very realistic response. Big deal. I love that, because so many people make things big deals when they really are not so life shattering. I love that point was made in the movie. But like most she was already in her comfort zone so she was not going to change.

I understood why that guy liked her right away It is the good girl ,bad boy complex. He was looking for a bad girl and he thought she was one. I had a boy boy complex so I saw the attraction right away. The problem with her sister seemed to have predated the tragedy with her husband. So that could of been about anything.

I was happy to see Mike Damone from Fast Times at Ridgemont High, Richard Romanus. He played the bartender. Looks older but sounds the same. It was a nice small part. Same goes for Terrence Howard. Nice to see he him before he became the baby faced bad boy of movies. It was a good role for me to see because even though he played Jackie Jackson years ago in the movie about the Jackson 5 he really didn't do much. This role gives a glimpse on how he could play a different character then the roles he is being type-casted in now. His voice was even different in this movie. Get another agent Terrence, now.

The only thing that annoyed me and I know people liked was that soundtrack. I just do not like that type of music and voice. It took away from the movie. It was a distraction. I am not sure what was more annoying the voice or the music. That IMO is the only downside of the movie.

What I found intriguing about this study is how close Valerie's attitude is to mine. Simplifying her life, she finds out how complicated she is. Letting go of the past is by far one of the most difficult, yet necessary experiences in life. By coming into contact with this jaded, poignantly honest woman has a profound (yet, subtle to the eye) affect on those she meets. I highly recommend this movie to those people who are asking some questions about life. I found it funny, bittersweet and incredibly honest. All performances were perfect. I especially liked the father in-law. Great writer and music. Thanks, Valerie Flake. See you around. WHY IS MY REVIEW NOT ON THE TOP, AS THE MOST RECENT?