Vidas contadas

What a great film. The ties between these disparate stories are wondrously woven, and the sudden eye-opening twists are amazing. The spare music is a perfect backdrop. The acting is marvelous, with Amy Irving as the neglected wife of the melancholy professor and Alan Arkin playing the driven and lugubrious businessman with lots of problems and. I hardly realized who it was until halfway through the movie. I would compare this movie to other great art movies such as My Dinner With Andre, My Brilliant Career, Days of Heaven. It evoked in me similar emotions. If you are feeling down and want a big lift, I highly recommend this wonderful film. It deserves an 8 out of 10.

A Robert Altman-style film, but written and directed by women. Several characters ponder what happiness means as they slog through their daily lives. The cast is impeccable, and includes Clea Duvall, Matthew Mc., John Turturro and Alan Arkin, who steals the show amid a very large cast. He plays an embittered, divorced middle manager well past retirement age with a junkie son. On a whim, Arkin commits an irresponsible act that will come back to haunt him. Duvall is an accident victim whose life can never be the same. If you like Altman movies, in all probability you will like this one. All others, beware. No wild car chases, explosions or shoot-outs here.

The structure of this film is familiar as we see different stories with characters that in some sort of way are connected to one another. The structure is reminiscent of a John Sayles film but this is top notch writing and character development. Directed by Jill Sprecher who also wrote the script with her sister Karen and has a number of very good actors who help raise the level of the material. The film seems to be about characters who make decisions then have to live with the consequences of their actions. Matthew McConaughey is a lawyer who after winning a big case and celebrating hits a woman (Clea DuVall) with his car and leaves the scene of the crime. John Turturro is a teacher who decides to have an affair. Alan Arkin gives the strongest performance in the film, which is no surprise. He works in an insurance office and must let someone go and decides it will be a man who is always happy. This has always irritated Arkins character. He simply cannot understand how anyone could be happy all the time. Later, he feels guilty about his actions and tries to get him another job at another company. Sprecher does a good job of keeping the script simple without going over the top to satisfy a more shallow audience. This is a film that gets more interesting when viewed on more than one occasion. Definitely a film that can be discussed at great lengths considering the realistic and flawed nature of each character.

This is divided into sections each about an aphorism. Lawyer Troy (Matthew McConaughey) is celebrating a win at a bar with his colleagues. Then he hits a pedestrian and decides to drive off. Walker (John Turturro) is a physics professor who is cheating on his wife Patricia (Amy Irving) and she suspects him. Beatrice (Clea DuVall) is a maid but her sweet blissful nature is shaken after getting run over by Troy. Gene (Alan Arkin) is a cynical insurance claims manager with family problems and bitter at his happy co-worker.

There are interesting stories and good performances. The cast is amazing. It aspires to be philosophically deep and meaningful. The meandering nature of the story telling leaves me wondering if the movie is actually saying anything. The rotating characters do not allow the tension to build. It needs to rebuild every 15 minutes. I wonder if the movie would be a lot better following one character and dropping the philosophical pretense.

The lawyer Troy (Matthew McConaughey), the actuary Gene (Alan Arkin), the physical science professor Walker (John Turturro) and the housecleaner Beatrice (Clea DuVall) have their lives connected through some sort of event. Troy meets Gene in a bar, hits Beatrice on the street and due to the accident, decides to sell his car to Walker. Through this non-chronological connection line, the viewer participates of their personal dramas, all of them relative to happiness and how unpredictable life is. In a moment, each character has a moment of happiness or expectation of a good event in his life, which is changed later due to some unexpected occurrence. The question is `Can we be happy in a world where our destiny is governed by uncertainties?' This movie is a very bitter and profound story about happiness and unpredictability of life. I saw this movie yesterday on cable television and my vote in IMDB User Rating was seven. However, I intend to see this film again (maybe on DVD) and reevaluate my review. I was not aware of the theme of this complex and almost unpleasant story and maybe my first impression was unfair. The direction and the performance of the cast are outstanding, highlighting the acting of the (always) excellent Alan Arkin.

Title (Brazil): `Treze Visões' (`Thirteen Visions')