vandave0

I missed the first half of Tape. Then I watched the whole thing and was doubly engrossed.

Yes, the characters' motivations are fuzzy; for some that's the sauce - a pleasure to try and figure out (or project).

I was also interested to see if I could discern any real-life relationship chemistry in the acting between Mr. and Mrs. Hawke. (I couldn't). I think I unconsciously avoided Robert Sean Leonard movies because he was associated with the OD-on-sentiment, vomit-inducing Dead Poets Society which I've tried to block out of my mind. He's a good actor, in case you haven't seen him recently.

Visually the end credits are the best part of the movie. Overall, the film looks cheap, but I enjoyed the whiplash-tennis-match camera work that punctuated some of the rat-a-tat repartee. Anyway, good acting, very good writing (and improvising?). It's the kind of film, like Vanya on 42nd Street (I don't mean to compare them in terms of quality - I think Vanya is way superior in most respects), that reminds me how enjoyable plays can be. You may want to turn off your DVD player and go see some live theatre.

I'm getting too old to appreciate the college sorority/fraternity comedy formula, but Pumpkin jumbles up enough interesting black comedic elements and interesting bit characters to entertain and provide a few belly laughs for the first half. It may make you look at whether you laugh at weird disabled people, or feel uncomfortable wondering whether this movie is doing just that. I like that it is provocative in that way. Descends into silliness and boredom towards the end.

This film came to me accidentally, but maybe that's the only way something with this much emotional depth can. It's not slow and boring - it breathes. And it allows one to breathe. The pace is appropriate and won't leave one fidgeting like the endless underwater blue fairy scene in A.I., or Ed Harris's pounding of his ex-wife's chest for the hundredth time in The Abyss' ridiculous resuscitation scene. It has an enchanting rhythm, like the Accidental Tourist - it reminded me about William Hurt's under-appreciated (he rarely immediately pops to mind when thinking of our greatest actors), yet luminous interior talent . If you're a sensitive person who likes to be absorbed and also participate intellectually in a movie, check it out.