L'autre soeur

I thought this was a very beautiful and touching film... I can't remember the last time a movie stirred up so many emotions in me all at the same time as this one did. And you know what? I really couldn't care less if this movie portrayed these type of people the "right" way or not (this *is* a fictional piece of work after all) because I saw the ideology behind the movie instead of just the movie itself.

What I took away with me from this film is that you shouldn't care about what anyone thinks about you, not your mom or your dad or your friends and relatives either, that you should just try and live for the things that you love and enjoy. The way that these two questioned almost everything that was happening to them and listened to their feelings more than their minds made me feel a lot better about the way I think and the way I feel. I love how they aren't burdened by the way they are, they just simply accept it, and I find that beautiful, absolutely uplifting! I've never seen a movie that made me laugh and cry at the same time as many times as this masterpiece did. "Don't be afraid to feel" would be the perfect tagline for this underrated film. Solid story, solid actors.

My favourite line of the whole movie? When Carla tells her mom "We can take care of each other!" Talk about tears! I'm definitely going to try to find this movie and buy it the next time I'm out and about.

By the way, in case you were curious, this was just written by a 24 year old straight male. (I'm not afraid of showing my "feminine side", whatever that means.)

Grade: A+

In this film, about a frustrated mother trying to cope with a mentally disabled daughter, there is a message for all of us - that we all need our independence and wish to fulfil our desires for happiness in our own way. Diane Keaton plays the role of Elizabeth the over protective mother in a most convincing performance - she shows all the desperation, the moods and emotions of a mother hoping to do the best for her child and suffering arguments and rebuffs at every turn. While Carla (Juliette Lewis)and her lover Daniel (Giovanni Ribisi) both disabled hold us in a state of nervous fascination,it is Diane Keaton who holds the storyline together. This is not a depressing film. On the contrary there are moments of humorous sexual exploration, numerous embarrassing situations and outright hilarity. A few of the scenes which I find particularly amusing are: The sweet innocence of the young couple reading a sex manual and earmarking the pages of appropriate positions, the initial introduction of Daniel in fancy dress as a large dog to Carla's parents and the church wedding in which church dogma is dispensed with and the couple "do it in their own way. The film is quite touching at times and some tears may appear, but in retrospect it is the joyous ending that seems to make everything right. And doesn't Diane Keaton look absolutely stunning in her magenta outfit with the big hat?

After 10 minutes, I was really afraid of the melodrama, the thousans violions of 90 % of the American movies. And we saw that a thousand times : movies with mental problem persons who are always so fine... (Le Huitième jour, Rain man, and also a film of the early 80's with Mickey Rooney - sorry, I don't remember the title!) But the simplicity of the whole thing charms me. The two young actors gives a superb performance. There are also very funny gags : the fanfare music that Danny loves and when Juliette Lewis looks in the book for sex positions). Perhaps the conservative aspects of the family irrates me a little bit : why in most American films the people have always to be rich and boring? A little bit of social reality should help this one. But I give a 7 out of 10 of this fine film. The best of the genre is Belgium's Le Huitième jour.

I just saw an advance preview screening of this film and must say I really enjoyed it. It is one of those films that critics will say is too much like a tv movie or sitcom material...but you can't help but fall in love with the characters and care about the situations they are put in. The performances are all around sincere and thoughtful. Regardless of what the critics might say...I felt that this movie truly took me into the lives of these people and made me feel for them, and that is what I go to the movies for...

I am not a big movie crybaby kind of person, but this movie really had me going! Not that it was sad, but poignant. I was fully captivated by the complex characters. No one was "good" or "bad," they were all just trying to find their ways through their lives the best they could. It was hard to know how they would react in each situation because they were more true-to-life than we are used to. I haven't been this emotionally involved in a movie for a long time.