Irene in Time

This movie was a little like seeing a friend's kid's recital. You'd only stay, smile and nod if the parent were a close friend who happened to be sitting in the next seat. I didn't make it beyond the first half.

The film is a sorry, star-vehicle for the lead actress, Tanya Frederick. If only she were a star, or if Harriet Schock had less treacly lyrics or didn't have an overly-sentimental singing style, perhaps Irene Jensen's character might have been tolerable.

The film fails to explore the relationships between women and their fathers, instead focusing on superficial conclusions and sappy constructs of child-parent connection. It tries to make up for its heterosexual focus by providing an unconvincing man-kissing lesbian.

Mostly though, if the dialog was not laden with grown women referring to their fathers as, "daddy," and Irene Jensen hadn't cried saying she'd never find a man like her father to cut bananas into rounds for her cereal....well, then I wouldn't have walked out.

I have been a fan of Henry Jaglom for a long time, his creativity and great storytelling from original perspectives have been a great source of pleasure. This time, many problems arise: casting Ms.Tanna Frederick was a big mistake, she is neither a good actress nor an attractive woman, to make matters worse, she comes across as a spoiled nagging, self centered character that only creates negative feelings. The soundtrack is terrible and the story is totally devoid of human interest. For old time's sake, I still hope Mr. Jaglom will produce great quality work. If only someone he listens to will make him understand...

I loved this movie. Just watched it this evening - don't really understand the ending but I plan to watch it again to see if I maybe missed something. The music was wonderful, especially 'I'm Dancing With My Father'. The lead actress was wonderful. The cast was wonderful. Maybe it's because my dad left too when I was young, but I really found this movie to be moving, thoughtful, artistically great, musically great.....and all around great. Please watch it and decide for yourself. --Ok, so I just found out you can't submit a review unless it's ten lines of text - sorry, that's all I have to say about this movie - please watch it yourself - don't just read the reviews and bypass it - it really was excellent.