Colewell

This is a nice little contemplative film about who we become and the challenges that come to define us. It is pretty short and I wish there was a little more to it- it's only about an hour and thirteen minutes of actual movie. The melodrama can be a bit much too, but overall it is an impactful story about how our lives turn out. It is thoughtful and contemplative, with some delicate and moving moments.

Provocative depiction of reality in USA. Our Postal Service is a lifeline in rural America. Our Post Offices are more than just a building full of mailboxes, they're run by our neighbors & friends in small towns across the USA. Louis DeJoy is a conman running our RELIABLE mail service into bankruptcy. Creating unnecessary, complicated delays for the men & women we respect for delivering our shipments+correspondence at 40° below zero, during blizzards, storms, & disasters like Covid. "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds", is the USPS motto. My feedback is: writers leave viewers confused about who 'Ella' is. Combined with editing it's difficult to tell if Karen's character is flashing back to her youth or if Ella is her daughter.

I feel that there is a lot more to this film than at first meets the eye, but I can't tell what it is. The character of 20-something Ella is never explained. She wanders in without knocking. She wanders on up the road without saying goodbye. She is not Nora's daughter. Who or what she is is never explained nor is why she is in the movie at all. Does she represent Nora of 40 years ago (she does resemble Nora, and Nora comments that she, like Ella, loved hitchhiking as a young woman)? Does she exist only in Nora's imagination? If I understood the answers to these questions, I'd appreciate the film, but the writers, director, and editor just wouldn't give me a clue.

As it is, I still give the movie 6 stars JUST because Karen Allen is in it. She's not exactly a glamorous movie star, but she's the quintessential girl next door. She's not exactly the girl you'd want to take to a party, but she's definitely the one you'd want to leave with. I'll watch anything she's in.

It brought tears to my eyes. It's firing on all cylinders and all facets of the cinematic process. There's such confidence in this work. Such pinpoint concentration without feeling cold whatsoever. It's grownup stuff. Not in terms of audience, but in terms of craft. It just feels authoritative. The voice is consistent. The world is lush. There's just so much to love. Allen and Gross are so perfectly cast in terms of performance and physicality. They're cinematic doppelgangers of the Bergman variety. We need films like this now more than ever.

I received this movie as an unexpected... um gift, and I'm thrilled! Usually I only get useless junk like sentimental photos of other people's families, heirlooms, etc. ya know, trash! But this one is a winner!