I Love You, I Love You Not

This movie was 80 minutes long??? It seemed twice that! I Love You, I Love You Not is certainly not horrible, but it's not a movie I'd really care to watch again.

I was strolling through Blockbuster searching for a film to watch over the weekend when this particular one caught my eye. Even though I'm not a Claire Danes fan (though she did a fine job in Little Women), I saw Jude Law's name and knew I had to rent it. I was disappointed. This film is contrived, cliched, and doesn't know whether to be totally serious or humorous. It fails on all counts (especially the hokey scene at the school assembly)!

The narrative of this movie is totally choppy, and the Holocaust scenes and the school scenes don't seem to blend in well together. If they'd focused solely on the romance of Jewish Daisy and Gentile Ethan the film might have really gone somewhere. This is not to say that Jeanne Moreau doesn't shine as Nana, she absolutely radiates.

Claire Danes gives an OK performance, and had the role and the story in general been better, she could've done a terrific job as Daisy. And what about Daisy's parents? They are almost never mentioned. What exactly is her relationship with them?

The true saving grace is Jude Law as Ethan. We can see why he is entranced by Daisy, as she is not the "typical" cheerleader giggly type who hangs all over him. We understand how he gives in to the prejudice around him when it comes to Daisy and his friends. I believe, especially after Mr. Law's success in The Talented Mr. Ripley, he is going to take Hollywood by storm and make all sorts of great movies.

Let's just hope they're all better than this one!

Well, this is certainly a fast forward movie to be rented, with many parts that could be zapped past.

It does explore how one grows up and deals with the pains of youth, and surprisingly, it does end with a splash that isn't expected, yet makes sense in review the movie.

It's certainly worth seeing along with a field trip to the Simon Wiesenthal Center in Southern California to understand the background of the story and to get a better grasp of the complexities of emotions that many have to deal with even today.

But it isn't a movie that is very deep nor giving. The viewer is left sitting there with the ending, and yet wondering why bother as the movie does deliver fully in engrossing the viewer and placing them into another world. It is a third person movie and you are that 3rd person -- a casual observer never to really enter.

A first draft, by a child, compared to Schindler's List.

Sad, strange little movie stars Claire Danes as Daisy; a shy, bookish girl attending an elite private school in New York. When she's not gushing over the delectable Ethan (Jude Law), she's spending time with her Nana in the countryside reading books and listening to Nana's tales of her survival of the holocaust.

The movie tries to intertwine the themes of post and modern day anti-semitism via Nana's stories and flashback sequences with Daisy's trials and tribulations at school when knowledge of her Jewish heritage is made public.

Unfortunately, as hard as this movie tries, it never quite hits the mark. The performances from Danes and Moreau though are heartfelt, and the message is there for those who want to see it. This movie means well and attempts to educate us on one of the all time greatest blights on mankind - prejudice.

Worth a look for early performances from Jude Law, James Van Der Beek and Julia Stiles before they hit the big time.

a nice little story of a bit of a confused girl...i loved the setting and the actors. nothing gets explored too deeply, expect the ups and downs of daisy (clair danes). its a movie i think more young females can relate too and it is a simple, sweet movie worth looking at. u feel at times that u can relate to the main character and sometimes she seems to take things a little further than she should, but it is all part of the person she is. I really loved the movie, but i'd say its more of a chick flick. Worth the watch if u'r looking for an easy, slower movie.

I was subjected to this movie a couple of nights ago and I have to say - it is the worst film I've seen in a long time. The whole story is sickly sweet. Clare Danes looks (and acts) like she is about 12. The writing is terrible - it has some of the cheesiest lines ever. It is worth watching for the tacky zoom shot in the very last scene. Don't waste your time.