Unhook the Stars

What a collection of screwed up folks. Here we have a woman who has lost control of her life, not to mention her mouth; a permanently aggravated daughter; a goofy wife beater who sings Cocker atrociously; and a hot to trot trucker and his blinky, well meaning girlfriend. Together they form one of the best dramas I've seen in a good while as they try, try, try to get their lives on track so they can just be whole and happy. First rate.

Will start with what did not like from what is visible at IMDB: the title - sounds pretentious. Poster - why Marisa's hair is black ?

Started with showing bad relation with about 20 y. daughter, and by me not that realistic dialog in it. Things gone better and more interesting when loud-mouth neighbor mother came in her life, with her son and marriage problems. While relation with young boy was presented well, and there was developing shown, it missed completely with other and close people. So, we don't have clue why was it bad with her daughter - well, did they think that it is enough that at one point Mildred said that she is good with young children and bad with those older ones ?

I hated that drunk bar scene, especially that goat laughing. Actually, sound was overall pretty bad quality and often irritating.

Whole romance with truck driver seemed very unlikely. Really not sure who to blame more: script or direction. Actors did great job considering given dialogs and direction. And that's for sure best part. Marisa managed to keep it on decent level, even if there was way too much f* word and all kind of trashy talk. Did not see much of comedy in this.

The ending was really weak, better said last 20 minutes. Although it was clearly shown where she will move, but all it was somehow bland and stiff. No wonder that many reviewers asking here where she headed at the end. Well, to the stars, I guess. Or was it alligators ? :-)))

The story of an older woman who realizes that she has a life to live. I rented this from Blockbuster ages ago not knowing what to expect, and to be honest it's about what I expected. Lots of interpersonal clichés regarding how to live your own life and not be someone else's slave. It was in the comedy section, or so I recall, so I took a chance on it.

It's mildly amusing, and actually somewhat revealing about parents' attitudes towards their offspring, and also some hard truths about humanity and how we codify our basic desires to try and put some stability on ourselves, but then wind up causing more problems in the long run.

I can't remember too much more. Not a film I'd recommend for males nor even the family. Still, it was interesting for what it is.

Two very different women, one a demure, middle-aged woman with an over-bearing son and a rebellious daughter; the other, an "in -your-face" young woman. They are neighbors and find a need for each other in a very human way. Depardieu is the fellow who makes a difference in Rowland's life -we never know how much. I wish more had been made of the relationship between Rowland and her daughter. It never becomes clear what their problem really is, and nothing is really resolved. Another exit to the airport ending leaving the viewer with many questions unanswered -very annoying, but overall a good film.

Marisa Tomei has always been one of my favorite actresses. She has a very individual, very strong, not to mention incredibly hot, presence and is one of the major scene thieves of our time. She is by far the best thing about My Cousin Vinny, which would hardly be even close to being as worthwhile without her. She is the only reason to watch Just A Kiss. She is wonderful in Happy Accidents and In the Bedroom. In Unhook the Stars, she is a joy to see, not just for her presence and ability to intrigue even inaminate objects but also for the freedom-emblazoned attitude she fleshes out in her character. She is not at all subtle, but she is a realistically subtle contrast to Gene Rowlands, who plays opposite her. However, in this film, Gena Rowlands serves to be the first person I've ever seen who's stolen any scene from the likes of Marisa Tomei. Tomei's earliest scenes are brilliantly fiery, both hilarious and alarming, one of these great instances involving dialogue with other characters while she is in another room cursing and raving into the phone incidentally during the natural pauses in between the other characters' exchanges. But gradually, Rowlands earns our focus a bit more, because I've hardly felt more deeply for many other characters in many other movies.

Gena Rowlands plays a mother on the latter end of middle age whose daughter gives her great disrespect and constantly runs off, leaving her to do her paper route. She has a highly serious and successful son who lives for admiration and objectifies his wife. Rowlands is lonely, riding the gentle winds through the motions of life at home. When Tomei, grungy, aggressive young mother, asks her to babysit her young son while she's at work, a new and beautiful relationship emerges into Rowlands's life, giving her great happiness and fulfillment, but the natural interferences and oncoming decisions of life seem to taper it. The scenes with her and the young boy are so touching and full of emotion. I won't explain further into her character or the story that is driven by her, but I will say that what she is is a touching, very very deeply felt characterization of a common, lonely mother of great selflessness, surrounded by the self-absorption of the people she cares the most for. And you will be surprised at how much you care for such overlooked people, people who rarely come to be the lead character in a movie.

Though Nick Cassavettes doesn't quite have the intensity or fluently original technique that his father, John Cassavettes, had, he does carry on in the Cassavettes tradition of plain and direct interpretations of reality. His film is about loneliness, and about the sort of person who takes so little from us in return for so much that she gives, and how she is prompted to live.