Crush

He has it...more than any actor alive. He actually makes Brad Pitt look a bit lame. Very talented, very sexy guy. The film plot is insulting to women but the sex is marvelous. See it. The last third, forget.

What started as a funny story of three women in their 40's going thru a kind of middle life crisis and their bad relationships with men, then turns serious when an unusual romance blossoms for one of them. The relationship develops unexpectedly well, the characters seem real. The young man who's the love interest delivers some surprising twists and it's all very believable. We actually root for them and their beautiful love story… But just when the film could've built up to some real high class drama (the older woman confronting her fears and other people's prejudices) it whirls downwards into some really deranged nonsense, "pseudo" tragedy and plain silliness. The so well constructed characters and the very good performances get drawn into a not well chewed mess which is irritating to watch. It's a shame really, what had started well and could've turned into a really neat romantic flick, even a little jewel (with a good look on how these two people connect above all their differences and against all social conventions), gets wasted. It's almost as if we were watching two different films. Maybe the script was meant for a short film and didn't add up to the full hour and a half and had to be filled in? Anyway it could've been better written to have a coherent development and ending. What a shame.

Crush wasn't a terrible movie, but it could have been better. Instead of the great movie it had the potential to be it was a rather average movie. The film is nicely filmed, with lovely scenery and swift cinematography. The performances from the three leads Andie McDowell, Imelda Staunton and Anna Chancellor were believable in their roles, and there is a decent supporting turn from Bill Patterson. The music is lovely too, and the direction from first-time director John McKay is average.

However the film has several failings, namely the weak characterisations despite the actors' stellar performances. The script is implausible at best, and lacked wit. The plot is also predictable and contrived in places, that has been done many times and better, and there are uneven transitions from comedy into tragedy though there are many valiant attempts. There was a scene where Molly says to Kate "I can smell man on you", and I just wondered whether that was rather inappropriate to say that to another woman. There is a lack of chemistry between Kate and Jed, and the conclusion of the film is rather unsatisfying. All in all good, but could have been better. 6/10 Bethany Cox

For all its faults, I found more poignancy in this movie than I expected. I admit that I purposely avoided this movie because Andie McDowell was in it -- who is a terribly overrated (though beautiful) actress. I was surprised to discover depth where she has never shown it before -- and very subtly, so much so, that it was unfortunately missed.

I've always enjoyed how many of the English movies I've seen have a tendency to mix comedy, tragedy, and drama in a way that Americans find hard to comprehend. Is not life itself a mix of all these? Do we not have situations so painful that we have to laugh?

I don't want to make this movie more than it was, but I thought it was a sweet, quiet story about a woman who may not have had the chance to find love -- and it comes along unexpectedly, in a very unconventional form. It is rather sad to watch her struggle with her somewhat immature feelings (and as I noted, Andie M. did a superb job) and disbelief over whether she was involved in just a "crush" (ahem, perhaps where the title came from -- surely not, as some reviewer noted, from the fate of one of the characters) or true love. I also enjoyed the genuine concern of her friends -- despite their misguided, and perhaps implausible efforts to dissuade her.

The movie showed how the type of love Kate wanted, may not have been possible in her small community, in the position she held, and with the life she had already created for herself. I thought the writer/director did a fine job of showing her struggle with the implausibility of the relationship she found.

Not the best movie ever made -- but nice to see a film that focuses on friendship, which often gets pushed aside as true love prevails (an implausible plot that movie viewers most want to see -- and who find anything other than true love to be implausible!).

The tag line for "Crush" is "Three female friends behaving badly". I beg to differ. It's more like three middle-aged women complaining about men. This won't be enjoyable for many men.

But now on to the good things. It's dramatic, it's sad, it's funny and it combines all those elements with beauty. It's primarily about Kate (Andie MacDowell) trying to find love. MacDowell stands out in this film. She does have two best friends played by Imelda Staunton and Anna Chancellor but to me they were just annoying and continuously acted inappropriately.

But then into Kate's life comes Jed (Kenny Doughty). The entire theatre audience sighed as Doughty appeared on the screen. Very handsome, and he had the smouldering stare down pat as he melted our hearts. I had predicted that he would go on to be a star, and that might still happen, but slowly, as he toils around in some small roles.

The film was shot beautifully with the location in England being spectacular. The filmmakers also made a number of beautiful subtle contrasts to the men in Kate's life. These filmmakers definitely know how to make a great film. Too bad they don't know how to write characters very well. Andie MacDowell's Kate is the only great character, unless you count Kenny Doughty's looks.

"Crush" is not for men, and only for fans of Andie MacDowell, Kenny Doughty and technically superb and beautiful film-making.