उपयोगकर्ता समीक्षाएं

I was invited to an industry screening, but recommend paying your way in to see this gem. It opened in June with very little buzz, but apparently is going wider now. Writer Kelly O'Sullivan directed it with her partner Alex Thompson. I missed their first film, the much lauded Saint Frances.

The Mueller family uses a community theater production of "Romeo and Juliet" as a cathartic vessel to soothe the pain of their son's suicide. The mysterious circumstances surrounding his death involve a lawsuit and a pivotal deposition. The writer skillfully withheld the shocking details until very late, as most storytelling is about secrets. Father Dan (Kieth Kupferer) is a construction worker in the Chicago area. His relationship with his wife Sharon (Tara Mallen) is worsening by the day. Their fifteen year old daughter Daisy (Katherine Mallen Kupferer) had a fight at school, is suspended and sees a mandated therapist at $150 an hour. Dan had a fight at work with a motorist and almost had to take a mandatory leave. Waitress Rita (Dolly De Leon) saw this and, out of both pity and necessity, asked him to join her theater production, meeting nights and weekends because everyone has jobs. Dan is of course a lousy actor. But after the original Romeo quits, Rita talks him into the role opposite her Juliet. It's a much more age congruent match. They were planning to stage their sole performance in the cramped rehearsal space in the heart of town. But Sharon is a schoolteacher and persuades the powers that be to gift them the gym.

It's such a terrific feel good movie, with a fair amount of angst and bitterness swirled in. Dan, Sharon and Daisy are a family in real life. This really cemented their performances beyond what a normal cast would achieve. Kupferer has a ton of theater experience, which he employs to great effect. Dolly De Leon is fantastic as Rita. She continues to produce excellent work after her Triangle of Sadness breakthrough and Between the Temples. The physical disparity between the hulking Romeo and petite Juliet is a source of easy laughs, but that all fades once they are in character. It's always a joy to see theater and film converge, as in Vanya on 42nd Street or Birdman. A raft of rave film festival reviews are entirely accurate.

This film is pure storytelling without any pretense or formality. It beautifully captures the magic of theater, portraying the ups and downs of life while attempting to navigate its challenges. It's a humble piece of cinema, showing great respect for the medium, the audience, and the range of emotions. Despite focusing on the family's difficult situation, the movie delves deep into human emotions, establishing an intimate connection with the audience throughout. It's a remarkable example of independent cinema focused on authentic storytelling, something that's hard to come by in today's film landscape.

I know several Shakespeare aficionados that claim, while Romeo and Juliet is the most taught of the tragedies, it ranks low on the quality scale. Even if we didn't pay attention in freshman English, we know the rough outlines of the plot.

Here, the 16th century R&J play exists as the metaphorical and literal binder for a real 2024 family, and suggests the unwritten aftermath the Verona families may have endured in the weeks and months and years that followed. Their rage ... anger ... despair ... sadness ... accusations ... avoidance.

What the audience is asked to infer from what's NOT on the screen makes what IS on screen all the more poignant and foreshadowing and graceful. The writing, casting, directing, and editing is just amazing.

Grief takes on many inescapable forms and can permeate everything. Grief is a funny thing, with a 1,000 triggers and 1,000 unexpected responses. Here, we're left with the possibility of the beginning of the healing.

"Island of misfit toys" Rita (Dolly De Leon)

Rita aptly describes her ramshackle community-theater group and unknowingly describes the tough family at the heart of the dramedy film Ghostlight. Having survived an unbearable tragedy, construction worker dad, Dan (Keith Kupferer), secretly joins the group to play Romeo, in an adaptation of the Bard's colossal tragedy that mirrors the challenges of the film's nuclear family.

Writer, director Kelly O'Sullivan (along with co-director Alex Thompson) shows the therapeutic value of theater, just as director Greg Kwedar did for Sing Sing, in which prisoners found redemption from theater productions. The family finds out about Dan's secret life, eventually healing because of it.

The film's actual acting family of Keith, outspoken teen Daisy played by his daughter Katherine Mallen Kupferer), and mother Sharon played by wife/mother Tara Mallen lends a spirit to the film whereby each gently-revealed setback can't destroy the love they feel for each other on stage and real life. Oscar nominations should follow that real family.

Henry Miller would approve the admixture of love, humor, and tragedy is one of the two best movies of the year. To see it at holiday time is to remind us the salutary effect of quality family drama in film, theater, and life itself. Streaming on Prime.

A blue collar construction worker in Chicago with a volatile temper and a dysfunctional family is asked to fill in when a tiny community theater attempts to stage Romeo and Juliet.

A touching, complicated movie about family and art and fathers and children. One of the best movies of 2024.

And, my favorite movie genre. How art is made:

'Topsy-Turvy' 'Day for Night' 'Tropic Thunder' 'Tristam Shandy: A Cock and Bull Story'

Ultimately, indeed, The play goes on.

A great local Chicago actor stars in the movie, and slowly, grudgingly, as Romeo: Keith Kupferer.

What a great face. What a great presence. Costarring his daughter.

When the play within the movie begins, the curtain opens, and these familiar words heard by audiences for 497 years are spoken:

'Two households, both alike in dignity, In fair Verona, where we lay our scene, From ancient grudge, break to new mutiny, Where civil blood makes civil hands unclean.'

A fantastic movie that I recommend you see.

I used to be embarrassed to cry in movies and would try as hard as I could to keep it in. But that would always leave me feeling afterwards like I had a head cold, plus now I'm older and I don't give a hoot what people think. So now I let my freak flag fly and just openly weep in a movie theater if the mood strikes me. I've also found since I had children of my own that more things make me emotional than previously.

So I was an absolutely snotty, dripping mess at multiple times throughout this movie. I'm a sucker anyway for stories about people who see other people at their worst moments and respond with kindness and understanding rather than harsh judgement, and this is that kind of story. It's also about the power of art to help us work through our emotions, make sense of the world, find common ground with others, broaden our perspectives, all the things the world feels really in need of right now but yet seems determined not to do.

Is "Ghostlight" manipulative? Probably. Does it hold up to scrutiny afterwards? I'm not sure, possibly not. But I don't care because I didn't scrutinize this movie afterwards. I just let myself feel it, and that's what I want to take away with me.

Grade: A.

The movie "Ghostlight" follows Dan, a construction worker who finds healing from personal tragedy by participating in a local theater production. Writer and director Kelly O'Sullivan introduces several conflicts in the plot, but the most challenging to grasp is how an ordinary, rugged, and tough construction worker becomes involved in a theater production. The plot's explanation feels cold, lacking depth, and incoherent. From that point on, it's hard to comprehend how this man, burdened with family issues and a demanding job, finds the energy to attend play rehearsals. The family's legal process is also baffling and absurd.

The movie could benefit from more dramatic performances from the actors, particularly with a Shakespeare play at its center. It seems as though all the actors are perpetually in rehearsal mode throughout the movie.

Ghostlight masterfully captures a family's journey through life with authentic performances and a compelling story, making it a must-see drama. The film can be a bit of a slow burn at times, but it is still an immensely moving character study on an ordinary dad who struggles to open up about his emotions. Each character in the film is uniquely complex and likeable. Yet, every single character still feels like someone you would know in real life. There are no Hollywood stars, extravagant sets, or lavish locations. Instead, the film is an accurate representation of real life, and so, it becomes extraordinarily relatable.

It's brilliant. It has good acting and camera, rhythm, directing and it's humane. Maybe this is not going to my movie library, but what I do is that I cut such movies into pieces and when it is the right time I show these to my students.

As for the plot and this piece is about a loneliness of parents that are tired of life and are almost exhausted. Then all of a sudden the main character finds his new chapter in his life. Real people who are appeared to be good and true. Actually same people as the main character - a father of a teenager. Can't remember of a similar movie, but I am quite sure there are lots of them in American cinematography. Being tired of spiritless CGI's and all those superpowers, by watching this work, you will definitely have a good time and get entertained in a positive way.

The other thing with this film is that it is not too sweet or too whining. Nor does it have no single fake acting or contrived situations.

Thanks for a great work.

Can a beautifully sung "Oh! What A Beautiful Morning" portend anything but a good dose of tragedy, heartbreak, and reconciliation? Filmmakers Sullivan and Thomas chose wisely to incorporate three character-defining songs from "Oklahoma," the aforementioned "Morning", "Out of My Dreams," and "I Can't Say No." These are seamlessly juxtaposed with a slowly revealed family tragedy, a lawsuit, and a community theater production of "Romeo and Juliet."

The family is in mourning. This family of three runs the range: the stoic mother, the pressure cooker of rage father, and the belligerant teenaged daughter. None of them can discuss the recent tragic death of a son.

A serendipitous meeting shoves father Dan into participating in a community theater production of "Romeo and Juliet." The transformative magic of theater, stepping into someone else's shoes, is the catalyst for Dan's reckoning with himself, and his family.

Slowly, and not without some good doses of humor, the story and the characters unfold. The tragedy is as horrifying as the conclusion of "Romeo and Juliet." The sure-handed direction and the keen script is brought to life by the first-rate cast of characters.

Highly recommended.

If we search for the word 'persona' we find it means "a strategic mask of identity in public." A word that comes from Latin, where it originally referred to a theatrical mask. In real life, with all the emotional baggage a person might have, there is no doubt the liberating aspect performing can produce. By putting ourselves in the skin of another, we forget about our reality, if only for some time. This is what happens to our protagonist Dan, played by Keith Kupferer, a construction worker who finds himself interested in drama after a chance encounter. In the local theater's production, he finds not only a pastime but most importantly solace away from what troubles him. Something succinctly worded by Rita (Dolly De Leon) when she said, "It seemed like you might want a chance of being somebody else for a while."

It is interesting how the film's intention in portraying Dan's everyday life as a construction worker and at home inhabits details framing unworded depictions of a dichotomy that reifies and gives meaning to his new found interest. Close-ups of hands that bear and evince hard work but also of outer manifestation of inner disquietness. The play they are rehearsing for a one night only performance is none other than Romeo & Juliet. The classic Shakespearean tragedy will pose a mirror device to Dan's life to resurface layers of meaning. Keith Kupferer's performance is definitely the greatest asset of the movie. He channels a kaleidoscopic roller coaster of emotions in little details furthering the story's events as well as coming across as an endearing character one finds easy to sympathize with.

Surprisingly, there are many humorous moments throughout the movie, mainly due to Katherine Mallen Kupferer, who plays Daisy, Dan's daughter in the movie but also in real life. Unexpected bursts of teenage angst result in many funny moments here and there. However, what is definitely not funny is the movie's depiction of violence as something unimportant and encouraged. One of the characters assaults another only because she felt offended, and, to aggravate things further, absolutely nothing happens to her. Worse yet, the coordinator then talks about the importance of a safe space when she did nothing but condone violence by having the actress still on the play without a single word or question asked about her questionable behavior. This gratuitous violence that could be thought of as terrible writing is nothing but hypocrisy. By framing her as a poor little thing that was offended and had her right to assault, the movie is condoning violence.

Another negative aspect of the movie is its runtime, it definitely overstays its welcome. Many rehearsal scenes feel as fillers only to, unnecessarily, stretch the movie's duration close to the two-hour mark. The scene of the performance day, while it could be deemed realistic, meaning they are not supposed to look like professionals, achieves melancholy for good portrayals of the play, not necessarily good for the movie.

Ghostlight touches you on so many levels that it takes you on a roller coaster of emotions.

Kelly O'Sullivan's creative script, her co-directing with Alex Thompson, as well as each actor's ability to bring life to the story is palpable and raw in places. Their ability to intertwine comedy, tragedy and drama so effortlessly creates a unique experience for those of us in the audience looking in. Many human elements surround the story lines and will hit home over and over again for many, no matter what life experiences you've had. It is made from the heart and it shows. This movie will not disappoint.

... I regret not having them. This film felt like a personal gift. My tears couldn't stop flowing last night. I almost jumped out my seat from joy seeing Dolly De Leon on screen. Yesterday was Philippines' Independence Day, and it was so special to watch Dolly slay. She spoke English with a Tagalog accent. That is extremely rare to see on screen. Others have worked harder to get rid of the accent their whole lives. Dolly just showed us up. Don't make fun of our fellow countrymen and stop correcting their pronunciation. My poor Father was grilled by my Mother continuously. Causing him not to even speak at all and share his thoughts. Speaking of my Father. The film deals with the topic of unresolved grief. My Father passed away during the height of Covid. The hospital was very generous with providing their iPad for 1 hr a day. My mom, aunts and uncle, close friends all spoke to my dad for 10 days. He was in a coma and it was tough to see him in that manner. On the 10th day he passed away. I didn't get to say good bye in person. Understandably, no one can visit. He was cremated shortly after. 3 days later when I picked up his ashes, it hit me hard not having closure. To say good bye in person.

• Why I couldn't stop tearing up last night. I feel so embarrassed, because I was in front of the actors and directors. I wish I was all the way in the back.

A majestic movie, it makes you cry, definitely one of the most underrated of the whole year 2024x amazing performance and history, i watched this thank to the good Youtuber and ex honest trailer producer Dan, he is a very good critics and he very liked this movie so i watched and its pretty good to ve honest and that's always good ok, overall this is just a fantastic movie to watch with your family to cry and confess things that need to be say, this movie will change your life and make you a better person ok, overall it's fantastic and oscar worthy ok, this is a masterpiece An 8/10 masterpiece for me.

How did I not know about this film? It was hard to watch for about the first half , and I considered bailing more than once. The characters seem incapable of dealing with their pain and shoot themselves and each other in the foot over and over again. Then along comes a community theater production of Romeo and Juliet, and Dan, the troubled main character, is drawn to the community of oddballs in the theater group and the escape of being someone else in the midst of his horrific personal situation.

Katherine Mallen Kupferer gives a breakout performance as the antagonistic daughter, Daisy. Perhaps as a movie buff I should already know her work. She can sing, she can act, and as an actress she has great range. I look forward to seeing more of it.

The power of art to express loss and enable us to face it is on display here. It's a stunning film that deserves a wider audience.