Valerie Flake

I just watched Valerie Flake on Sundance Channel. It was fabulous! I never sit through an entire movie, totally focused, hoping it will never end, but I couldn't get my mind away from this film for one second. The music was excellent and the acting brilliant!

Thank you for a very entertaining two hours on my Saturday afternoon! -H. Solomon, Kansas City, MO

Excellent job of writing on this. Not our usual Hollywood garb, but writer Robert Tilem added a rather complex, confused, and conflicting portrayal of lead character Valerie Flake (Susan Traylor) Most scripts do not delve into subject matter like this, but rather stay at the safe, surface (let's sell tickets) level. Peter Michael Goeta (My Engagement Party) plays Valerie's Father-In-Law and is just one of many in the film that can't figure out what to make of their deceased son's widowed wife. Jay Underwood also does a admirable job as the (innocent) love interest! I also find Valerie Flake's character to be more believable because physically she is no goddess, but knows what she can get from others...whether she wants it or not! For an Indy film, I very much liked the delivery. Kudos to John Putch (Director, and son of Jean Stapleton) and Robert Tilem (Writer) for not being afraid to film against the predictable Hollywood grain!. Hope to see more films from this team!

I've now seen this movie twice. I still don't know what I've seen. Unusual yes, repetitive yes, boring no, well acted yes, predictable yes, unusual plot no. So how do you evaluate this movie ? See it for yourself, give it time, it will gather your interest, do not expect a lot. While Susan Traylor is not pretty and looks well worn in some scenes, she does have a sexy face and nice body movements, she sure could use some more curves though. Her acting talent is pretty good, although I have never seen her in another movie, so it's hard to judge on the basis of one time. She is this movie, she carries it throughout. The rest of the acting seams pretty good to me and each character adds something to the film. I suggest you watch it..

"Valerie Flake" is a slice-of-life indie which tells of a homely young woman with an abundance of sarcasm as she tries to find herself in the wake of her husband's death. The film is flawed in many ways but the most notable seems to be how her love interest falls all over himself at first sight when most men would have been running the other direction. I sat through this tedious and very ordinary drama because the Tivo guide info ranked it at 2.5 stars along side such films as "Girl Interrupted" and "The Patriot". Guess I'll be calling Tivo. Pass on this one.

Far be it from me to try to tell anyone they will or won't like a film---I've been wrong far too often. But I liked the film, flawed as it was. The script didn't always ring very realistic, but the cast pulled it off pretty well. Desribed earlier as `homely', I found Valerie (Susan Traylor) to be the kind of homely that it would be easy to fall in love with at first sight. I remember her from "Broken Vessels", too, (probably a better film) so maybe she has a nice Catherine Keener-esque career ahead of her. As for the ending, I found myself wondering how it related to the rest of the film, so I was left a bit uneasy.