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This could have been a good movie, with some intense parts and good play. Unfortunately, it has been ruined by the script, which for all time, tricks the viewer into believing that there will be some kind of final revelation, which never happens. This is what lets the viewer down and therefore ruins the movie.

If the movie was honest from the beginning, then it could have become a very humanly intense road movie, like the kind of '70s movies by Bogdanovich or Altman. But because of the stupid cheat, it only becomes a modest and failed whodunit.

The acting and sceneries are good though. Worth a view - but only to regret how a better film it could have been.

Those disappointed in the film "The Invisible Circus" would make a better investment by purchasing the novel by Jennifer Egan. Written from the perspective of eighteen-year-old Pheobe, the novel is an enchanting coming-of-age story with the added intrigue of her lost "hippie" sister.

Most of the narrative focuses on Pheobe's inner thoughts; which no doubt made translating it to the screen a difficult task. Debates on whether it is a "chick flick" are warranted; both the film and the novel center heavily on the female viewpoint.

In response to the first posted review, the paintings by Pheobe's father, Gene, are *supposed* to be awful. Part of the narrative focuses on Pheobe's realization that her father was not a sainted, thwarted artist, but an ordinary man.

In the early 1960's, two sisters are growing up. Faith is the elder of the two and is the apple of her father's eye – listening to all his talk of art and freedom, while younger Phoebe is given less attention. When their father dies, Faith takes it the hardest – near comatose at first but then getting into any revolution or cause that the period allows her to support. Heading off to Europe with her boyfriend, it is only a few months before her death brings even more pain to the family. Older now, Phoebe decides to use her sister's daily postcards as a guide and follow her footsteps around Europe to try and work out what happened to her.

With a quite famous cast, I decided to give this film a look but found that despite the professional sheen on it, this isn't that good a film. The plot is too unlikely, unconvincing and delivered in a phased manner that doesn't really work. Phoebe's journey is pretty unnecessary and her reasons for it didn't make a great deal of sense; it relied too much on some form of mysticism that it never earned (or kept consistent). The truth behind Faith's death unfolds but it does it in a lazy way – Wolf just keeps revealing a bit more every here and there, why he suddenly feels he has to tell things that he had secret two minutes ago is not clear but the film uses it to keep things moving. Meanwhile, in flashback, Faith's story is unconvincing – she is naïve, stupid and her political journey comes across as nothing more than the rebellion of any teenager.

It didn't help to have Diaz playing the role because she can't go beyond the character's surface and just ends up with a very basic performance that never got close to the sort of emotional turmoil that would have been needed to make a convincing Faith. Brewster is much better although it would have been a nice touch to cast two actresses that look like they could have at least come from the same family. Brewster has plenty of clunky lines to deliver but does reasonably well and she is allowed to nail Faith's character bang on the money at the end. She also has a good chemistry with Eccleston, which helps to cover up for the fact that the romance between them is a bad idea that didn't work that well. He is interesting enough though and shows he is a good actor by making more of the material than was on the page. The direction makes the most of nice European locations but it totally fails to capture a sense of time – apart from some haircuts and costumes there is very little to tell you when the film is happening and, even if you know, it never feels like the period it wants to be of.

Overall it feels interesting enough and has emotional moments and nice touches in it but generally it doesn't work because the writing is poor and cannot make the story work; like another reviewer has said, it comes across rather contrived. The performances from Brewster and Eccleston are both better than the material but Diaz is too weak considering the weight she is asked to carry.

This is a wonderfully told tale of Phoebe, an 18-year-old girl determined to find out what happened to her older, beloved sister Faith (Cameron Diaz). In 1969, Faith and her English boyfriend "Wolf" (Christopher Eccelston) set off from Faith's home in San Francisco to see Europe. Faith never returned -- she committed suicide in Portugal and the circumstances surrounding her death were, given the distance and time, cloudy. Phoebe, now an adult in 1976, uses Faith's daily postcards as her guide, and retraces the couple's travels, but not before she meets up with a now older and more mature Wolf, at his Paris home.

Camilla Bell (younger Phoebe) and Jordana Brewster (older Phoebe) could not be more beautiful and lovely.

The love affair that develops between Phoebe and Wolf is so credible and powerful, it completely entrances the viewer.

Egan's story combines cultural touchstones, political ideology, family ties and passion in this wonderful story.

Looking at the different reviews of the movie i'm shocked to find that anyone liked the movie. I'm a college age female and I hated that movie. Hate is a strong word and I barely ever use it, but it's very much appropriate for the way I feel about this movie. It was a great idea for a movie but it but it dragged and the ending was really dull. The only reason I watched the whole thing was because I had hopes for a good ending. Didn't happen.