Girlfriend

Genuinely touching film about a guy with Down's syndrome who finds himself in a very different kind of love triangle.

Toughest performance may have been by Shannon Woodward who must play a sympathetic, conflicted character as she picks her way through an emotional and ethical minefield. Evan as Evan also put on a brave performance. Subtle yet effective cinematography, great transitions.

None of the writing seemed overwrought, and judging by the QA, Shannon herself had a lot of room to edit the script on the fly.

And the guy who played Russ also managed to bring moments of sympathy to his character despite being a very scary jerk.

A relatively straightforward film that still manages to surprise.

Please don't waste anymore of our time with this drab. It's apparent that the actors or crew members are posting reviews. That or they're emailing friends and begging them to post a review. I wish I could say something good about this movie but I can't. I'm glad it's over is about that only good thing I can say. My girlfriend and I read about this "project" and thought we would spend our Sunday night at the Tornoto Film Festival seeing something heartwarming and genuine. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. The writing was awful, most of the acting was forced and there were too many holes in the plot to keep track of. I know I'm supposed to like it but no one else in the audience seemed to like it either. After the movie, I heard at least three or four groups of people laughing about what a waste of time it was. Luckily we saw several other great films at the festival that made it worth while. The festival should have given this film a much later time slot so less people would have wasted their time. My girlfriend works in the industry and she wanted to leave 20 minutes into the movie. Sorry guys the movie doesn't work. Excuse any typos - I didn't want to waste anymore time on this movie than I already have.

"Girlfriend" wasn't fully all that I had expected it to be. That being said, don't get me wrong, because it is not a bad movie, far from it. "Girlfriend" is a beautifully told drama, I had just initially expected a little bit more from it. Though it was good entertainment.

The story in the movie is about Evan, who has Down Syndrome, living with his mom in a small town, where he helps her out at a diner. One day his mom doesn't wake up in the morning as she usually does, and Evan is left alone in a world, where he is coming to terms with life around him and being in love with Candy, a single mom who he went to high school with - but she is having issues with a former boyfriend, and he is violent.

"Girlfriend" is a beautifully told story about life and relationships that transcends beyond the usual shallow approach many of us actually have towards these matters, whether we acknowledge it or not. It tells the story of an innocent youth with a heartfelt crush on a woman. And it tells the story of not being "normal" in the terms of what we as a society has branded as "normal". It was a very moving story and it was nicely executed on the screen.

The cinematography was just brilliant. Lots of great camera work here, it was subtle, but still so beautiful, and there was some very emotional and symbolic images throughout the movie, that was really brought to life by the great visionary eye of the camera crew.

As for the acting, well then I think they had some nice people on the list, and newcomer to the movie industry, Evan Sneider (playing Evan) really did a great job. Thumbs up on that. His performance was very natural and believable, and it was charismatic and right on the money. But also the performance by Shannon Woodward (playing Candy) was quite good, having good chemistry with Evan on the screen. Cast as the violent ex-boyfriend Russ was Jackson Rathbone, and he was really well cast for that role, he was very charismatic and acted out that role to perfection. Playing Evan's mom, Celeste, was Amanda Plummer, who despite just having a supporting minor role in the movie, really left a great impact on the rest of the movie even after her character died.

If you like dramas that very well could have been taken straight out of our ordinary every day lives, then you definitely should check out "Girlfriend". It is a beautiful movie with a great story and a big heart. It is the type of movie that will stick with you for some time, because it was just that beautiful.

Evan Grey (Evan Sneider) has Down syndrome. He lives and works with his mom Celeste (Amanda Plummer). Their boss isn't happy with his work. He's in love with single mom Candy (Shannon Woodward). She struggles to get money from her violent possessive baby-daddy Russ (Jackson Rathbone). She's involved with Kenny which drives jealous Russ crazy. Celeste dies and relatives give Evan some money to buy food. Instead, he gives it to Candy and wants her to be his girlfriend.

This is not the normal uplifting Down syndrome movie. Evan Sneider does a great job. There are a lot of awkward motivations. It's very troubling to watch Evan being manipulated. Candy is pushed to make compromises. I applaud trying to make something complex with a mentally handicap character but this is an uncomfortable movie. Combining sexuality and the mentally handicap is a high risk proposition in a movie.

Please give me back the 90 minutes I wasted on this over-hyped hack job. I can't believe that this thing actually got made. The acting and accents were weak at best. I assume the twilight link was why it got picked for the festival, but we've all seen how well the twilight cast member's (Rob & Kristen) other films have done this year. A studio exec sitting next to me left after fifteen minutes. He looked over at me and rolled his eyes as if to say "give me a break." Unfortunately, now I have to write a review and send it to my editor before midnight California time. I've seen some great films this weekend but this wasn't one of them. Don't waste your time or money.