Raymond & Ray

RAYMOND & RAY was actually pretty great, I didn't expect to laugh this much in a movie about grief, Ewan McGregor & Ethan Hawke are so endearing and they really fit as this odd couple of half-brothers. It's a darkly funny look at the process of losing a close one.

They have a down to earth approach that makes this dark comedy relatable, it has a morbid sense of humor at times and they have to dig up a few skeletons in the closet that adds to the family drama. Great actors, good laughs in a pretty grim premise but I ended up enjoying it a lot.

If I can add something I thought the music in the movie was also really good, a jazzy/blues score that also fits in the narrative of the movie with Ethan Hawke's character having a musical background they did a good job incorporating that to the story.

Maybe not for everyone but if you can take some dark humour this could be some good entertainment for you!

7.5/10.

"Raymond" (Ewan McGregor) arrives at the home of his step-brother "Ray" (Ethan Hawke) to declare that their rather brutish father has died. The former feels duty bound to go to the funeral - if only to see the man is dead - and after a bit of prevaricating, manages to convince his brother to attend too. Upon arrival, they discover that they are to inherit his (very) modest fortune, but the condition is that they must dig his grave, put his coffin into it, then cover it up afterwards. Despite generally despising this man, they go along with it and as the time for the interment approaches they discover that their late dad had quite a skill for making sons. The youngest being fathered with the younger "Lucia" (Maribel Verdú) with whom he ended up living at his demise and another set of rather acrobatic twins show up too. When it is just the two men on screen, there is a degree of intimacy and chemistry that works well - we get a sense of not just how nasty their father was, but of just how impactful his behaviour had been on his children - and on their own less than successful marital relationships. When the cast broadens out more though, the story loses that potency and we end up with a rather muddled series of character studies all centring around the behaviour of a man who isn't actually here for us to evaluate ourselves. There are some lovely jazz numbers - "Ray" bring skilful with the trumpet, and the production is stylish but somehow the whole thing is just a bit lacklustre.

I expected more from this movie to be honest. Ewan McGregor and Ethan Hawke are both two good actors so I expected something good. It's not a bad movie though, the acting is worth watching, but the story is just a bit bland, not much going on or at least not enough to keep you interested, just a bit too boring at times. When I see it was categorized as a comedy that's me expecting having good laughs but that was rarely the case. Maybe I wasn't in the good mindset to watch Raymond and Ray, but I think it's just not my genre of movies that I like, it's much too slow, luckily Ewan and Ethan saved it a bit.

This is a slow moving meditation on grief, family dysfunction and letting go of the past. Both Ewan McGregor and Ethan Hawke give heartfelt and believable performances as two estranged brothers. You have to be in the mood to watch this slice-of-life film as it does plod along. We saw the movie trailer and knew this was one of those offbeat films that probably won't attract a lot of viewers. The supporting cast is decent. Sometimes a storyline is interesting enough that you are willing to immerse yourself in that world for 2 hours. At its best, you can learn from whatever life challenges the characters are experiencing. Then when the credits roll, you are glad you put in the time to explore that world.

Ok, I almost hit eight stars, but then I decided for seven -which is more realistic, I guess. But how come I considered eight stars first? I mean, movies we can see lately... yes, it has been a while since a saw a good movie and so, no wonder I became a little over excited.

Raymond & Ray is not some epic drama. What makes this movie to stand out, is simple story which doesn't become boring not even for a second. I wouldn't categorize this movie as a comedy, even there are some "weird" situations -to put it mildly.

I'm quite a fan of both main actors, E. Hawk and E. McGregor, and they both deliver classy performance here. The rest of the cast was good too, however they don't stand out that much in this story. But even then, it's impossible not to notice Vondie Curtis-Hall's presence (in role of Reverend West).

Let's say it's just a simple "real life" story.. there's something to think about and there's something to laugh about. I really enjoyed watching it -and that's the whole point of a good movie.