Hateship Loveship

This is a very well-done, gentle romantic movie, with excellent acting, especially from Kristen Wiig. Family members and I had not heard of Ms. Wiig before seeing this movie recently on a movie channel. We understand now that she is mainly a comedic actor, so it was good to see this movie without knowing that in advance.

This movie seems geared more toward an audience from the South or Midwest. Members of my family have hired young female caregivers like Johanna Parry (Ms. Wiig's character, who is the movie's main character) to take care of our parents before their death. So we can probably better relate to Ms. Parry than many folks who might consider her a little odd.

This movie does something that Hollywood rarely does: it shines a light (and a sympathetic one at that) on working-class American white people. We know of working-class white women like Ms. Parry, who are not "ambitious" (in the traditional sense of the word), and thus seem content not having many impressive possessions, work titles, social status, etc. So to us, the movie is quite realistic in this sense.

Our only criticisms of the movie: the ending seems a bit rushed (is there a director's cut?); and, knowing some working-class men with drug problems, we felt that actor Guy Pearce was too handsome, polished, well-built, and well-spoken to play Ken, the movie's principal male character. Actors like Edward Norton would have been more believable in the role.

But, on the whole, we highly recommend this movie, and hope it draws a large viewer-ship via cable TV.

The storyline of 'Hateship Loveship' does not feel particularly revelatory or original on the surface but by the time the credits roll it proves itself to be something of great worth.

Kristen Wiig plays Johanna, a carer starting a new job looking after Nick Nolte and his rebellious granddaughter Sabitha. Wiig is devastating to watch. Her character has lead a sheltered life and looks on the verge of tears a lot of the time. She is very gentle and tentative, and able to express a multitude of emotions just from a tilt of the head or twitch of the mouth.

Her casting in this film could have fallen quite easily into the 'comedy actress trying to be serious in a movie' camp, but it rises above that in favour of something far more truthful.

Johanna's introversion is challenged when after falling victim to a prank she is paired together with Sabitha's recovering addict father Ken played by Guy Pearce. The combination of her complete innocence with his world weary, compulsive behaviour make for some fantastic moments of mundane realism, and bittersweet comedy.

The film contains themes of love across three generations, loss, and family responsibility, and although they are all sentimental ideas due to the high quality of acting and direction involved it never becomes mawkish about it. Uplifting without being preachy. I never felt like I was being told what to feel, but just being allowed to witness a set of very relatable, charming characters negotiating the situations they find themselves in.

Days later Kristen Wiig's performance is still lingering in my mind.

It is difficult to believe that a character played by Kristen Wiig actually existed. I suppose it could happen. This makes the story worth watching if for no other reason other than to find out how it turns out. The acting is good

This film tells the story of a lonely woman who works as a live in carer for elderly people. She falls in love with a man after a cruel trick player on her.

"Hateship Loveship" borders on being a romantic comedy, but it's more bitter than sweet. Johanna is a caring and loving woman, and yet she is at the receiving end of a very cruel joke. She gets much of my sympathy, even though she hangs on to the man despite the man's numerous shortcomings. The way she is treated by the man is truly despicable and shocking, yet she hangs on for the wrong reason. It's quite a tragedy that makes me heart heavy. I think Johanna's robotic appearance is due to her working as a carer since teenage, and as she says, it's the only world she knows. She doesn't know what love and affection is, which makes me even more angry at the way she got exploited.

It's a sad romantic film, which is not a usual combination. I enjoyed watching it.

I was able to view to this movie via PPV before it hits theaters. I had no prior knowledge of the movie, and honestly pretty low expectations based on the description given, but I thought wth, I'll give it a try. I am SO glad I did. This movie was an unexpected beauty. I loved seeing both Kristen Wiig and Guy Pearce in very different roles than they typically play. This film is understated, it's slow going yet the pace feels perfect. There may not be any HUGE moments, but there are a couple "really good" ones. This film starts out with an almost sad feeling, but totally goes in an unexpected direction, and is so much more than it's description. It offers amazing yet gentle insight into various relationships, real-life scenarios, and excellent acting. I loved Nick Nolte in this. All around, this film left a good feeling inside my heart. It's about embracing imperfection, loving people for who they are, yet showing them how much more than can be if someone believes in them. At least, that's what I took away from it. So much more than I expected, love it! I am quite picky about movies, especially slower-moving independent films..but this- I loved. Well worth the money and time. 9/10