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This film has redeemed Mr. Daniels in my eyes. He has created a great story that is well executed. Almost all the pieces fall together. As a Sundance festival-goer I overheard said, "It's an awesome film, but not perfect"

The good: 1. Story! Wow. This is filmaking with heart 2. The filmmaker figured out how to use violence and sex as part of the story and make it work in a way that is consistent with the film (unlike his last effort, shadowboxer) 3. Performances. Holy cow, who knew Mariah and Monique could ACT! Also the star, Gabby, an unknown actor found in Harlem, is PERFECT. Someone in the audience asked Monique what she was going to wear to the Oscars, this was not unwarranted.

The bad: 1. The teacher, played by Paula Patton is atrocious and almost ruins the film. She is just too excited and not believable. Bad casting and terrible acting. I'm sure lee did the best he could with her. 2. Quirky fantasy world sequences feel out of place at times. I actually like most of them and think they work in concept, its just they aren't used consistently throughout the film. I think this can still be fixed with some editing.

Well if the only goal was to make old ladies in the audience cry then mission succeeded.

This film is simply not that good. It isn't entertaining to watch, the characters don't make us want to now more about them. There is little to no tension as the story develops.

Also S. Sarandon is terrible. Its like she just showed up on set, read her lines from a card and left. Its a shame because Brosnan is quite good. Although even if she had done a good job I'm not sure the film could be saved.

The cinematography is fine, but not amazing. The new jersey shots look different that the new york shots, almost like they are different movies. Other than that the film looks OK.

I wouldn't waste my time on this one.

Not sure why this film isn't rated higher. Its really good. The other review does a good job explaining why its good. (an amazing achievement, part documentary, part drama, great acting, great story, great cinematography) I will add, it is not pro-hezbollah, its not pro-Israel, its anti-war. However it is told from the perspective of a Lebanese woman, so if you are really pro-Israel and pro-war and pro-killing people, you will probably not like it.

Really depressing. So if you want feel-good and redemption, don't go see it.

It has a great love story too. Its complicated and not trite at all.

This is a unique touching film