A Garota do Parque

This movie is one that I have watched many times, often with a cup of tea. I'd say this movie is for those who want to watch something full of suspense, drama and questions.

I could re-watch this constantly yet for some I can see that it can be considered to be too 'slow' for certain audiences.

The movie was well done by the various actors and actresses and its obvious that a lot of research was prepared before the final publication of the movie - such as the emotions to do with bereavement, not knowing the truth and not being able to let go of the past.

It's well worth a watch!

What a surprise. Collipol's comments were right on. I guess people either hated this or loved it. I think it's really about how much we all want love fulfilled, how we cope with catastrophic loss, how far we are willing to go to fill that empty space, and how far the people who love us are willing to support us. Weaver made a wonderful transition from happy mom to a cold, disconnected woman, and back and forth again. Any woman with a "favorite child" or a personal and crippling loss can empathize - but I am astounded by the story and the performances.

The young woman who suckers Weaver is off-putting at first, an instant irritant, but by the end of the movie you really want her to love her new "mom" and you really want Weaver to have the daughter she never got to grow up with. It doesn't matter anymore whether she is or she isn't for reals, they become what they both want. Several scenes touched me so deeply I was stunned. It would have been so easy to make this a thriller, or maudlin, or predictable, but the director did not. It was engaging, mysterious, warm, frightening, very sad, sweet, and very deeply moving. The end was perfect; subtle and let you absorb it all on your own. I thoroughly enjoyed every performance - they all were extremely well thought out, well executed, beautifully written and they all added together for a delicate and meaningful story. Do it again! Please.

It has few basic virtues. who does it special, against the low budget. first - it has a great story. who is more than a good one because each parent from public feels the posible if in its bitter nuances. second - it is a film of doubts. not the last - it has the chance of admirable actors, Sigourney Weaver giving a moving portrait . and not only she. it is a drama and, at first sigh, all could be familiar. but it is one of film proposing all the angles for discover the intensity of story. and that, maybe, does it real special.

Another movie which owes a lot to Sigourney Weaver's talent.She excels in portraying mothers with a strong guilty feeling (see "a map of the world" ).She is sadly unsupported by the rest of the cast ,but one must write that their caricatured bourgeois straight characters (particularly the daughter-in-law and Weaver's listless husband) throw the movie off balance.

All that concerns the mother ,desperately trying to recreate a dear one gone for a long time (when she was a little girl) ,is sometimes interesting.It does not renew the subject ,as old as the hills (Hitchcock's "Vertigo"(1958) ;Feyder's "Le Grand Jeu"(1934);Claude Miller's "Mortelle Randonnée" (1983) Losey's " secret Ceremony" (1968):Losey's movie depicting a "mother"/"daughter" relationship is similar to "the girl..." if we reverse the roles).

Best moment:Weaver thanking her family for welcoming "Maggie" .

While Girl in the Park is never great, it manages to be a solid drama about the loss of a young child and its effect on a mother (Sigourney Weaver).

Everything here is well crafted but a little bland and formulaic. We meet tons of characters who have the seeds to provide good drama but many of them (The ex husband, the son, the romantic interest at the office, the daughter in law and her pregnancy) are left with unfinished business by the end of the movie, feeling like little more than plot points. As for Louise, for all the flashiness she offers, she brings very little to the table in the end.

In the end, you will feel you have spent a nice evening. The cast does a nice job. Sigourney Weaver gives some soul to her performance and Kate Bosworth is very well cast and provides some sparks and a nice contrast to Weaver.

It's a good movie, but not a great one. Some more development, some twists and turns in the second half of the movie would have considerably improved the movie. Instead, we're left with a cheap Hollywood ending, the catalyst of which is too dumb to even write down here.

Worth watching as a rental if you like dramas.