Vivendo No Limite

Don't get me wrong, this movie isn't horrible, it's just not excellent the way it should be. The film starts out really great, Milla is a laugh out loud funny con artist from the Ukraine who is just trying to make ends meet with her son in America, then it turns into a more dramatic film where a woman is trying to get her son back, to me it seems like both of these plots are great but together in the same film it didn't work for me, I think as individual film they would be excellent.

The saving grace is Milla Jovovich, she is terrific in absolutely everything, and she is just exceptional in this, she is funny, lovable and for most of the film you are rooting for her, I hope she continues to do funnier roles such as these as she really suits them.

Also the kid in the movie is definitely worth mentioning, child actors are really impressive these days. The opening song sung by Milla is one of the best parts of the film, so basically no highs or lows, just very one dimensional. A tad disappointing. :(

Was quite astonished to see the low score for this here on IMDb. That's not deserved. I found the film refreshing and fun, if you're able to appreciate a film that doesn't take itself to serious.

I loved the light tone and the vibrant colorful style of the movie. It looks like Moonrise Kingdom, and I found it better. The colorful filters make this eye candy. Some scenes are like a painting.

Milla Jovovich is a easy-go-lucky mother Olive, mostly on the wrong side of the law. The adores her 11 year old son Bobby (Spencer List) but eventually her past catches up with her. Young Spencer List is impressive and charming in his role.

The film, directed by Famke Janssen, has a fairy tale touch, and even th sad parts has a light touch. Ordinarily I'm not too fond of this style, but I found this refreshing and entertaining. It's different, and it's also unpredictable, which is a good thing when you've seen a lot of movies.

I really feel the bashing of this tiny story, which is about the love between a mother and her son, is not fair. It's without real sadness, and unnecessary violence, and all Niall hopeful and quite believable. It's such a relief to watch a movie where you don't have to fear bad things happening. A feel-good gem!

I saw Famke Janssen on a panel with Nicole Kidman at the Nashville Film Festival. Mrs. Janssen was well spoken and impressive so I thought I would see her film. It's very strange but wonderful. The idea of it is great; a Ukrainian woman who grew up on American movies and hustles her way through Oklahoma, using those movies as the basis for her understanding of the American dream. American cinema clearly shapes foreigner's view of who we are, which was an interesting theme to see the director explore. Throughout Bringing Up Bobby, Mila Jovivich uses quotes from some of the greatest movies of all time time, movies that clearly shaped her opinion about America. I caught some references (I think) from Gone With the Wind, China Town and Bonnie and Clyde. I am sure there are others in there as well that I missed. But for movie buffs, that was a fun aspect of the film.

The reality is that Bringing Up Bobby is almost two separate movies. The first half of the film feels like a slapstick, easy going and over the top homage to the 1930s, while the second half feels like a 1970's film. The second half is very gritty and more realistic. One can argue with the outcome of such an effort, but the ambition is certainly there for this 1st time director. It's always nice to see an independent film take risks and think outside the box. Bobby tried to do that and sometimes it succeeds and sometimes it falls short. Where it falls short is really on the acting. I agree with some of the other comments about Mrs. Jovovich's performance, as it is a little uneven and I felt like in the first part of the film especially, you could see the acting. She did a much better job during the second part of the film when she had to be emotional and the action required a visceral reaction from her.

The music in this film is really fantastic, book marked on the one end by Ukrainian/Russian folk songs and on the other with real Americana music.

The movie doesn't completely succeed but I applaud the effort and look forward to seeing what Mrs. Janssen does next.

"I just don't want Bobby to end up like me and you." Olive (Jovovich) is a single mother/con-artist who is trying her best to raise her son Bobby as best as she can. Bobby starts to act up in class but Olive doesn't see anything wrong with what Bobby does. When a freak accident causes Kent (Pullman) to come into their lives Bobby has a chance at a better life, but Olive has a choice to make. This is not a bad movie at all but it is another movie that has a lot of heart but really nothing else. It's not a total nothing movie because there is a plot but it has the feel of a movie that is just made in order to spend money. I'm not saying that this is a bad movie because I did enjoy it and it was a decent watch, but don't expect anything that will make you think. There really is nothing else to say about this other then that. Overall, a decent watch but nothing amazing. I give it a B-.

Synopsis looked promising. But fell terribly flat of all expectations. We only watched it to the end hoping for something redeeming. Listed as a comedy, but not one thing comically amusing. It had the potential to be a realistic touching and poignant movie of a failing mother having to make a choice between staying with her son, or letting foster parents raise him. But her failings are so over the top as to be unbelievable. This can be acceptable if it was farcically funny... but it is not... just painful in the way that she raises her son in a way that he can do no wrong even though that is all he does is wrong. The mother's accent is so fake that I thought it was part of her shtick. The actress, though born in Kiev does not have an accent in interviews, so had to create this one, but it just does not ring true. This is about as low as I'd rate any movie that I watched all the way through.