JulMel

As a woman of 'a certain age' I speak from experience. The sentimentality seemed to me to be excessive. I found the story to be plausible, and the cast superb; it was in the execution that Paul Cox revealed an idealistic approach to men and women in love (at any age). I swear I aged an entire year during this 90-minute experience. I found myself taking deep breaths, wanting to say "Move it along, Paul, give up the ponderosity, let's see the amazing vitality that a love affair injects into formerly perfunctory lives. (That, unfortunately, happened in only one scene ... at the home of friends.) The flashbacks to the young lovers seemed repetitious because there was no progression, no development of the characters Again, I wanted to say, "We get it, Paul, we get it, they were in love--and no different from any couple in love." The ending could have been so much more interesting if Mr. Cox had not, indeed, taken the easy way out. However, I salute the effort to depict us oldsters as something other than grumpy grannies/gramps or eccentric fools.

I enjoyed the humorous aspects, found the characters steeped in pathos; the limited vocabulary ("Man" this and "Man" that), esp. the repetitive four-letter word(s) detracts from what little drama was attained. The depiction of those sweet children as potential manipulators like their father depressed me. I'm a Granny, I care about how children are "trained" and I was not amused by Mark's immature nurturing skills.

Whatever this film needed in the way of atmosphere, drama, intrigue, suspense failed to materialize overall. I found the dance sequence, supposedly a gradual transition from sophisticated interaction to grand passion truly laughable. And the actual "love-making" was embarrassingly unemotional, un-sexy. The scene in Rio with Rene lying on top of Pierce looked like a frame from a PBS special on weird mating rituals. A long shot might have worked....but the close-up made her look like some kind of giant blown-up figure. I think I'll find the original if it's available and enjoy it on my VCR.