The Other Half

Do you know what? I think this had the makings of a really good film according to the synopsis on this site...

Actors seem good. Good camera work, nicely lit, suitably moody soundtrack...

But...

Try and hear a damn word that anybody in this film has to say... Go ahead... try it...

I even tried lip reading...

Of late, this is not an uncommon thing in films out of both North America and Canada... Mumble, mumble, mumble...

What is it? Are your scripts such rubbish that you're ashamed to let the audience hear the dialogue?

How about you do everybody a favour... If the reality is that you actually have nothing to say that you want anybody to hear then for god sake don't waste peoples time with any film.

I for one have better things to do with my life.

VERY ANNOYED.

Face it. Not everything is pretty pictures. This is a difficult story - but one that deserves watching. The feel is gritty. The story is told in it's own time. You won't find a Hollywood tale here. The portrayal of life outside of the frames of the pretty happy, works of Emily is engrossing. Don't look for something simple here.

Would have gotten much more out of this dialogue driven film if the dialogue was more clearly enunciated; with higher clearer volume levels (I had to double my usual volume level just to capture some of the words.) Of course the producers failed to pay the small additional amount for subtitles, nor any Special Features to allow the viewer to explore the film's origins or importance to it's participants. Cheap!

Tatiana Maslany's character's mental condition could have been explored more intelligently as well as shown cinematically more clearly. It should have been the focus of the story rather than the other, other half - Tom Cullen's character which turned out to be just as obscure. The film jumps about giving us brief shadowy bits of each person's life to assemble on our own which if lucky sort of works, otherwise good luck. True to her self, Tatiana's acting is the most redeeming part.

Casting was *excellent*. Subject matter *very* interesting.

Script, dialogue & directing - only so-so, maybe even worse: post-production dubbing in dialogue when actors' mouths not even moving? - Just plain cheap & bizarre.

Storyline - WAY too deficient.

See it for the acting, nothing more.

I Found things in this movie that I have experienced myself. I actually found it rather captivating. Unfortunately for some reviewers Arnold Schwarzenegger didn't pop in for a cameo with a sub machine gun and kill the hostiles, but hey! Movies don't please everyone.

I don't think this was meant to be a box office hit, but anyone that has been involved in a remotely similar situation, whether or not it is extended family, immediates or close friends can understand the meaning behind it. It is not trying to sell 15 million tickets on the first night of release, it is film, and it is trying to explain a situation, an issue in society.