Love Stories

Written by, directed by, but not starring.... emma forrest. Looks like her first directing gig. The story centers on two sisters, andrea and tara, played by lola and jemima kirke. And the web of men who come in and out of their lives. All the characters have their own baggage. Pent up anger, and it comes out now and then at who-ever is nearby. Lots of talking about feelings, passes made but not completed. To cheat or not to cheat. The trivia section implies that some of this may have been taken from forrest's personal life. Her husband at the time, mendelsohn, plays martin. Co-stars billy crystal, jamie dornan. They play kiss them for me by siouxsie & the banshees for about 3 seconds near the beginning... clearly for effect. Great tune! Thankfully, they play more of it later on. That, shiny happy people, and primal's come together were all released in 1991. It's mostly good... script kind of goes all over. How they treat their pets is symbolic of how they treat other people in their lives. A lot of time spent on that. Shots of the hollywood sign. Some confusion when nick goes to a twelve step program. He claims to be a writer slash doctor, but we don't hear him say he's an alcoholic. Or a user. Or what kind of meeting it is.

Untogether's ensemble cast is peppered with familiar names (a testimony to the high regard in which the writer/director is held), although the best performance is given by Jemima Kirke, who nails the simmering resentment of a past-her-prime elite author while nursing her inner pain and searching for the revelation that will turn everything around. (It comes by way of a too-obvious visual metaphor.) Lola Kirke is less emotive and affecting as Tara; the character is bland and the performance doesn't inject much energy. As Andrea's love interest, Jamie Dornan may be trying to distance himself from Fifty Shades of Grey but I have to admit he was more arresting as that series' steel-eyed stalker. Meanwhile, Ben Mendelsohn expresses the soulful weariness of someone who can't quite let go of the past. In a secondary role, Billy Crystal gives his best performance in a long time as the rabbi whose activist past captures Tara's attention. Jennifer Grey and Alice Eve are on hand for name recognition; they don't have real roles.

Ok pretty much sums it up. slow in many parts. ok acting. the story just didnt intrigue me

5

I was at a screening in Tribeca and barely made it through this incredibly boring movie. If you thought Jamie Dornan was a terrible actor after 50 shades wait till you see the homeless version of Christian Grey (That beard.....god!) in this movie having a "Friends with Benefits" relationship with the disgustingly sloppy Jemima Kirke. The two have as much chemistry as Bin Laden and George W did and there is nothing original about this story or its predictable conclusion. It's clear this director must have had a "Friends with Benefits" relationship with someone to have gotten this made. Billy Crystal was it's only saving grace and everytime he appeared it was like being given a glass of ice water in hell!

I sat through this film with an open mind, despite seeing some of the one star reviews trashing it as the worst film ever; It's true that it's not the best film in the world, but it's certainly not the worst.

I came out of it feeling that it did a pretty good job of telling the story of several purposefully flawed characters and the relationships between them. Characters that are human, that have errors in judgement and make mistakes, that lie, and that use each other for their own gain, while ultimately being people that are seeking redemption for their indiscretions and insecurities.

My main issue with the film was that it didn't explore the characters to their full potential. We get glimpses of their back stories, glimpses of why they're in the positions they're in, and glimpses of their real-world flaws; but there are so many characters and stories that there's not enough time to explore it all. The first half of the film plods along with too much filler that doesn't add much value to the story or characters, while the second half is much improved but leaves little time to patch up the holes.

It would have been nice to flesh out the characters. Particularly Nick (Jamie Dornan) and David (Billy Crystal, who feels especially underused), and there's not much to explain why Tara (Lola Kirke) is in the crisis she is. Similarly we learn from early in the film that lead character Andrea (Jemima Kirke) is recovering from addiction and suffering from writers block, but like her on-screen and real-life sister, we never really find out what happened at that time, or how she got to where she is.

Ultimately, it's a fairly decent film that's as flawed as its characters. With a little more flesh on the bones of the story and characters, this could have been great drama. Unfortunately, everything feels underdeveloped and rushed.

Worth a watch if you like slower-paced character driven pieces, but don't expect it to be perfect.