Un hiver à Central Park

unlike the comment i've just read through, i don't see this movie is trying to make Emilia (natalie Portman) as any kind of hero. Rather, I see how this movie portraits how contradictory life is, got married with someone who's changed over time and the sparks are not there anymore, seeing a man who you fall in love in first sight but he's married, grow up in a broken family angry with the irresponsible dad but turned out everyone forgive him for nothing, giving birth to a baby but it dies in 3 days, have to be step-mother dealing with a "son" that's not yours, all these make Emilia lost, she started pissing off people, from strangers to her husband, she did try fixing all those from time to time but either she did it the wrong way or it just so happened that things are too complicated to straighten out, life's just too complicated. at the end everyone around her cannot put up with her anymore, not even her husband...

and probably all she's done was due to that at the bottom the heart there was a knot, a thing that she couldn't let go couldn't forgive herself, until Carolyne told her no, u didn't do it, it wasn't your fault.

after then, she changed, but only to find that the world is not like the same, no matter what she does things done are irreversible, and no matter how u apologize or make your talk the ones who was once closest to u can simply turn their back to u giving u an answer "no, i cannot do it", and this is a very true portrait of life, and it touches me.

to me, i don't see any ethical problem or anythg like such in the movie, after all it's not uncommon to see more hysterical stuff happening around us in this world this story is just about life and how tiny and complicated it can be to every of us.

It is also known as 'Love and Other Impossible Pursuits', which is the name of the book the film was adapted. According to me this is a very underrated film. Especially Natalie Portman was never seen before. This film was beautiful because of her. Might have been the same if any other actress who had played that role, but the thing is the character Emilia makes this story great. I would have given any top award the available around the globe for that incredible character display. It should have been recognised, sadly that did not happen because of the filthy film critics.

Feels good watching it. This might not be a biographical film, but surely this is happening around us. The writing was so impressive. How the character Emilia was portrayed is the film's highlight. It was a simple character, that does not mean the life has to be simple as well. She falls in love with a married man and later she get married to him to become a step-mother to his child. That's where the problem arises when her baby dies in her arm, everybody points her for not being cautious with her step-son. This is a big task and how she comes out of it was revealed with lots of small twists and turns in the tale.

Not just Natalie, but all the supporting cast was brilliant, including the husband, the kid and the ex. The story of loss, marriage, taking care a child and other struggles in life. Initially it did not look good with those affairs, but when it got past the half way mark, the rest of the film rebalanced the entire film. I liked how it ended. That final scene was very good. Even if you are an atheist, that end dialogues makes the major difference to favour the film. I haven't read the book, but seems the film was better than the book. Being a film fanatic and failing to recommending it to you would be a mistake. So I recommend it to particularly the grown-ups.

8/10

"The Other Woman" or "Love and Other Impossible Pursuits" as it is called, is labeled as a comedy and drama? Comedy? Are you kidding me? The movie is pretty far from being funny. A drama, yes. But comedy? No way...

The story told in the movie is about Emilia having to come to terms with being the stepmother to William, a rather unique child. But at the same time she is struggling with the trauma of having lost her child, a rocky marriage to Jack and having to take the verbal beatings of his ex-wife Carolyne. The movie deals with a lot of good subjects, matters that are close to heart and real life. However, sadly enough, it never really fully delves into these matters, it is just superficially touched. And that is a terrible shame, because the movie had potential to become a very touchy and heartfelt movie. Instead it just came out as a superficial, shallow movie that wanted too much but delivered too little.

As for the cast in the movie, well they had some really good names on the list, lots of good actors and actresses. Natalie Portman portrays Emilia in a very good way, and you do buy into her performance, except for the crying scenes, they were just not sinking in, they didn't work at all. Lisa Kudrow did a good job as Carolyne (Jack's ex-wife), however, Kudrow is still stuck with the Phoebe Buffay image, so it was casting a big shadow over her, unfortunately. Charlie Tahan did a marvelous job in portraying the troubled boy William. And he was perhaps the most memorable of all in the movie.

This movie had potential to be great, but it failed to deliver, and that was a shame. When the movie was over, I was left with a thought saying "was that really it?". I was disappointed in how the movie dealt with the deep matters that were part of the storyline. And as such, I am only rating the movie a 4 out of 10. The superficial nature of the movie drags it way down, but the solid performances of the cast manages to make the movie bearable to sit through.

Sadly, this movie was not all it could have been...

is basically what this movie is about. And the film goes out of its way to make the two female character, played by Portman and Kudrow, seem very dislikable. Kudrow is the ex-wife and is just plain ugly at times with what she says and is a control freak. You don't feel sorry for her that her husband left her for a younger woman. Who would want to listen to her carry on at home. Portman, is the younger woman, Emilia, whom steels her boss, Jack, from Kudrow. She gets pregnant, so he decides to divorce and marry her. Their baby dies 3 days after being born. Then there is the stepson, William, whom seems to set Emilia off. She seems very annoyed by him and always does or say the wrong thing. Emilia also has problems with her father and brings that into her marriage. The way everyone is portrayed in the movie makes you wonder how they ever got married in the first place.

FINAL VERDICT: No one is likable in this. Not worth a viewing.

Don Roos's 'Happy Endings' and 'The Opposite of Sex' are among my favourite movies and his 'Web Therapy' is one of my favourite series. Thus, I was quite excited about 'Love and Other Impossible Pursuits' despite the negative reviews. Sadly this one does not match up even close to any of Roos's previous works. The major fault lies in the writing, especially the characterization. Portman's Emilia is a cardboard of a woman going through the loss of her child and is bitter towards everyone around her. Cohen's Jack is the typical husband who's holding it together and Kudrow's Carolyne is the clichéd bitchy ex-wife. Because of the lack of dimension in character, it's hard to judge the acting.

However, I'd say the actors did the best with what they're given. The best acting moment is the final sequence between Kudrow and Portman (that takes place in Carolyne's office). Here Kudrow, in a wonderfully subtle way, displays layers of emotions and Portman's reaction is good. The other actors don't get much scope except Charlie Tahan who is quite alright.

The movie has a polished look to it. The cinematography is good but the score is very intrusive and adds a feel of melodrama almost like a fluffy TV movie.

I haven't read the book and so I cannot tell what Roos took from the book. But he is a talented writer and filmmaker so hope his next venture come close to the aforementioned examples.