Days and Nights

"Days and Nights" (2013 release; 91 min.) brings the story of an extended family's happenings over one weekend. As the movie opens, we see a couple meeting up at Grand Central in New York, to take the train out to the family's countryside compound. Along the way we learn that we are into the 1984 Memorial Day weekend. Upon arriving at the countryside, we get to know more members of the extended family and friends. To tell you more would spoil your viewing experience, you'll just have to see it for yourself how it all plays out.

Couple of comments: this is the directing debut of actor Christian Camargo, who also wrote the script (loosely based on/inspired by The Seagull by Anton Chekhov), and stars as Peter, the boyfriend of Elizabeth (the couple we see at Grand Central). The voice-over at the beginning of the movie mentions something about "days and nights in the grip of a memory", and I thought, hmmm, this might be interesting. Alas, I couldn't have been further from the truth. As the various scenes unfold, you start to get that uneasy feeling that what you are watching makes little sense, and whatever sense it does make, doesn't matter as you cannot make an emotional connection to any of these characters. This is very much an ensemble cast, actually an ensemble all-star cast. What a huge waste of talent! Here is William Hurt, in the role of Elizabeth's older brother Herb, and frankly Hurt is just creepy in this performance. There is English actress Juliet Rylance as Eva (Mrs. Camargo in real life). And biggest waste of all, we have Allison Janney (as Elizabeth), who looks clueless as to what she needs to do, desperately waiting for some direction. There is a scene pretty early on, where Eva and Elizabeth's son Eric (played by Ben Whishaw) put on an after-dinner multi-media live performance of some sort that is as wacky as it is mystifying. I knew from that moment on that this movie was in serious trouble. I lasted until over just an hour, and simply had had enough. An hour of my life I'll never get back.

I picked up this movie while browsing at my local library for something good to watch. I see a lot of movies, and when I saw this, and saw all the acting talent assembled on the DVD's front jacket, I thought to myself "This is interesting. How come I've not heard of this movie before?". Well, now I know. I cannot recommend this movie in good consciousness to anyone, sorry.

The film is an updated inspired version Anton Chekhov's play, The Seagull. In this version, the seagull is replaced by an American bald eagle, Allison Janney played Elizabeth who reunited with her family in New England. Elizabeth's boyfriend, Peter, accompanied her for Memorial Day weekend in 1984. The all star cast makes it easy to watch. William Hurt played her sick brother. Katie Holmes and Sir Mark Rylance play a married couple with a child. Cherry Jones played Mary. I guess they're siblings but we can't be for sure. Juliet Rylance played Eva. Christian Carmargo played Peter but he also wrote, directed and produced the film. If only his real life mother, Victoria Wyndham, made cameo then I would have added a few more stars. Ben Wishaw played her son. The film is quite flawed but not too terrible though.

This film tells the story of a group of extended family members getting together for a reunion dinner. Things don't go as well as planned, and relationships fall apart as a result.

I honestly don't know what "Days And Nights" is about. There seems to be no real plot. Characters are poorly introduced, and I don't know how they are connected with each other. The first scene is about the dinner, every person talks for a few minutes about what they want but no one is really caring about what is being said. People strangely leave the room one by one. Then in the projector scene is almost the same, as people leave one by one and not connecting - but the whole scene is just bizarre. Thirty minutes into the film, an actress announces that "it doesn't make sense", oh yes the whole film doesn't make sense, you got that right. I watched the film until the end, but it deteriorates increasingly. No one connects with another, and viewers don't care about any of the characters either. It's a family dysfunctional relationship film gone horribly wrong.

I can't actually recall an experience like that before. I had an ache where one thinks his heart is and isn't from the opening scene. It was brilliant as to how many stories where being told...not just the obvious, but the undercurrent of painful love amongst everyone. The writing was magnificent, but the changes were brilliant...the Eagle...amazing metaphors. I was absolutely stunned by the actors and their brilliance and reality, especially Katie Holmes with her quiet desperate life and then realization when she may lose it. The painful and complicated love between every character was almost overwhelming but balanced by the humor, which is often the case in real life. The stunning set and beautiful cinematography startles one from the outset with the lake shot, and The Visconti like use of lighting and color was something I have NOT experienced since...well Visconti. The moving camera from window to window initially sets up the vignettes that the entire film revolves around and tells the story. So complicated in subject, so real in presentation. I could spend hours talking about this film and far more than writing about it. What an achievement....what a piece of art....what an accomplishment...the first real FILM I have seen in many many years. Most importantly it will impact and change peoples lives. It did mine.

I'm 30 minutes into this movie and haven't a clue what it's about or what's going on. The dinner scene left me feeling out of touch with the entire cast and story. This movie seems to be a failed attempt at something "artistic" which, it....is....not. It makes no sense, has no story line and is boooooooring. What a waste of my time. I can't believe some of these big name actors would even cast themselves in something this bad. Rotten Apples abound.

A lot of gibberish that makes no sense, a lot of emotions that make no sense and actions that make no sense. People trudging through the woods to watch some crappy so called "movie" on a bed sheet and the young guy is talking in a microphone whilst some unknown female is on a bed doing .... I don't know what shes doing.