artie-8

The Family Man has an appealing cast and entertaining scenes and situations. Falls well short of its potential because of important empty spaces in the story line....

The film opens at the airport ; we witness a man and a woman deeply in love , tearily saying goodby.He is about to depart for London. He will be gone for a year and return to her!!!

WHOOSH it is suddenly 13 years later. Never sees her again during that interval. He does return to the States and become very successful. A BIG EMPTY SPACE. Why did they not pick up their lives where they left off? No mention or explanation!!!!!

Both characters are attractive and personable. Yet neither marries anyone else. .No nmention or explanation. BIG EMPTY SPACE.

Unfortunately,the originally promising story turns to contrivance and loses any ring of truth .

The ending should have been a BIG EMPTY SPACE!!! Instead , we get a cutesy teaser!! . In the real world , the shabby manner in which he abandoned her would have merited a juicy spit in the eye.

Yet, when they meet , for the first time, 13 years later, , the reunion is unrealistically casual.

Finally, instead of an imaginative ending where, she can treat him as he richly deserves, the writers resort to a banal and insipid treatment. Had these mistakes been avoided , The Family Man may have merited consideration as best picture of the year.

You either love "The Green Mile" or find it a great disappointment. There seems little middle ground . Altho the acting was high quality, the story line does not really provide an opportunity for any character to demonstrate unforgettable mastery of a memorable role.The critics generally favor Duncan for the acting "tour de force". I cannot because I was unable to understand more than a few words he uttered. (my own hearing disability) There is more widespread agreement that this picture is too long by at least an hour. Vigorously agree. My major criticism of this movie is that it could not make up its mind whether it wanted to be realistic or surrealistic. Logic, humanity,gratitude and compassion demanded that John Coffey's execution be postponed pending re-examination of his purported guilt. It completely destroys credulity when the Warden stands by to witness Coffey'execution(Coffey merely saved his wife's life) and Eberton(Hanks) actually conducts the horrible miscarriage of justice.

There aren't many films these days that bring a tear to the eye for legitimate emotional reasons. "This is my Father",happily, is one of them that should! Beautifully acted, imaginatively directed, this movie will undoubtedly have a short run. It doesn't meet today's standards of gore, brutality or computer generated non-realities. But if you want to see a movie that will tug at your heart and sensitivities,hurry down and see this heartbreaking ,yet heartwarming, story of requited ,yet unfulfilled, love.My test for a movie is very simple and timeworn. If I am sorry to see the credits roll, I know I've seen a fine movie.Man,was I sad to see those credits roll on bye.