vixenviewer

Some of the dialogue was brilliant, the acting was quite good, but I was not enthralled with this movie.

I did like the portrayal of the two friends, but, like another reviewer, wondered why neither of them seemed to have any family.

It was also somewhat odd that the lead character maintained a relationship with one other character who was pretty immature and jealous of everyone else.

Some events stretched credulity, such as the lead character getting a full professorship in her 20's. Another was a scene in which the poor doctor, trying to conduct an exam with the lead character after her traumatic event, is interrupted and insulted by the best friend. The doctor was portrayed as awkward, but seemed to be doing the best he could in a painful situation.

Sorry, indeed.

The acting was excellent, and held my interest. However, the plot is thin and strains credulity at times. For example, the father, who is a parson, is supposed to be in decline cognitively, so needs a family member to be with him at home at all times. However, he seems to be really quite sharp-witted, and not really in need of care. He could easily make do with a housekeeper, not a full-time caretaker.

And there's a rather far-fetched story about one of the daughters, which I won't reveal here, but it just doesn't seem plausible that on one Christmas Eve, the whole story is revealed, when it's been successfully kept secret for 5+ years.

So I reluctantly give it only a few stars. I wish it could be redone, with a more fleshed-out story.

I thought this was an excellent movie, though it was too sad to describe it as "enjoyable". In my opinion, the struggle within each character to do what is right in contrast to do what would meet his/her emotional needs was well depicted. This was one of the saddest movies I've seen in a long while, and I think it was because it was a microcosm of real life, in which so much seems to go awry. Life is complicated, and this film exemplified that.