Kattiera Nana I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Tobias Burrows It's easily one of the freshest, sharpest and most enjoyable films of this year.

Marva-nova Amazing worth wacthing. So good. Biased but well made with many good points.

Josephina Great story, amazing characters, superb action, enthralling cinematography. Yes, this is something I am glad I spent money on.

HotToastyRag Empire Falls is a depressing town in which every resident has problems, and all but one of those problems are self-inflicted. The one exception is Joanne Woodward's crippled daughter who was run over by a car when she was a toddler. It's hard to feel sorry for anyone else in the town. Ed Harris manages a restaurant but can't get his head above water because wealthy Woodward owns everything and to cross her means ruination. So don't cross her! He can't express his feelings for his soon-to-be-ex-wife Helen Hunt, so she's going to marry someone else. Just figure your feelings out, and either fight for her or let her go—it's not that difficult! Helen Hunt is upset because her fiancé is significantly older than her, but he loves her and is great in the sack-a-roo. Get your priorities straight, Helen! Robin Wright Penn is a single mom drawn to mysterious, wealthy Philip Seymour Hoffman. Just say no and focus on your kid! Hoffman is miserable in his environment—so leave! Paul Newman is the town joke/drunk/mooch, but he wants to feel the excitement of being a young man again. Clean up your act! Alright, my frustrations have been aired out, but I don't think I've successfully steered you away from Empire Falls. It's incredibly depressing, and not in a good way. It was based off of Richard Russo's Pulitzer Prize winning novel, so I kept waiting for the redeeming factor to enter the story. The three and a half hour HBO TV movie is split into eight chapters, and in the seventh chapter, something really bad happens. You know I never give spoilers, but the thing that happens is really upsetting and unnecessary. It's random and doesn't tie in to any part of the story, serving only to shock and upset audiences (and readers) and to gain Russo the Pulitzer Prize. It's terribly obvious that's why he wrote it, a reason that's not noble and, frankly, almost angers me.There's only one good part of the entire movie: In a flashback to a young Paul Newman, Josh Lucas was cast. I've always thought Lucas and Newman looked alike, so I was very happy that Hollywood agreed with me, even only for a few minutes of a flashback. The story constantly flashes back to Ed Harris's childhood memories, and for most of the time, it's boring and not very interesting.I can't stress enough how terrible Empire Falls is. Please, please don't watch it. It's so incredibly upsetting, and for absolutely no purpose, that when it was over, I had to watch an animal documentary to comfort my mind before going to bed, for fear of nightmares. The story isn't deep or symbolic. There's no "greater good" that will make you feel better.I never give spoilers in my review, but if you're still considering watching Empire Falls, I urge you to read a spoiler. Then, if after reading it, you're still considering watching it, get your head examined.Kiddy Warning: Obviously, you have control over your own children. However, due to some extremely upsetting content, I wouldn't let my kids watch it.

Zen-2-Zen One question kept coming up while watching this. Why on Earth pay for so capable actors and then waste them on clumsy adaptation and catastrophic direction. We are talking Paul Newman, Robin Wright and Helen Hunt in one place, which will never happen again, and even Ed Harris is too good for this production.There is a reason why writers who don't write cinematic novels are normally nor allowed to write adaptations of their own work - they are in love with their own writing and turn a movie into an audio book.That's exactly what happened here. Long, unwieldy scenes with a narrator essentially reading the book and footage serving as a mere illustration. Doesn't HBO have anyone to review this stuff and keep sending it back to square one till it actually becomes cinematic. It even spells out book chapters and has things like "this will be in the latter chapter" which is plain pathetic.Good director can usually rectify this kind of mess but Fred Schepisi has shown such ineptitude that's it's painful to watch how he stumbles, neglects character development and uses multiple copies of prior sequences to the point that it becomes annoyingly noticeable. He also seems to be incapable to compose sequences of the right length to convey sub-plots. He either makes them ridiculously long and boring, all the way to having the book being read into your face, or he cuts them short, doesn't finish the park and makes the final cut look random.Particularly annoying aspect is that he doesn't have the first clue how to visually separate scenes that are long memories serving as sub plots from flashbacks (short and dramatic) and from the main/present scenes. They are all just equally flat, not even a change in the lighting or set decor to depict two different times.

Galina "Empire Falls" (2005) is a screen adaptation of Richard Russo Pulitzer prize winning novel of the same title. It is a multi character drama that takes place in a small town Empire Falls, Maine. In its center if Miles Roby (Ed Harris) who manages the local restaurant, "Empire Grill" that belongs to a wealthy and powerful widow Mrs. Whiting. The film concerns Miles's re-evaluating his life and searching for answers to the difficult questions. In his search, he looks back at his childhood, his relationship with his mother and the connection between her life and Whitings family. Miles also has to deal with the problems of those close to him: his father Max (Paul Newman stole the show with his performance as a prodigal father), his teenage daughter Tick, his ex-wife Janine, and many more. Based on the first-rate writing, the film is masterfully shot and extremely well acted story of a small and forgotten town with no future.

TxMike "Empire Falls" is a fictional town along the river in Maine. (Several different Maine locations were used for the filming.) This town was originally settled by Algonquin Indians, but the Whiting family over the generations owned everything worth owning.Ed Harris plays the central character Miles Roby, who runs the local café owned by Francine Whiting (Joanne Woodward). Ms Woodward's real-life husband and perhaps the best actor of modern times, Paul Newman, plays the grizzled old dad Max Roby. Rounding out their family are Miles' brother David (Aidan Quinn) and Miles' daughter "Tick" (Danielle Panabaker). The estranged mother Janine is played by Helen Hunt, who divorcing from Miles is planning on marrying Walt Comeau (Dennis Farina) who claims he is in good shape for 50, but really is over 60 she eventually finds out. In this small town everyone knows everything about everybody, and word spreads fast.So, what's the story about? Roughly, Miles' being stuck in a rut, being predictable, and not being able to step out and take a risk. All the other characters affect him in some way. Even as a boy, seeing his mother develop a relationship with another man, because Max just wasn't there for anyone.Philip Seymour Hoffman is good as Charlie Mayne , the man who befriends Grace, Miles' mother, played well by Robin Wright Penn. There are lots of side stories, and that is why it takes a 4-hour movie to tell all of them well. Some involving the school kids. Some involving Max's quest to get to Key West, even though he was always broke. But most important are the ones that involve Ms Whiting, who promised Miles the café when she dies, but Miles could be in his 70s when that happened.MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW. The man who claimed to be Charlie Mayne was in reality CB Whiting, husband of Francine. While Max was in jail for a stint, CN fathered Miles' younger brother David, and when he returned the last time to Francine, wicked and controlling, he went out to the gazebo by the river and shot himself through the head. Miles eventually got fed up with Francine, took things into his own hands, broke out of his predictability, abandoned the café, and began his new life.Superb acting all around.