CrawlerChunky In truth, there is barely enough story here to make a film.

Robert Joyner The plot isn't so bad, but the pace of storytelling is too slow which makes people bored. Certain moments are so obvious and unnecessary for the main plot. I would've fast-forwarded those moments if it was an online streaming. The ending looks like implying a sequel, not sure if this movie will get one

Bluebell Alcock Ok... Let's be honest. It cannot be the best movie but is quite enjoyable. The movie has the potential to develop a great plot for future movies

Cassandra Story: It's very simple but honestly that is fine.

Russ-79 I see a movie to be entertained, not to watch someone I don't care about screw up their life by making bad decisions and by alienating everyone in their lives, their family and friends. I love character driven movies, but give me characters that I care about and who are care-able about, not obnoxious, narcissistic people who I wouldn't want to be friends with in real life. The main character Laura, it too lethargic, indecisive, and uncertain. She seems mired in life and only by breaking free will she blossom, however twice she picks the wrong man to have an affair with, and the man she's had a baby with she's fallen out of love with. This is too depressing. After viewing this film, I'm sorry to say, I felt like I'd wasted two hours of my life. I'm sorry to give a bad review, but I felt like I should warn others who feel like I do. One more thing... is there any reason the characters can't be in focus at all times? Don't they make autofocus cameras in Hollywood?

marting2-1 Will see Ira Sachs's movie soon. His title "Forty Shades of Blue" may be proverbial, or it may be a line quoted from my Charlie Parker verse biography Blues for Bird, Santa Monica Press, 2001 (Book I xxxviii 3). Whether it is or not, I'm intrigued by many of the comments on the DVD. It seems Sachs is pioneering in terms of angle of vision, interpretation etc. Hollywood movies (except the very best ones) are so blatantly obvious, hackneyed etc. We always need new vision to keep our seeing alert and intact. Obviously Sachs has got it, par excellence. Martin Gray (Your machine tells me I have not written enough about the subject to warrant it being passed on, eventually to Ira Sachs I hope). All I want to know is what source Ira Sachs had for his title "Forty Shades of Blue." I've told you that I'm going to view the movie soon, but I'd like a simple answer to my question. A man who was born in Memphis can surely answer that. Best wishes, Martin Gray.

writers_reign The Sundance Festival doesn't have a great track record in rewarding films that I, personally, want to see and a second strike against this entry was its Country/Soul music background - I'm one hundred per cent with Buddy Rich on this subject who, when about to undergo open heart surgery was asked if he was allergic to anything replied, 'yes, Country music' - so I was prepared for the worst especially the the UK reviews stressed the longeurs but it could have been worse. What it does have going for it is great acting particularly from the two leads Rip Torn and Dina Kurzon but helmer Ira Sachs seems to delight in doing everything exquisitely slowly so that at times it's like watching an Andy Warhol film with people instead of buildings. Ironically the kind of people who could theoretically take most from it are unlikely to see it; I mean those scores of middle-aged or downright old men, all completely unprepossessing who go to Russia - or the Phillipines - to virtually 'buy' a pretty wife thirty years younger than themselves then take her back to Kokomo or Leicester where, natch, she is going to be exposed to guys good-looking guys her own age: The trick, fellas, is NOT to bring them back but for YOU to settle in Moscow/Manila where she won't be tempted to stray. At least Kurzon is honest enough to admit that she lives better than anyone she knows - presumably she means her friends in Russia given that she knows many people in Rip Torn's circle who live as well if not better than she does - so she has no reason to complain but against this she apparently feels that she does have reason to pick up men in bars and sleep with her elderly lover's son. This is a movie with no answers and even the questions are only half questions; Alan James (Rip Torn) sees her only as a trophy - and the biggest question is WHY did he go to the trouble to import a girl from Russia when, as we see time and again, his fame/wealth make it easy for him to find young female company - with the inevitable result that she feels alienated and isolated, she also appears to be intelligent enough to realize that casual pick-ups are only demeaning and not long-term solutions. She also seems too intelligent to delude herself that her lover's son - who is, as he confesses, going through a bad patch in his marriage - will be prepared to go to the mat for her with a father whom he has never really liked. So that's it: Life's a bitch and then you die in twelve reels.

FritzdaCat Someone must have thought really highly of this film, or it wouldn't have won the Grand Prize at Sundance 2005. I was just forty shades of bored. "Forty Shades of Blue" chronicles the emotional journey of Laura, the Russian common-law wife of Alan James (Rip Torn), a legendary music producer with a drinking problem and a wandering eye. When Laura embarks on an affair with Alan's stony-faced son Michael (Darren Burrows) the ensuing love triangle should be as hot as the Memphis summer. Instead it falls flat. Even the sex scenes are drab. There are only two remarkable things about "Forty Shades of Blue." One is what could be described as a nuanced performance by Dina Korzun as Laura. This actress can say a lot without talking, which is merciful given the dreary quality of most of the dialog in this film. The other thing is her haunting rendition of the title song. Buy the single, skip the film. 2 stars out of 5.