ada the leading man is my tpye

ChampDavSlim The acting is good, and the firecracker script has some excellent ideas.

Bob This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

Kayden This is a dark and sometimes deeply uncomfortable drama

Michael Ledo There is no one named Margaret in the movie. It comes from a poem that is read. But that's okay I grew up watching Captain Kangaroo who is nether a captain nor a kangaroo. In fact there may have been a lot of stuff I didn't grasp in this film, but here goes.The film opens in slow motion to illustrate how life moves slowly along until one moment suddenly changes and defines it. Lisa (Anna Paquin) distracts a bus driver who runs a red light and kills a women. She wants to do the right thing, but what is it? The grief and moral dilemma disrupts her life and her relationships.The film is well made. The acting was excellent as was the writing...I think. I just didn't enjoy the film, but I didn't dislike it either. The main problem I have with the overall theme is that Lisa wants justice for the dead woman. She has grief which we see, but we don't see her publicly confess her role in the death. She doesn't seem to have any guilt...or perhaps that is the point of the film is that we quickly forgive our own guilt...except we don't. I kept waiting for Lisa to take blame for what had happened.This is a film about grief, but it is not really sad. Matt Damon plays a geometry teacher who is a love interest of Lisa. Matthew Broderick plays a literature teacher whose classes provide the film with multiple confusing deeper themes for you to pick from in case you don't like the aspect of simply dealing with grief. After watching the film, I felt like I needed a hug.PARENTAL GUIDE: F-bomb, sex, nudity (J. Smith-Cameron, Ann Paquin silhouette)

merylmatt I made two mistakes - selecting this movie to watch and getting the extended cut, which adds an additional 30 minutes to this already too long movie. This is a movie that should be shown to all aspiring script writers - as an example of what not to do. The average script is 100-120 minutes making a movie about 90-110 minutes long. Perhaps with a revised, tighter script, this could have been something. Taking away the background dialog in many of the scenes would be helpful. We get it that in NYC, it's loud, there are always noises surrounding you. The movie does not suffer from a lack of talent, Matt Damon, Mark Ruffo, Allison Janney, Jean Reno to name a few, it's just their skills are wasted in this movie that drags on and on and on and on and on and on - oh, I should write a shorter review? Good idea. This movie is too long and squanders the talent of its stars. It needs more plot, a clearly defined conflict and resolution. 2 stars for the acting skills cleverly hidden in this movie.

Nancy Dalley I unfortunately subjected myself to the full 3 hour cut of this film. An apparent coming of age movie following the subsequent aftermath of a death by RTA inadvertently caused by self involved teen Lisa (Paquin).Lisa is out shopping for a cowboy hat due to the shallow motive of looking the part for a horse riding trip with her absent father. Being unsuccessful, she notices a bus driver wearing the exact accessory she is seeking. She then frantically chases after the bus, waving emphatically, asking the bus driver where he got his fine hat. The driver allows himself to be distracted, drives through a red light and ends up dismembering a pedestrian with his bus. Lisa stays with the woman whilst she bleeds out and eventually passes on. The film then depicts Lisa's "inner turmoil" she experiences after the incident, albeit, poorly.This film is the epitome of bad script writing, it severely lacks character development and only partially redeems itself with some cinematography, which is all undone by unusual and disjointed film editing.Is these sorts of scenarios one expects someone who is the indirect cause of another's death to go through some sort of self realisation. This did not occur. Lisa did not express an appropriate level of guilt. Neither did she go off the rails, partake in any self-deprecation or seek forgiveness. She did not apologise and there was no genuine admittance of guilt until the end. Her guilt was not evident in her behaviour throughout the film but instead in a few childish outbursts.I took an immediate dislike to Lisa, she was bratty, self involved and immature yet strangely in possession of quite an advanced dialogue. The character interaction was unusual, especially when involving the character Emily who's dialogue was nonsensical and executed poorly. Maybe this is the way New Yorkers interact, I'm British so what do I know?Nearly every character in this film was easily provoked, I feel the film was mostly taken up by needless arguments. I felt no empathy towards any of the characters and at a push the only character I felt any affinity with was Ramon (Jean Reno) who was inexplicably killed off. Which in my opinion is a lazy way to remove a character from the story.As affirmed by Lisa's own statement, the film lacked any genuine emotion or sense of connection between characters. Everyone seemed to be in desperate need of a new moral compass.After the incident Lisa does not recoil into herself like any genuine human being would but instead becomes an incredible annoyance to any unfortunate soul forced to interact with her. Lisa's arrogant comparison between herself and Monica's daughter is laughable, and the scene where she gushes over Mr Aaron (Damon) is revolting as she seems incapable of any restraint. I found myself vocally cringing throughout.David's insight on Shakespeare was refreshing and the only part that was remotely interesting.The sub plot to this film as depicted between Ramon and Joan/ Lisa and Mr Aaron is if you pester a love interest (who has no interest) enough then they will surely become submissive. I'm not sure that is something that should be driven home.I was surprised this film had such big names. In summary I felt this film was an utter failure but it contains some political viewpoints that indicate why it may have been pushed to success in America. The only genuine part of the film was when Lisa reunites with her mother over a medium of entertainment they previously disliked but eventually see the beauty in.

phd_travel This is an interesting movie. The main character Lisa is played by a slightly too old for high school looking Anna Paquin. She is a teenage girl who while distracting a bus driver, witnesses the bus run over a pedestrian. At first she covers for the driver but later changes her mind. She faces a moral dilemma about the accident including guilt and responsibility. But that isn't all there is. Surprising insights into human nature are shown in the supporting characters. Lisa's actress mother and her romance is very real and the relatives of the pedestrian are especially interesting. Despite an A list cast this wasn't a big success because of some production issues that delayed release for years while arguing about the length of the movie. Maybe some scenes could have been cut like the hostile classroom debates.Good supporting cast in minor roles from Mark Ruffalo as the bus driver to Matt Damon and Matthew Broderick as teachers. Alison Janney is memorable as the pedestrian.Good on location filming in the Upper West Side and Lincoln Center and other parts of NYC. Shows some parts of the city that other NYC movies don't usually show.The dialog is realistic and well written even if there are a few over confrontational scenes.Liked the scenes in the Metropolitan Opera which were used to bring out reactions in the characters.Worth the effort.