Comwayon A Disappointing Continuation

RipDelight This is a tender, generous movie that likes its characters and presents them as real people, full of flaws and strengths.

Ella-May O'Brien Each character in this movie — down to the smallest one — is an individual rather than a type, prone to spontaneous changes of mood and sometimes amusing outbursts of pettiness or ill humor.

Jemima It's a movie as timely as it is provocative and amazingly, for much of its running time, it is weirdly funny.

sol ***MAJOR SPOILER*** Going into a all night L.A convenient store to buy his girlfriend Sophie, Courteney Cox, a Hershey Bar Hugh, James LaGros together with the store owner and his son are cold-bloodily gunned down with their killer, Matthew Carey, taking off, dropping the cash as he flees, empty handed.It's now a few weeks later with Sophie teaching a course in photography at a local collage that she sees a slide-from one of her pupils-of the very same convenient store the very evening, almost to the moment, that Hugh was murdered in! Not only that she sees an obscure image of Hugh's, as well as the store owner and his son, killer! Going to the police to see what they can do in identifying, with state-of-the-art photo imaging, the killer Sophie is later shocked to find out that she was the person who took the picture! That when she at that very moment was sitting in her car at least 50 feet way from where the photo was taken!It's then that the movie "November" takes a sudden and paranormal turn in that we get to see the late Hugh and Sophie together with her feeling very guilty in cheating on him with her fellow photographer and good friend Jesse, Michael Ealy. We also get to see Sophie seeing a psychiatrist Dr. Fyan, Nora Dunn, about her guilt in Hugh's death! It's as if Sophie's cheating, not having him go into to store to buy her a chocolate bar, was the reason for his tragic death!The movie starts to get even weirder with Sophie not only having trouble with Hugh, in what is obviously a number of flash-backs, but her mother Carol, Anne Archer, as well. There's a number of scenes between Sophie and her mom that are repeated over and over mostly concentrating on her mom spilling a glass of wine on her dress as the two are dining in an L.A restaurant! The reason for that very bizarre scene becomes very evident in the last few minutes of the movie "November". ***SPOILER ALERT*** What also becomes crystal clear, to the audience as well as Sophie, as the movie grinds to an end is just where Sophie was at the time of Hugh's murder! And not only that but what Sophie's very guilt-ridden mind had been blocking out from her memory in what, if anything, she had to do with it!

robertllr For anyone who gave this movie a high rating, and thinks he is cleverer than those who gave it a low one; let me ask you this: have you ever seen the 1962 film "An Incident At Owl Creek Bridge." No? I thought not. Perhaps, then, you've seen one of these four films—and I list them in no particular order: "Lulu On the Bridge"? "Final Approach"? "A Pure Formality"? "Sixth Sense"?These are just the ones that come to me off the top of my head. They all have the same manipulative plot; and I'll bet if I had a dollar for every film in which the protagonist is dead but doesn't know it till the end of the film, I'd be a wealthy man.I gave it a low rating, not because I didn't get it, but precisely because I did. In fact, the only reason I gave it any stars at all is because this version of the same old story is, admittedly, a stylish and well-constructed piece of cinema. Unfortunately, it's precision is also its downfall. There are so many clues that no seasoned cinema aficionado would fail to figure it out--long before the word "Acceptance" is flashed on the screen. "November" resembles—much as "Sixth Sense" does—a pretty puzzle in which you are shown all the pieces--individually, and then in various groups--until at the end, in a flurry of prestidigitation, they are all put together so you can see the actual picture. But then, it all evaporates.That kind of thing may be clever; but it makes for a film that is, at best (as in "Sixth Sense") charming; while at worst, it is merely a pointless exercise. Moreover, while some of these films have had me going for a while, half way through "November" I knew what was coming. There are just so many times you can set up an audience like that. It's a bit like all the recent movies that have been made since "The Sting" ("Ocean's Twelve" and "The Spanish Prisoner" leap to mind) in which the grift you are supposed to think is going down, is really something quite different. By now, it's just not a surprise, and--its like, you know--who cares?There really ought to be a law against reusing these apparently irresistible (to even some seasoned directors—i.e., Polanski) ploys.To close, let me compare this tidy and trite approach to film making with something like Lynch's "Mulholland Drive" or Resnais's "Last Year At Marienbad"—or even "The Draughtsman's Contract". These are pictures that give you a mystery without the cheap "gottcha" at the end. I'll be thinking about "Mulholland Drive" for a long time, watching it over and over, discussing it, reading about it and writing about it. "November," on the other hand, is signed, sealed and delivered even before it ends. The picture on her wall of the outstretched arm that clomps so heavily throughout the film, for example? Just to make sure you get it, we are shown this (imaginary) picture one more time as our heroine's dying gaze falls on her lover's hand. Take that! And that! Cheese…talk about beating you over the head

garythomas891 Confusing? Yes. Fractured story line? Yup. Could I recommend it to family members? Certainly not. The reason for the confusing narrative is because the director divides the film into quarters (instead of the traditional three act format). Without telling us in advance, he also "tints" each quarter segment with colors. The 'Denial' quarter is filmed in a blue tint, another quarter in sepia, another in 'white light', and so on. Subliminally, all this confuses the viewer, on a script which also filled with flash-backs and flash-forwards. Too much fractionalization to follow coherently for the average Joe.November has a cool and artful look. But artful looks can't carry a storyline if the majority of viewers are puzzled.If your a film student however, or if you have a Panasonic DVX-100 and want to make your own movies, this film is a goldmine. Film students: go to the special features menu and click on where director Harrison converses with his DP about how they made the film.He describes in the greatest detail how the film was made. All technical aspects of recording on mini-DV, transfer to non-linear AVID, sound recording imported from a 48k DAT at 29.97 is all discussed; location work, practical lighting, shooting without a crew, editing special FX, etc. Transfer to digi-beta and filmout steps all expertly explained.Harrison also discusses INDIGENT Films, the NYC studio that bankrolled this film. Indigent produces high quality - low budget movies and distributes them to markets worldwide.So in conclusion, I am purchasing a copy of November because it is an incredible training tool for the straight-to-video filmmaker. But also because I want to support Harrison and Indigent Films. Harrison will do better on his next film. And praise must be given to Indigent for producing these otherwise marvelous low budget features.In the DVD's director's commentary Harrison calls this a "no budget" movie. Then he tells us it was made for $500,000. Hardly a no budget film. In Texas, we would have shot this film for one fifth that price.But in all fairness, I really liked this film and it's arty, cranked up editing style. I'm looking forward to following Harrison's work and will definitely be tracking anything coming out of Indigent's movie inventory. Keep an eye on these folks. They're going places.Gary T filmmaker/Texas

coolpop54 I saw this film on a whim. I had not great expectations for either the film or Courtney Cox, who I remembered as an airhead on Friends. However, I was pleasantly surprised. I was taken in within the first few minutes and spent my time trying to figure out what actually happened. I had several theories, but it was not until the end that the secret is revealed. My jaw dropped to the floor and I knew that I had seen a beautiful work of art. I had to watch it again to see if I could pick out the clues. There were very few. But it made perfect sense. Cox was wonderful! Her performance in this movie made a fan out of me. I cannot wait for her next dramatic role. The story, the directing, the cinematography as well as the acting are superb. I cannot recommend this movie any more than 'see it' Make up your own mind, but give it a chance. You will be amazed.