POSSIBLE SPOILERS...
This is the first film I've seen Robert Pattinson in that I've really enjoyed. Sure he's a lovely creature and a good actor too, but not only am I not on board with the Twilight craze, I'm just not all that familiar with his work (though I went ahead and watched Little Ashes right after this one and really liked it).
Pattinson plays Tyler, a twenty-something kid in NYC whose older brother committed suicide a few years before. It is not explained why the brother killed himself, but his death has profoundly impacted Tyler's life. The surviving brother keeps a journal and uses it to communicate his grief.
Emilie de Ravin, who I know best as a very mean schoolgirl in a TV remake of "Carrie", is very sweet and effective as Ally, a girl who is in one of Tyler's classes. Ten years prior, her mother was murdered during a mugging at the subway station, and Ally has not been able to ride a subway since.
When Ally's troubled policeman father (good to see Chris Cooper back in action!) arrests Tyler and his best friend Aidan during a street brawl, it provides an opportunity for Tyler, who seems to have been admiring Ally from afar, to get to know the girl. Most of the film is dedicated to how their relationship changes both of them for the better. Ally's father has a violent temper, and has obviously not recovered emotionally from losing his wife to such violence, and Tyler's father (Pierce Brosnan is great here) is emotionally distant and busy working on Wall Street. Tyler's young sister Caroline (Ruby Jerins, a very good child actor), a prodigious artist, yearns for the father's attention. The relationship between Tyler and Caroline is very touching. I loved the scene where Tyler gets some revenge against a mean classmate who traumatizes Caroline.
The ending to this movie was shocking and very depressing. I didn't hate the ending itself, but it makes the movie into a downer overall. Not something you want to watch for a good laugh or to lift your mood. It makes for a great fictional story of a day of tragedy in US history and treats the day with respect. It also lends a wonderful humanity to a group of people we still mourn for even though most of us never met or knew them.
I'm not sure if this film is based on a novel. Either way, it is a wonderful, sincere romantic drama.
This is the first film I've seen Robert Pattinson in that I've really enjoyed. Sure he's a lovely creature and a good actor too, but not only am I not on board with the Twilight craze, I'm just not all that familiar with his work (though I went ahead and watched Little Ashes right after this one and really liked it).
Pattinson plays Tyler, a twenty-something kid in NYC whose older brother committed suicide a few years before. It is not explained why the brother killed himself, but his death has profoundly impacted Tyler's life. The surviving brother keeps a journal and uses it to communicate his grief.
Emilie de Ravin, who I know best as a very mean schoolgirl in a TV remake of "Carrie", is very sweet and effective as Ally, a girl who is in one of Tyler's classes. Ten years prior, her mother was murdered during a mugging at the subway station, and Ally has not been able to ride a subway since.
When Ally's troubled policeman father (good to see Chris Cooper back in action!) arrests Tyler and his best friend Aidan during a street brawl, it provides an opportunity for Tyler, who seems to have been admiring Ally from afar, to get to know the girl. Most of the film is dedicated to how their relationship changes both of them for the better. Ally's father has a violent temper, and has obviously not recovered emotionally from losing his wife to such violence, and Tyler's father (Pierce Brosnan is great here) is emotionally distant and busy working on Wall Street. Tyler's young sister Caroline (Ruby Jerins, a very good child actor), a prodigious artist, yearns for the father's attention. The relationship between Tyler and Caroline is very touching. I loved the scene where Tyler gets some revenge against a mean classmate who traumatizes Caroline.
The ending to this movie was shocking and very depressing. I didn't hate the ending itself, but it makes the movie into a downer overall. Not something you want to watch for a good laugh or to lift your mood. It makes for a great fictional story of a day of tragedy in US history and treats the day with respect. It also lends a wonderful humanity to a group of people we still mourn for even though most of us never met or knew them.
I'm not sure if this film is based on a novel. Either way, it is a wonderful, sincere romantic drama.