Tuesday, January 1, 2008

“STARTING OUT IN The EVENING”

(Frank Langella, Lauren Ambrose & Lili Taylor)

This is not a film for a broad audience (Dudes can enjoy it too!) Sorry – but seriously, this is for people who don’t really need a lot to happen to enjoy a movie. Fans of quiet acting – where a lot of the feelings of the characters are convey with motions (or lack thereof) A subtle glance, a knowing look; you know, boring crap!Strangely enough though, I was not bored by this film (Well, not completely)It IS slow paced – not a heck of a lot happens, but I found Frank Langella’s aging novelist, Leonard Schiller to be semi-fascinating. Being an aspiring writer, I could better understand the character, I guess & that’s what held my interest.Leonard has written 4 novels in his life – all are currently out of print. With age catching up to him & failing health, Leonard is in the midst of trying to complete his 5th & final novel before his mind or body gives up on him.

Then a young college coed named Heather (Lauren Ambrose) approached him asking if can interview the writer for her college thesis – the life & written works of Leonard Schiller. The man is flattered, but doesn’t want to waste any of his precious time at this point in his life. The persistent girl doesn’t take no for an answer & eventually Leonard agrees to help her.At first it is hard to believe that a young, pretty girl like Heather would become infatuated with an old coot like Leonard, but it doesn’t take long to see that this college ‘kid’ has an old soul dwelling inside her & the two seem to make a perfect match.This, to the chagrin of Leonard’s daughter Ariel (Lily Taylor) While dad is flirting with a girl 40 years his junior, Ariel has just dumped the man that asked her to marry him to go back to an old boyfriend who dumped her previously.

“Starting Out...” is basically that – the story of these three people involved in this ‘uncomfortable’ relationship. The dialogue is quite ‘snooty’ at times (which ordinarily isn’t too my liking) but the characters are real people & are portrayed nicely by the actors involved. You won’t come out of the theatre overwhelmed, but you’ll probably feel as though you didn’t waste your time or money by spending a couple of hours with these people.Always enjoy hearing any feedback on my reviews – I promise I will respond to you.Email me at TDReid523@aol.com & anyone with a job offer goes to the head of the line!

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