Tragedy opens the wounds a family has long struggled to ignore in this powerful emotional drama. Bennett Brewer (Aaron Johnson) was a bright, handsome, and talented young man who was suddenly killed in an auto accident late one night while driving home with Rose (Carey Mulligan), a girl who had been a close friend for years but had only recently become romantically involved with him. Bennett's death devastates his family: his mother, Grace (Susan Sarandon), is overcome with grief and can't stop
wondering what his final minutes must have been like; father Allen (Pierce Brosnan) is forced to turn away from his mistress (Jennifer Ehle) and try to comfort a woman he's no longer certain he loves; and brother Ryan (Johnny Simmons) mourns Bennett while becoming painfully aware that he will never live up to his late brother's example in the eyes of his parents. As grief slowly brings the family's emotional troubles to the surface, two unwelcome characters come into the picture -- Rose, who has discovered she's pregnant with Bennett's child, and the truck driver (Michael Shannon) who unwittingly took Bennett's life. The first feature film from writer and director Shana Feste, The Greatest received its world premiere at the 2009 Sundance Film Festival. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Sarandon and Brosnan are very good, indeed, Brosnan surprisingly so. In fact, Brosnan has never been so opened up, so emotional and yet so precise in his work. It's a lovely performance in a film that only sometimes deserves him.
Though it sometimes feels more like a collection of scenes than a complete story, some moments are so raw and insightful that they feel like a punch to the heart.
Although Feste delivers a well-acted, competently directed film with The Greatest, it ultimately lacks the originality that could lift it out of the fog.
Even if you want more from a film than a depiction of reality, you'll still appreciate the stars' performances. But you'll find yourself thinking it could have been so much better if rendering grief effectively didn't seem like the only goal.
First-time writer-director Shana Feste has made a wise, insightful movie about family, grief, and how awful and how wonderful it is to discover that life goes on after someone you love dies.
Yet another film that tries to pass off a whole lot of screaming and crying as great acting. This fails especially in Brosnan's big crying scene, in which he audibly squeaks
Redeemed by its performances, its sporadic, carefully observed moments of truth, and the fact that Feste knows from good drama. The Greatest may be cheesy, but it ain't amateur hour.
The Greatest isn't even the best recent movie that stars Susan Sarandon as a woman trying to deal with the death of a child while forced into an awkward relationship with the main squeeze of the dead kid.
This drama film is about grief and the different ways it can affect people, it was very good. I believe this is a depressing tale that forlornly tries to uplift during its final moments, but never escapes the shackles of its distressing storyline. The performances, including Pierce Brosnan, Susan Sarandon, Carey
Mulligan, are universally wonderful, but the relentless dour tone makes The Greatest an easy film to admire, but a hard one to truly enjoy.
September 7, 2010
Dean McKenna
Super Reviewer
This was an over-dramatic, over-emotional and an overdone movie in almost all respects. The grieving of the parents for their dead son left no emotional impact, and so was the case with the dead guy's pregnant girlfriend and his brother. However, the execution was such that it almost brought me on the brink of weeping.
I'd also like to clarify that I came on the verge of weeping due to the sheer boredom and not due to the effect generated by any of the scenes. The characters were so lame that it left no scope for good performance, so I can't comment on anyone's performance here.
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