Locations are beautiful, but it is all rather straightforward and plodding.
Comment
03/27/09
Genova (2008)
77
%
Tomatometer
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Reviews Counted:39
Fresh:30
Rotten:9
Average Rating:6.2/10
Consensus: Michael Winterbottom’s tale of grief and mourning, though frustrating in places, is intelligent filmmaking with superb central performances.
Genre: Dramas
Starring: Hope Davis, Colin Firth, Perla Haney-Jardine, Catherine Keener
Director: Michael Winterbottom
Reviews for Genova
Join up the dots in Michael Winterbottom’s new film and you get the outline of a shaggy dog. But if Genova meanders, it has an ensorcelling, even zodiacal charm.
03/27/09
Mainstream audiences may rue the lack of a dramatic arc or conventional plot, but this beautifully photographed and emotive tale proves to be achingly authentic and heartfelt without resorting to perfunctory flashbacks and soppy musical montages.
11/01/09
It is impossible not to admire the fluency and intelligence of Winterbottom's film-making, and his prolific output. Yet Genova is a disappointment, more like a tentative sketch for a movie than the actual finished product.
03/27/09
Whether you go with this idea might depend on how many times you've seen it before, in sentimental American films. The fact that the film is more artful doesn't make the ghost of the mother less of a cliche.
11/05/09
It can be to mix a strange city with devastating loss. It’s at once a deeply sad film and a deeply truthful and optimistic one.
03/27/09
Winterbottom tries to make a modern and meaningful parable. He fails quite miserably.
03/27/09
There's a powerful emotional undertone to this film that overcomes its slightly thin structure and give us plenty to chew on, especially if we've experienced some sort of personal tragedy.
03/28/09
It's an absorbing piece of work, and the entire production's got talent stamped through it like a stick of rock.
03/27/09
[Winterbottom] can't quite decide which well-trodden path to walk, either of domestic drama or of supernatural riddle, which should have been a sign that he hasn't really committed to this project.
10/22/08
As solid as you’d look for from Winterbottom and this cast, but the touches of supernatural thriller in an otherwise rather conventional coming-to-terms-with-bereavement drama aren’t entirely convincing.
03/27/09
A tender and touching film.
03/31/09
A brooding drama about grief, which is greatly aided by the performances and its scenic locations.
11/03/09
An elegant, traumatic but ultimately rewarding tale that will leave you glad to have made the trip.
11/04/09
Beautifully acted and rich in atmosphere, what follows is an intriguing, deeply felt, intelligent exploration of the way family members can find their way back to one another after tragedy threatens to push them apart.
03/27/09
A delightful sojourn for one indie filmmaker and his cast and crew in a fascinating old Italian town.
11/01/09
There is a vague sense of unease in the air but this remains a tedious movie in which everything remains unspoken, underdeveloped and annoyingly inconclusive.
03/28/09
Life affirming and warm, Genova captures a great sense of place as we explore the intricate maze of cobbled streets, the historic buildings with peeling facades and well-worn green shutters, sunny beaches and dense forests
10/31/09
Spree killer thrillers, experimental rockumentaries, adaptations of unadaptable books and now supernatural dramas - is there anything Michael Winterbottom cannot do?
03/28/09
This is a much more intimately reflective drama than Winterbottom usually supplies, and it tells us a lot about loss in a dozen small ways. The cast, particularly the children, do the director proud.
03/27/09
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