"Sibling rivalry" takes on a whole new meaning in this offbeat comedy from first-time writer and director Sue Kramer. Sam (Tom Cavanagh) and his sister, Gray (Heather Graham), are siblings who share a passionate interest in the music and styles of the 1940s, especially movie musicals of the era, and they've earned a powerful reputation on the ballroom-dancing circuit as gifted hoofers with both talent and flair. Sam and Gray cross paths with Charlie (Bridget Moynahan), an attractive woman who
shares their enthusiasm for old movies and retro styles, and is a fine dancer to boot. To the surprise of no one, Sam falls head over heels for Charlie, but so does Gray, which comes as a shock to nearly everyone, including Gray, who has never betrayed an attraction to women before. Charlie, however, naïvely fails to acknowledge the depth of Gray's feelings for her as a romantic triangle forms between Charlie and the siblings. Gray Matters also features supporting performances from Sissy Spacek as an analyst, Molly Shannon as one of Gray's co-workers, and Alan Cumming as a taxi driver. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi
Graham carries this for a while, but Kramer spends entirely too much time weakly satirizing Graham's job at an advertising agency, where Molly Shannon's a kvetching coworker.
In its genre writer-director Sue Kramer's film sets a new record for bright shining peepers and dimply smirks. It's enough to kill Buster Keaton's entire family.
There is, one has to assume, a pretty good old-fashioned screwball comedy in all this, but director-writer Sue Kramer seems to have grown up watching Rhoda so Graham, usually a capable actress, has not a word of actual dialogue, only gag lines.
It's so awful that it enters that weird realm in which it becomes actively annoying. The moviegoer sits there, hoping the characters will be tortured and die horrible deaths.
Gray's identity issues -- presumably the movie's main focus -- share time with too many subsidiary scenes that seem (rightly or wrongly) to have been written for as many actor-friends of the filmmakers as possible.
Pretty quickly it disintegrates into a mishmash of character caricatures competing for airtime in which to spit out overly quirky dialogue in predictable set-ups.
Despite being bogged down by several distracting, extended dance numbers, this zany farce has just enough momentum and surprises along the way to hold one's interest for the duration. But it'll help immeasurably if you're a devotee of daytime soap operas.
Despite being bogged down by several distracting, extended dance numbers, this zany farce has just enough momentum and surprises along the way to hold one's interest for the duration. But it'll help immeasurably if you're a devotee of daytime soap operas.
Decked out in its fondness for old Hollywood films and American songbook standards, Gray Matters borrows the wallpaper from a Nancy Meyers movie to decorate its empty room.
Gray Matters feels dated: Gray's self-identity confusion is less "adorable" than annoying, and both she and Charlie appear exceptionally clueless about what's going on.
I can't recommend it for gay audiences, the presumed target demographic, because they are likely to find it innocuous at best and downright insulting at worst.
This was just average. The cast is okay. I've seen Heather Graham be more convincing in a movie though. I did like the small appearances from Alan Cumming - he nearly steals the whole movie... not that there is much too steal. It's okay as a weekly rental.
If you need a bit of lightheartedness, this movie is for you. Gray finds a girl for her brother, and a) falls in love with her herself, and b) figures out she is gay. Not an Oscar-winning drama, but enjoyable. At least they don't treat being gay as being a second class citizen.
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