Directed by Michael Mayer and based on The Hours author Michael Cunningham's novel of the same name, A Home at the End of the World chronicles the 1980s reunion of childhood best friends Bobby (Colin Farrell) and Jonathan (Dallas Roberts). Where they were once best pals -- and teenage lovers -- in the suburbs of Cleveland, Bobby has become a charismatic but go-nowhere heterosexual slacker, and Jonathan is now living as an openly gay man in New York City, hoping to serve as father to his
eccentric roommate Clare's (Robin Wright Penn) child. When Bobby impulsively moves to the city to be closer to his former friend, their bonds are tested sooner than anyone would have thought. Bobby falls for Clare, and in doing so, effectively eliminates what would have been Jonathan's position in the baby's life. Jonathan temporarily takes off; when his father dies, and he attends the Arizona funeral, Bobby and Clare unexpectedly turn up with the news that she's expecting. Despite the still-existent tensions, the trio becomes a family unit among themselves, ultimately buying a house in Woodstock, Upstate New York, where they all move together, challenging traditional notions of family, commitment, love, and devotion. ~ Tracie Cooper, Rovi
Although the actors do a magnificent job with the piffle, the characters hardly ever act the way real people do in the situations they are presented with. They act, instead, the way characters in a movie act.
The sweet, loving relationships of the main characters sustain the picture for a time.... But, ultimately, we realize that not a lot is actually original or inspired.
Farrell's acting is so totally likable, he lifts the story from its sudsy roots and elevates it to something worthy of memory. Well, at least if you have a short memory.
Colin Farrell and Sissy Spacek give masterful performances.
April 1, 2007
jay nixon
Super Reviewer
"A Home at the End of the World" starts in Cleveland, 1967 where nine year-old Bobby is introduced to the wonders of marijuana by his older brother. The older brother then promptly walks through a window during a party and dies. It skips ahead a few years when Bobby meets Jonathan in high school and insinuates
himself into Jonathan's family. It skips ahead to New York City in the 1980's when Bobby(Colin Farrell) joins his friend in the big city. Jonathan(Dallas Roberts) is outwardly gay and sharing an apartment with an older woman, Clare(Robin Wright Penn). "A Home at the End of the World" is a ploddingly told tale that takes thirty minutes to even get started. It might be about unorthodox family structures but that's about it. The ill-defined characters simply consist of types and cliches. We never really get to know who Clare is, even though she is a key player and Bobby is simply a dense piece of matter. Robin Wright Penn and Sissy Spacek simply deserve better than this.
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