Following up on her 1998 opus Bedrooms and Hallways, Rose Troche directs this ensemble film about suburbia and its discontents. Once an up-and-coming singer/songwriter, Paul Gold (Joshua Jackson) now lies in a coma, attentively nursed by his mother Esther (Glenn Close), who dotes on her son to the exclusion of her husband and her daughter Julie (Jessica Campbell). Meanwhile, Jim Train (Dermot Mulroney) is a workaholic lawyer who is closer to his tortes than to his spouse Susan (Moira Kelly).
Their son Jake has taken a morbid fascination with his sister's foot-high girl doll. At the same time, Paul's former lover Annette Jennings (Patricia Clarkson) is trying to pull her life and her family back together after a particularly brutal divorce. This film was screened at the 2001 Toronto Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, Rovi
In boldly departing from the safety of a strong, unifying plot, Troche makes virtual objects of her characters by showing us plenty that intrigues and not enough that enlightens.
Though well-acted, Troche's third film, an adaptation of short stories, is a minor addition of a fractured, ensemble narrative to the overly populated genre of suburban malaise and anomie in the wake of the success of Mendes' Oscar-winner American Beauty
Saw this sometime ago and really enjoyed it, so was glad to see it going really cheap on Amazon. The rewatch was just as good. Great cast including a very young Kristen Stewart. I liked how the stories about the three sets of neighbours all wound together. Though it is a drama, there is some black humor there as well.
The Barbie doll in particular made me laugh. Very realistic with that hair - kind of creepy actually!
What an odd movie.. I liked it and I really don't know why.. these neighbors are as screwed up as the next.. they are like one big disfunctioal family living in different house's on one street.. but yet this film is very sad too.. theres just so much going on.. its just something you need to watch for yourself to
understand.. I loved it.
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