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Fruitbat
| Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 6:46 am
I turned this off with only 20 minutes to go and I bought it on pay per view. I found it pretentious, dull and depressing. Anyone else? It got rave reviews and Oscar nominations. Why?
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Ophiliasgrandma
| Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 8:16 am
I thought many other great Oscar-worthy performances went unnoticed by honoring Kidman in a so-so part with just a good performance.
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Hummingbird
| Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 10:42 am
It only became interesting when you find out the Ed Harris was the little boy. By that time I was ready to turn it off because of boredom. I agree that it was depressing.
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Alegria
| Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 4:39 pm
I thought Meryl Streep could have phoned her part in but that Ed Harris was wonderful. It would be a hard movie to sit through twice. Definitely not life affirming. Weren't they all very stuck on themselves? I felt so sorry for the little boy.
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Fruitbat
| Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 5:50 pm
Since I missed the last 20 mins, can anyone fill me in? What happened to the poor little boy, mom commit suicide? Meryl was talking to her ex husband while preparing for her brothers party when I shut it off. Virginia was, I dont know what.....still being crazy I guess. That story line was going nowhere fast. She must have walked into the river.
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Ric_Munoz
| Wednesday, August 20, 2003 - 8:20 pm
Fruitbat: Yes, as she did in real life, Virginia did follow through on the walk to the bottom of the river. In the scene you referred to, Meryl is preparing for her best friend's (not her brother's) celebration party for a literature award the best friend (Ed Harris) recently won. Best friend Ed spoils the party by committing suicide hours before the party starts. The man (Jeff Daniels) she's talking to before the party starts is not her ex-husband; it's Ed Harris's ex-lover. Finally, the little boy's mother (Julianne Moore) does not commit suicide. She abandons the little boy and the little boy's father. The little boy grows up to be Ed Harris. The final scene of the film shows Ed's mother (a senior citizen Julianne Moore in old-person's make-up) arriving at Meryl's apartment, presumably to re-unite with adult Ed (after an estrangement of 40 years or so) and celebrate the award. Instead, she learns of his suicide earlier in the day. When Meryl questions why she abandoned her family, Julianne explains that to have done otherwise would have been death to her. We draw parallels, then, from Virginia Woolf choosing death over staying cooped up in suburban London with her husband.
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Ophiliasgrandma
| Thursday, August 21, 2003 - 7:55 am
I under stood from something I read that Ed Harris was her ex-husband. I guess I'll have to rereach that.
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Ophiliasgrandma
| Thursday, August 21, 2003 - 7:59 am
Just did a little search and everyone refers to him as a poet 'friend'.
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Fruitbat
| Thursday, August 21, 2003 - 8:09 am
Ed was Meryl Streeps brother. The man that visited her as she prepared for her brothers party I thought was her ex husband. Friend I guess. What happened at the end? I turned if off with 20 mins to go. Was there anything you remember about it?
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Ric_Munoz
| Thursday, August 21, 2003 - 8:19 am
Fruitbat: Ed was NOT Meryl's brother! When they were younger they had had a brief affair but then he rejected her when he accepted his homosexuality. The friend visiting Meryl was Ed's ex-lover, nothing else. At the end of the movie, an elderly Julianne Moore shows up at Meryl's apartment thinking it was a celebration party only to discover that Ed (her son she had not seen in 40years) had committed suicide earlier in the day.
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Fruitbat
| Thursday, August 21, 2003 - 8:23 am
Ahhhhhhhh thanks. Now I remember that! The details left my brain quickly. Thanks for the ending too. I probably would have been more satisfied had I stuck it out. At least there was a tie in to it all.
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Ophiliasgrandma
| Thursday, August 21, 2003 - 8:39 am
Yeah, this was a real easy screenplay to follow. LOL!
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Hummingbird
| Friday, August 22, 2003 - 11:05 pm
The ex-lover (Daniels) made a comment that only made sense after you realized that the little boy grew up to be Ed Harris. He said something about feeling free for the first time in his life after breaking up with Ed. Lead you to believe that the clinging little boy who was smothering his mother grew up to be a clinging, smothering adult. The whole thing was presumptuous. Most mothers do not consider their husbands and children as people to flee from (not on daily basis anyway)and every other woman you meet isn't going to be a lesbian. I couldn't set through this film again but while I was watching it, I had to hang in there and see how it ended. I felt sorry for the adandoned husband.
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Ric_Munoz
| Sunday, August 24, 2003 - 4:53 pm
For those of you who missed out on reading the book (which is a masterpiece in and of itself), in the book the Meryl Streep character (Clarissa) at one point is walking down a New York street and notices that there's a film production going on. She stops and joins the other Lookie-Loos, hoping to catch a glimpse of a movie star. Her wish is rewarded when she sees....Meryl Streep emerging from a dressing room trailer. That scene, for obvious reasons, was unfortunately not included in the film version (would have been a hoot if it had been, though).
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Bronxie
| Saturday, January 03, 2004 - 3:21 pm
I just got a DVD set, along with The Hours, as a Christmas present. I've tried twice now to view it but fell asleep both times (and once woke up in time to see the ending)...after reading the above posts I can understand why. I won't bother a third time.
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