A New England family deals with grief. Ben Floss (Dustin Hoffman) and wife JoJos (Susan Sarandon) only child--a daughter--was accidentally shot to death before she was to marry Joe Nast (Jake Gyllenhaal). Nast stays with the parents to help them through their mourning but he's harboring a deep secret himself. He also falls in love with a local girl (Renee Zellwegeer look alike Ellen Pompeo).
Nothing new here script wise but it is well-written and always interesting. There are a lot of nice little touches--Gyllennaal keeps passing by a photo store with wedding pics in the window and every TV seems to be playing "The Newlywed Game" or the "Dating Game". The acting is just superb--Hoffman and Sarandon are (as always) excellent and Gyllenhaal is just great as the wounded boyfriend. He conveys all his emotions and feelings through his big brown eyes and body language.
The film was beautifully shot in (I believe) Northampton MA. Only complaint--this takes place in 1972 but nobody says or mentions it--it took me half the movie to figure it out!
Nothing new here script wise but it is well-written and always interesting. There are a lot of nice little touches--Gyllennaal keeps passing by a photo store with wedding pics in the window and every TV seems to be playing "The Newlywed Game" or the "Dating Game". The acting is just superb--Hoffman and Sarandon are (as always) excellent and Gyllenhaal is just great as the wounded boyfriend. He conveys all his emotions and feelings through his big brown eyes and body language.
The film was beautifully shot in (I believe) Northampton MA. Only complaint--this takes place in 1972 but nobody says or mentions it--it took me half the movie to figure it out!